BulbCollector Forums
BULB DISCUSSION BOARDS => Christmas Lighting => Topic started by: lalababy on June 14, 2008, 01:09:40 pm
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Hello, I am hoping that someone may be able to give me a bit of advice or even just a bit of history on Osram christmas lights. I found them in my Nanas house when clearing them out about ten years ago and found them in a recent attic clearout. As i know nothing about the items i am wondering if they are collectables. My partner wants to throw them out but it seems a shame if they would make someone really happy to have them. I do not know how to add a picture but if anyone wants to see a picture i would email a one.
The box has a field like picture with christmas elves dancing around a pot at the end of a rainbow.
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Hi and welcome to the forum. By all means ? don?t just throw the lights out! They may not be the most collectible vintage xmas lights, but someone will probably find them interesting. The best way to locate an interested party would be this forum or eBay. Below is a picture of an Osram set that I have ? does your set look similar? I don?t have a lot of information or history on these light sets since they aren?t American-made but perhaps someone else reading this can provide more history.
RE: posting pictures - when posting or modifying a new topic, look for the attachment option near the bottom of the page below the large text box where you typed your message in. Just keep the size of the pictures under 196kb and it should work without any issues. If all else fails, email the photos directly to me and I'll be happy to post them here.
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Nice European Osram set there Tim, as far as I know those are/were popular in Germany and other countries where it is traditional to use mainly just white lights on trees. I don`t think that style was particularly common here in the UK though.
I think the set in question is a more traditional British medium-sized series wired 12-bulb set, comparable to the American "C6" series sets. I might even have an example of one with that same colourful box artwork somewhere here. See attached - excuse the poor photo, it`s from years ago and finding that set to take a better one could take some time. I couldn`t find a picture of the lights inside on file, but I have included another old one of a different set which should be similar. As I remember, the Osram set is basically the same layout inside, but the bulbs could be a slightly different shape.
I don`t know a lot about these lights, but perhaps dating from around the 1960s, though the 12-bulb style set was extremely popular from after the war (tended to be normally 16 lights before then) until miniature lights took over in the late 70s. Loads of people made/sold them, and those I have seen are all of a similar construction, bayonet plug to fit a standard wall or table lamp in place of the bulb, then wired in series around in a loop. One bulb goes and they all go out, then you have to hunt through them all for the bad one to get them to work again. They are still fairly collectable especially if the lights themselves are working or otherwise in good condition. Ebay would be a good place to start, even the bulbs listed on their own always seem to sell for a few ???s, although as with anything seasonal, it can vary with the time of year.
:)