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Here's a classic G.E. ad from the December 1969 Readers Digest magazine. In it, Santa's little helper implores Mom to buy G.E. Satin Brights because " They shine even when they're off ".  satinbrtad_sml
A set of Japanese made C-9 Bulbs. These are inside frost bulbs, meaning that the color is on the inside of the glass envelope. They can be left outdoors for years, yet will still retain their color.

C9 Inside frosted Bulbs

Here are two series wired C-6 sets shown lighted.

Here is a box of Miniature Base 8 volt bulbs, Made in Japan, part No TU-ST-CO.
The colors from left to right are Red, Magenta, Yellow, Green, and Blue.
They're similar to the ones used in Transformer Powered Christmas lights, but these have a shunt element in them, indicating they were for series wired sets. These bulbs date to the late 1960s.
Through the magic of digital imaging, I added a few more bulbs to the box. Can you tell?
Here's a sample of sub-miniature base Christmas Bulbs from the early 1960s.
The screw base is only 13/64 inch (5 Millimeters) in diameter.
Also shown are 2 modern wedge base bulbs for comparison.
Midget screw in bulbs
Flame bulbs for use in candelabras, from the late 1970s..
The packaging was designed to look like a matchbook.
Still sold today, though they're hard to find. I've seen them at Wal - Mart.
Flame Bulbs
Here are C-7 bulbs in a hard to find canary yellow color, because orange is usually more common among Christmas light bulbs.
These were from Bradlees, another now defunct department store.
Kmart sold metallic finish Christmas bulbs for a brief period, from 2002 to 2004, in C7 and C9 sizes. These bulbs were very similar to the classic G.E. Satin Bright bulbs in that they had a metallic finish and even turned transparent when lit. They're dimmer, though because these bulbs are 5 watts for C-7 and 7 watts for C-9 compared to 7 watts and 9 watts for the old ones. 
A typical carton of Westinghouse C7 bulbs from the 1960s.
The packaging was designed for maximum visibility of the product, which increase the chances of a sale.
Here are 3 Japanese made C7 flasher bulbs in a rare pink color. Or is that magenta?
Anyway these were part of a 5 pack that included the traditional red, orange, green, and blue.
A miniature base blue twinkling star intended for use in C-6 sets. There are 5 blue bulbs at the points of the star and a clear flasher bulb in the center. The base is marked "15 V Japan"
Click the switch
A winker plug also called a flasher plug or blinker plug. You plug this device into any outlet, then plug the light set into it and the entire set will flash on and off. The housing is red bakelite and inside is a heating element and thermal switch.
Reference: U.S. patent #1,720,470, granted July 09, 1929 to Albert. W. Franklin.

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