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TABLE OF CONTENTS       HISTORY       THE TIMELINE       MANUFACTURER'S HISTORIES       THE PATENT PAGES       THE PRE-ELECTRIC ERA      VINTAGE ADVERTISING         THE LIGHT SET GALLERIES         RELATED LINKS         FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

MANUFACTURER'S HISTORIES

1912 hand-colored postcard of the H.W. McCandless factory in New York City,  manufacturers of light bulbs, radio tubes, electric Christmas lighting outfits and other decorative lighting devices. 

In the early part of the 20th century, there were many small companies engaged in the sale and manufacture of electric Christmas lighting outfits. Sadly, many of the early company records have been lost over time, but there is enough information available to provide names and locations of many of them, along with an idea of some of the products that they manufactured.

Prior to 1925, most of the small companies involved with Christmas lighting sold general electrical products as well as the decorative lighting. Companies like the Owl Flashlight Company and Beacon Miniature Electric Company sold all types of battery and mains powered lighting devices during the year, and added holiday lighting in the fall.  In 1925, many of these companies joined forces and formed a trade association called the National Outfit Manufacturer's Association, or NOMA for short. CLICK HERE for a detailed history of the NOMA company. The Association was founded with the intent of forming a larger single company in the future, and was really an answer to the strong competition from the M. Propp Company and a few other larger companies as well. All of the businesses involved in the Association held licenses for a device known as the "Tachon" connector, a 1924 invention that allowed the easy interconnection of several strings of lights. Shown below is the patent drawing for the device. (You also might want to visit the Lester Haft and his 1924 Patent section of this site for additional information.)
Although quite simple in design, the idea was a bit of a revolution for the decorative lighting industry. The history of this connector is a bit clouded, for variations of it were in use well before it was patented in 1924. In fact, several competing companies were making their own versions of the device, and none of them were patented.  Prior to its conception, light strings had to be expanded by the use of a porcelain junction box, through which additional festoons of light sockets would be connected. It was inconvenient at best, and was an annoyance to yuletide decorators, who had to find a way to hide the large and heavy device somewhere on the tree. The Tachon and its various forms made it easy to add as many festoons as the electric circuit could handle, and also allowed shopkeepers the convenience and practicality of only carrying outfits of eight or nine lights, rather than an assortment of different sized outfits with 16, 24 or 32 sockets and bulbs. Inventory was thus reduced, as was the chance of getting stuck with several expensive 32 light outfits at the end of the season. All of the companies that could afford it licensed manufacturing rights to the Tachon after it was patented.

The 1925 trade association was most successful, and late in 1926 the companies involved officially merged to form the NOMA Electric Corporation, soon to overshadow the M. Propp Company and the other independents as the largest decorative lighting company in the world. Hugely successful, NOMA became a household name, and they offered a large and diverse line of quality lights and decorations, setting the standard for the rest of the industry. By the middle of the century, NOMA not only made holiday lights and decorations, but toys, electric motors and even large appliances.

The Company remained successful until the mid 1960s, when the effects of large amounts of imported goods and competition marked the beginning of very hard times and NOMA filed for bankruptcy. Bought and sold many times since then, the current trademark holder for the holiday division of NOMA is the Inliten Company, who still markets lights and decorations under the NOMA name.

For a bit more information about industry leader Morris Propp of the M. Propp Company, please see The Morris Propp Story page of this site. It is here that you will find a brief history of one of the important figures in the history of early American Christmas lighting, the future president of NOMA, and a true success story!

Bridgeport, Ontario, Canada

The American Eveready Company: In 1886, the former Brush Electric Company executive formed the National Carbon Company, and by 1896, the company marketed the very first battery intended for consumer use. It was called "The Columbia", and was used to power telephones of the day. In 1898, Conrad Hubert formed the American Electrical Novelty and Manufacturing Company to sell battery powered novelties. AENMC changed it's name in 1905 to American Ever Ready, and it was that year that they first produced electric Christmas lights for consumer use. They offered both battery and mains powered lighting outfits. By 1914, American Ever Ready had merged with the National Carbon Company, which formed the only company then in existence that was making both batteries and lighting products. In 1917, The National Carbon Company merged with Union Carbide, and still makes Eveready and Energizer batteries.

*One of the wonderful things about the web is how it facilitates communication between people of common interests. Dick Cook visited this site recently, and wrote to offer the following details about the A.C. Mannweiler Company:

"I grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the A.C. Mannweiler shop was up on the corner from where we lived. Mr. Mannweiler had passed away before I was born, but I knew his only daughter, and everybody called her Mrs. B. She and her husband took over the business after Mr. Mannweiler died. I remember as a child going to their store with my parents where I would get them to purchase some of the Mannweiler miniature based Christmas lamps. I believe Mrs. B and her husband continued to make at least some of the Mannweiler Christmas lamps into 1940 or 1941. As of August, 2001, the building where the company was still stands."

"After Mrs. B died, her only living relative gave me her personal papers which has some data pertaining to the Mannweiler Company, including advertising pamphlets and a photograph of Mrs. B as a child with her mother and father alongside a Christmas tree festooned with Mannweiler lamps. Among the papers was a patent number for a design patent for a Christmas candle lamp."

Here is a picture of that 1921 patent:

*** The H.W. McCandless Company also manufactured the very first radio tube for Lee Deforest, who is considered to be the father of  modern radio. Deforest invented the three element tube, called a triode, in 1907. This tube manufactured by McCandless had a candelabra size base and wires coming out of the top for extra electrode connections. It was a glass globe the same size as the round Glolite and Lighted Ice lamps General Electric manufactured in later years. 

 Manufacturer's Histories continues...

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CLICK HERE FOR THE TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE AND LINKS TO ALL PAGES ON THIS SITE

TABLE OF CONTENTS       HISTORY       THE TIMELINE       MANUFACTURER'S HISTORIES       THE PATENT PAGES       THE PRE-ELECTRIC ERA      VINTAGE ADVERTISING         THE LIGHT SET GALLERIES         RELATED LINKS         FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS