Welcome to the Yule lights blog! Here is where you'll find more information about my website devoted to classic
Christmas lights and decorations of the postwar baby boom era, from the 1950s to the 1980s.
I started creating this site in 2002 as a way of learning web design and finally put it up in  May of 2007.

How do I feel about Christmas? First ,there is no such thing as a "bad" holiday display.
All displays are nice, from the simplest to those enormous ones you see on the evening news.
Although displaying an  inflatable Nativity is pushing the boundary of good taste. (But that's only my opinion).
Well, O.K. there are a few things that annoy me about "the holidays"
First, it seems like Christmas arrives earlier every year. Traditionally, Christmas started right after Thanksgiving. Then it started after Halloween. now, there are all out store displays before Halloween ! Enough of this already !
Then there are those folks who leave their outdoor lights up year-round. Maybe you think you are saving work, but it looks tacky, the light sets get weathered from sun and rain, and it's an electrical code violation. Yes I take my lights and decorations down after Christmas.

If you're wondering how I acquired my collection, it was obtained from a variety of sources.
So from the least expensive to the most, here goes. First some items were passed down to me from my parents, some were bought at garage sales (why would anyone want to sell their garage?) also consignment and thrift shops - the Salvation Army thrift stores are a great source.
Then there are antique shops, though they are somewhat more expensive. One antiquing hot spot I often go to is the Delaware Water Gap of Pennsylvania, along Route 611 from Portland to the town of Delaware Water Gap.

Finally there's ebaY.  It's a great place for hard to find and even common stuff, just don't expect a bargain.
I've bought General Electric Lighted Ice and Stardust bulbs, Merry Midget light sets and other bulbs there to fill out my collection.
I only had one bad experience so far with a seller who neglected to mention that a vintage box had water damage. That was bad enough, but what really annoyed me was that the seller put tape on the set's box to close it up prior to shipping. You NEVER do that! It took me hours of soaking the  box with solvent before I could get the tape off without tearing the fiberboard. I was not pleased.

I consider my own Christmas display to be average, with a retro look that includes C-7 lights, bubble lights,
and NOEL standard miniature reflector sets. 

I have been using a patriotic color scheme with a row of red, white, and blue lights along the peak of the roof, since 2001 to show support for our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. I will continue to do so until they come home. Looks like I will be doing it again for 2007. < Click the photo to enlarge.

In early 2007, stories appeared in the media about the supposed demise of the incandescent bulb. Several Legislators in the United States and Canada suggested banning the sale of incandescent bulbs for household lighting because they are very inefficient. My first thought was "Oh no, they're going  to kill Christmas Lights! After all, most Christmas Lights use miniature incandescent light bulbs. Will there be an exemption for decorative lighting ? If regular Christmas Lights are going to become extinct, it should be due to changing tastes, not some over zealous politicians. (But that's only my opinion).

In the past few years I have seen Christmas Lights that use Light Emitting Diodes or L.E.D.s. These sets have been gaining in popularity and got a BIG boost when they were used on the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in New York City in 2007.
These L.E.D. bulbs have advantages over conventional bulbs.
    L.E.D.s use less electricity, about 10 % of what is used by incandescent bulbs.
    They last longer - L.E.D.s have a theoretically unlimited life and will only burn out if damaged, or if the wires corrode.
    The light from L.E.D.s is purer and will never fade, meaning redder reds, greener greens, and, you get the idea !
But there are also a few disadvantages.
    Christmas Lights that use L.E.D.s are more expensive, about twice the cost of ones that use conventional bulbs.
    An L.E.D. bulb only emits light over a narrow viewing angle, which requires an optical diffuser.
    Also, I have noticed some L.E.D. sets have a slight flicker, which a few people may find objectionable.

10/05/2007
I have just found scientific proof on the internet that Christmas light strings really do tangle themselves into knots when in storage!
This is according to research by Douglas Smith and Dorian Raymer of the University of California, San Diego.
Read the complete article at  http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/071003-knots-form.html

11/08/07
Just did a market analysis of Christmas lights at a few local merchants and about half of their stock consists of LED sets, so we are obviously in a transition era. Once the price of these new sets comes down, I predict that will mean the end of traditional incandescent Christmas lights.
So if you have any of these sets, keep them. If past history is any indication, there will be a core of traditionalists who will continue to use the incandescent light sets. Hey, vinyl LP records are still around 25 years after the audio CD was invented, so there is hope.

01/01/08
Happy New Year! I hope everyone survived the past Christmas season and wish you well for 2008.
If you want to see more videos of bubble lights, go to YouTube and do a search for "Christmas bubble lights"  I found several nice videos there.
The old bulbs are becoming harder to find. As of 2007, Twinkle bulbs were still sold at Kmart and Walgreens, while bubble lights and flame bulbs were found at Wal mart.

What's next? I will be adding more light sets to the site and will be redoing the photographs of many sets to make them look more three dimensional. I am also working on a page to show how to test and identify unknown bulbs.

I now have an e-mail account just for this site!
Perhaps you have a question or comment, or want to point out an error or omission in the information on my site. I am always doing research and appreciate additional information. So, if you have any information to contribute, please email me at the address below.
If you would like to contact me just fire up your favorite email program, and type in, or copy/paste, the following address, replacing (at) with @.

yulelights(at)entermail.net
Remember there's a .net at the end, not .com
I have to do it this way to foil spammers. This is webmail so please limit any attachments to under 1MB.
I am still busy with my job, doing yard work, and now it's finally spring! But I can still find time to add stuff now and then.

From the webmaster.
J. S. Pilliteri

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