OldChristmasTreeLights.com

Hi everyone, this photo is a close-up of a putz village photo circa 1920's, 1930's; we're wondering if the streetlights shown were commercially available or homemade--see the photo below--and see the entire scene here http://www.cardboardchristmas.com/forum ... f=17&t=665

Hi Maria, yes these were commercially made by lionel. I had some of these and crossing lights in the same base style. These pictures bring back memories! My father bought our lionel train layout around 1956 or 57 so they must have made them for quite awhile .Although he did later tell me that the layout was very old, (an antique) when he bought it. I did see some of these on ebay last week listed under the Vintage Christmas Lights heading. Great pictures. gary-g.

Thank you. I simply must get two or three of the gooseneck type--if I can afford them and will keep an eye out on ebay.

Gary, would those have had round bulbs at first?

This isn't exactly the same thing, but I used some specialty Christmas lamp sets to make gooseneck lamps for my outside railroad. No bases, expensive tool, but maybe worth a look:

http://www.familygardentrains.com/prime ... _lamps.htm

Hi Paul, yes they did have round bulbs. They were around 7/16" or 1/2" in dia. They had kind of a frost or very fine quilted finish to make them appear almost white. I have seen bulbs similiar to that style on ebay but have not paid much attention to price. Maria, I did some checking on ebay for the gooseneck streetlights. They were listed on June 25, so you could look them up if they are still listed. Brace yourself though,one is listed for $34.95 the other is $ 47.50! Ouch! If I come across any more, I will post it.

Thanks, Gary, that's what I thought.

Noma made Gard-n-Lites very similar to these that used C-6 miniature-based lamps. Those in the photo are probably Noma because they came with GE Mazda lamps. They were manufactured in the late 1920s/early 1930s. Here is a link to the 1928-29 Noma catalog depicting these lights on page 13: https://www.flickr.com/photos/markdpodm ... 313644804/

Thanks for the link to the old catalog. Back in the day, putz villages were called "Train Gardens" or "Christmas Gardens" in the Baltimore/DC area and a few other east cost cities - that might be why they called the lampposts "gard-n-lights."

Paul, those copper goose neck post lamps look great. Would be neat too with some miniature radial wave heads if they made them.