BulbCollector Forums
BULB DISCUSSION BOARDS => Christmas Lighting => Topic started by: orpheus428 on December 18, 2002, 03:31:00 am
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hello..
I was seeking some petal reflectors with ballast type effect. also looking for regular cone shaped transparent colored lights. I believe they are called GE cool brites but likely have been produced in many other places. they were popular in the late 50s into the 60s and perhaps beyond. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks!
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Welcome to the forums orpheus428,
Just by chance I came upon these old reflectors:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2150499421 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2150499421)
Would these happen to be what you are looking for? I really don't know a thing about them - can you describe what a ballast effect is?
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Tim
Kilokat's Antique Light Bulb Site (http://www.bulbcollector.com)
Mountain Dew Collectibles, Volume I (http://www.dewcollector.com)
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Hello
nope. those are not what I was looking for, I do ciate the effort though. The lights Iseek are like this.,, imagine the common tiny multi colored lights you buy at Wal-Mart. then add a small clear color tinted plastic flower petal around each of those bulbs. and instead of just blinking like these new one do, these lights actually blink slow and also burn on and off. imagine if you had the set hooked upto a dimmer switch and you went brom full open bright and slowly ran the dimer switch down to off and started all over again. it has a very calming effet. A very nic collector told me these were technically called Ballast sets. Not sure why thy are termed as such,but i think it has something to do with something wired into the line that causes the voltage to slowly raise and deminish in the effect it does. hope this seems clear. I really seek these light. again, thanks for taking the time!!
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The light style you describe sound like what were commonly called "Italian Lights". They were around in the 50s and often had non-replaceable bulbs. There were also mini-light bulbs of the more modern type, sold in later years, that had petal shades round them. Search the auctions at Ebay and you might get lucky, I`ve seen many Italian Lights sets in the past, and also those reflectors- you can just use a new minilight set and swap out the bulbs into those reflectors.
As for the "Ballast Set" idea, it`s very possible that the lights were controlled by an external device, either wired permanently to them, or plugged in to. Unlikely that anything built into reflectors/sockets could create a fading control. I have not heard of these before, but do know of a modern device that would do a similar thing with any type of lights you care to plug into it.
http://simplylighting.com (http://simplylighting.com) have a device called a "Fading Adapter" - it is a two way plug-in device that will fade two circuits of lights back and forth. Capable of driving 600 modern minilights per channel, and I believe you can plug just one set of lights in to just one of its outlets and achieve a slow fade on/off as you describe. If you couple one of these faders with a "regular" vintage light set, it should come close to what you`re seeking.
Hope this helps.
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visit my world of electrical things that glow! (http://electriclights.tripod.com)
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It certainly worth a shot to try. as i remember these lights could very well have been from the 50s-60s.
Ilearned of the ballast lights on another web site www.oldchristmaslights.com (http://www.oldchristmaslights.com) they have a few examples of ballast lights from the 50s. the effect they describe is correct but havent found the exact style yet.
thanks!
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I found them!
Here's the page:
http://www.oldchristmaslights.com/1950s_lights_page_2.htm (http://www.oldchristmaslights.com/1950s_lights_page_2.htm)
The first and last items on the page seem to be what orpheus428 is describing.
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Alan "A.J." Franzman
Email: a.j.franzman at verizon dot net
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[This message has been edited by Alan Franzman (edited December 18, 2002).]
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Yes, that is the effect I spoke of and desire to find. Though neither of those particular sets were the style. these are multi colored just like the ones you might purchase at Wal-Mart, but also have little floral color tinted plastic petal type shades. they wernt very big. and they had the same effect as the described Ballast sets. If anyone ever sees any please let me know.
thanks!
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quote:
Originally posted by orpheus428:
instead of just blinking like these new one do, these lights actually blink slow and also burn on and off. imagine if you had the set hooked upto a dimmer switch and you went brom full open bright and slowly ran the dimer switch down to off and started all over again. it has a very calming effet.
Someone on rec.antiques.radio posted this link - seems like it might be fitting here:
http://home.netcom.com/~wa2ise/radios/xmassp.html (http://home.netcom.com/~wa2ise/radios/xmassp.html)