I had no idea - just thought all bubble lights were the same. Thanks for the great information. I can remember the very first time I saw them on the tree. I was mesmerized. They're beautiful!
I have a very useful hint for anyone who collects the C6 style bubble lights. Ever since I was a kid in the 60's, I've been fascinated with bubble lights. Unfortunately, the C6's don't last as long as the C7's. The C6's were very bright and ran hot. Before I made my discovery, I would cringe when turning them on as there would be a good chance that one would burn out - just think, most of these original C6 bubble lights are around 70 years old on average. The C6's typically were sold in sets of 8, sometimes 9 and of course, when one burned out the entire set was out as they were wired in series. If you have a set with 9 bulbs, this solution probably won't be necessary. So, you want to make your C6's last about 10 times longer? All you have to do is add one more light onto the set - remember, these are wired in series. You will need another C6 socket. This just makes the bulbs a little dimmer and definitely operate cooler - a safety bonus. This is no exaggeration, if you wire in one more bulb, they will last at least 10 times longer (I've been collecting bubble lights for many years). The prices on Ebay become higher each year, so this is definitely a money-saving solution. If you are a little skittish with electrical, then find someone who is competent doing electrical work. Of course, this also works with other types of C6 Christmas bulb. Hope you guys try this out. This is a very informative site - someone has done their homework.
That's a good piece of advice, especially if folks have the ability to solder a new socket into a set. I know many folks that run their series bubble lights on 10 or even 11 socket sets. However, you still run the chance of immediate burn-out when you first turn them on. An old light bulb filament goes from ambient room temp to nearly 5000 degrees in a nanosecond, when just turned on. That is where I have discovered that most burn-outs happen. However, most collectors of antique and vintage Christmas lighting use dimmer switches. That way you can gradually bring up the lights very slowly, then you can set them at a lower wattage to help prolong their life. If you check out my other videos you will see my video on how to build a 600 watt dimmer box on a budget. Here is the link for that video. Keep having fun with your lighting!!! ruclips.net/video/esct6ZFnDPA/видео.html
When I was a kid I was fascinated by these when I saw them on my friends trees...but we never had any at our house....I need to get some so I can finally have some on my own tree.
I hear ya....My parents were too cheap to buy such foolishness. My grandfather had two bubble light trees in his house and I was always mezmerized by them. It's no wonder I collect.
@@c6lites Yes, thats why you collect them now I bet...We had other types of lights but never the bubble lights...I guess they may have been kinda expensive in those days (the mid 60s)...but at least we had other lights for sure lol
Heh Scot. I've been checking out your relamping videos and they are really helpful. I followed your instructions and took apart my first bubble light last night. Worked great! Ordering replacement bulbs soon and picking up some aleenes glue today. I'm now kicking myself because years ago I pitched about six bad lights not knowing that they could be fixed! What a bad move. I'll try and get more to repair now. Oh yeah. When I used the razor knife to separate the base I used gloves and sat the base down horizontally in the center of the heavy cardboard tube which was the core for a roll of twine. Fit snug and held the base securely while I separated the two halves. Take care buddy!
Hi Charles, Glad you liked the video. Have fun relamping, although I know it can be quite a pain in the a$%. Be sure to reach out if you have any problems. I belong to a wonderful facebook page of vintage lighting collectors, where we all share some of our goodies and knowledge. If you are a facebook person you may want to check it out. Here is the site address facebook.com/groups/1731759127043838/ Anyway, I hope you have fun with your lighting and know that you can always reach out to me should you have any questions. Thanks for you kind words in your previous post. Stay safe and light on!!!!!!!!!
Very interesting! My grandmother used to have a night light that looked exactly like the first light on the top left side. It was kind of neat to look at. I didn’t know that there were multiple different color variations. I actually didn’t even know that they were that old either.
A few folks have made reproduction Oil tubes, that you can put in your own base. Christopher Radko remade the Paramount bubble light bases about 15 years ago so many folks will put a new oil tube into a Radko base to create their own Paramount oil bubble light. There is a new person that is claiming to make oil bubble lights, who sells them on Etsy right now. I think each bubble light is about $50 each?? You can email me if you are interested and I will try to direct you. We have a pair of fellas that make oil tubes on my facebook page. So you can join the page and try to reach out to both creators. facebook.com/groups/475901481145293 please be sure to answer all entrance questions.
i beliieve we met you at a shoiw in Timonium in MD years ago.. We had a great convo about lights but I forgot to give you my card and get yours! Fabulous video about bubble lights!!
That sure sounds like me!!! LOL I will talk to anyone about Xmas Lights. I used to go to Timonium show regularly. I hope you are collecting and using old Lights. I also have a facebook page if you happen to be a facebooker facebook.com/groups/475901481145293
I remember these as a Kid, my mom had a set. What's funny though is what reminded me of these was Lava Lamps. I'm getting back into a lava lamp collection, and was looking something up and it referenced bubble lights. Then I found this video and am watching it now. I don't remember what style we had. It was quite a long time ago. Interesting video though.
Thanks for posting. I have never seen good video of a shooting star light before. That is a great effect. I can see why they are highly sought after. ;-) I will (hopefully) be at the Pittsburgh Glow next year.
Glad you liked, I began to see that newer collectors needed help realizing the differences between bubble lights, especially Shooters. I am going to repost the video after I've fixed a few things. I forgot to mention that even though the oil shooters were only produced for one year, they continued to use the same identical box throughout. So the later methylene chloride lights came in the same box, making it hard to tell unless you see the lights in action or if you can see the 2 liquids in an oil shooter.
Scott, I loved your christmas bubble light house tour...so magical...Just found this video thank you so much very informative...Merry Christmas wishes, to you.... thanks for sharing the magic.
One of the most nerve wracking videos, " here is a super rare one of a kind shooting star light " - ( handles it like it's a kid toy made out of solid plastic ) Yeow ! Shooting stars are really cool, you have a good one there, DONT BREAK IT
That red and blue base Shooting Star is probably one of the better operating ones I have seen. I wish you would make a good close up video of just that shooting star for at least 30 seconds. It looks like someone juggling
Wonderful job outlying the history of your beautiful collection! My folks had some of these on our tree when I was a child in the 80’s. I don’t know what ever became of them, which makes me a little sad. But this takes me back. Thank you!
@@c6lites could you help me identify my bubble lights. They came in a box from the late forties but don't know if they are from the forties. And it's a less talked about style.
@@bubbs1881 Hi there, I will be happy to help you identify your bubble lights. My two videos, should have identified anything from the later 40's as I have included all types that were made, from the 40's, up thru the 1960's. Perhaps you only looked at the Part 1 video. Here is a link to the part 2 that will continue where part 1 leaves off. ruclips.net/video/OdqC-GPOpNA/видео.html If this doesn't help....you can always email pictures of the lights in question to c6lites@hotmail.com let me know
@@c6lites thanks for the help, so mine are the tulip type. The big sister to the rocket ship. Made by noma what year was that? I got it in a box that was from the forties but I am not for sure if that is really the decade.
Thought the video was very informative. I , too, am a collector so am pretty well versed but have never seen a painted tube before that was not on a Russian set. Ever. That would be super rare! Also might disagree on the color fading on shooter tubes. Have seen lots of dark colors survive no problem. Suspect you are correct that they all started out clear but colors were added further into production. Also, the C6 Clemco version of the Goodlite had a little waist, like an hourglass, near the bottom of the glass tube to help snap them into the base. Good work.
Excuse me sir, i am wondering is you can help me, i have these lights as well that i got from my dad who passed away so i can’t ask him about them, the lights work but one of the sockets has gone bad, where would i be able to buy a new strand or even a new socket to replace the old socket? ... I am not actually sure what kind of strands they are that these lights screw into
I have one of the stands for my counter top. when i got it down for decorating this year, one of my bulbs does not have any liquid in it. And it has no visible break. how does that happen? Thanks!
If you want to use or collect vintage bubble lights, you must be prepared to work with old things. In case you don't know, most of the lights in these videos are C6 or miniature base lights and series lights to boot. If one light blows out or comes unscrewed, the whole set goes out and won't light till you go thru all 8 to 10 lights on the entire strand to find and replace the dead one. Most of the lights in these videos are over 60-70 years old. The ones in the video in the back are candelabra base (night light base) or C7 size and the will stay lit if one goes out. There are no c6 bubble lights being made today as all series lights were discontinued about 1973. However C7 bubble lights are still made and offered today and you may find them at certain stores and websites. Most collectors get their vintage lights on Ebay, Etsy and other online sites. You can also start going to local estate sales, tag-yard sales, antique shops and such to try and find vintage ones. Have fun and good luck finding your bubble lights.
What kind of strands do these bulbs screw into? c6? I have these bulbs but that actual sockets have gone bad and i can’t figure out where to buy a new strand or a new socket to replace the old socket?
WOW, I've never seen a holder like that for the bubble lights. Are those available as well? having this as a display for Christmas time would be wonderful!
I used to have one of those Santa bubble light holders, I lost it years ago. Looking for another or some old plastic Christmas figurine I can put some light sockets in.
uhh, wow, i need to apparently look for bubble light videos more often!! I haven't looked in about 5 years at bubble light videos, noticed this year they seem to be very scarce. And of course like 12 of mine out of the gate this year are blown, so they have been set aside to hopefully put new lamps in. they are vintage to me, 90s i reckon... they had a good run :) Also, noticed there doesn't appear to be much activity on the Christmas by Carlisle site, anyone know if he is still alive? I know he was getting up there in age... Anyway, Loved bubble lights my whole life. Have ONE set of minis left, those were always my favorite, but happy to meet a community apparently also enthused by bubble lights :)
Glad you found the video. The video mostly covers things from 1946 till the early 1970's and then cuts off after that. I would go crazy if I tried to keep up with things made after that. LOLOL. Keep in mind that this video is only part 1. There is a second video as well. If you want to know more about Tom Carlisle you can reach out on my new face book page. Here is a link to it. facebook.com/groups/475901481145293 Hope to see you there
New collector here, what kind of voltage do these run on? Some people test the bulbs with a 9V battery. Are C6 candoliers hard to find? I have some vintage Noma bubble lights but no cord to test them, yet. Thank you!
Always glad to meet a new collector, welcome to the fold. There are Series lights that are in the front candolier in the video. They are 14-15 volt each and run in series of 8 or 9 sockets, thereby sharing the 110 volt being fed into the strand or candolier. In series lights, IF ONE GOES OUT THEY ALL GO OUT. The ones in the back candolier in the video are candelabra base and all are 110 volt each. They run in a parallel line and all use 100 volt. So if one goes out the rest stay lit. I hope this makes sense. Regular 8 light candle lights (tall candles) in c6 are common and easily found at yard sales, goodwill, and estate sales all year long. The fastest way to find them is Ebay. NOW, the c6 bubble light candoliers (the front ones in the video) are getting much harder to find. Only a few pop up on ebay per year. So If you want one of them I suggest hitting ebay and keep looking for them. If you just want cords for your bubble lights, they are quite easy to find, estate sales, yard sales, church sales and antique shops have them. I have even seen them in Goodwill. You can check c6 lights with a 9 volt battery, but not c7. I now carry a continuity tester sold by Ace hardware, that way I can test all light bulbs. Always happy to help new collectors, so you can always email me at c6lites@gmail.com Good luck and have fun with your lights.
c6lites Great video! I am very interested in acquiring some Paramount oil bubble tubes. Any suggestions on where to get them? Are there any modern replicas that can be purchased?
Hi Brian, Finding the Paramount bubble lights/tubes is pretty much relegated to Ebay now. If you are a member of the Golden Glow, then you can go to the convention and pic some up. I was there this year and saw a few, but the prices were thru the roof and it was the same dealers that have had them for the last 10 years (about $80 to $90 each). I have found them in antique shops that I frequent often and even some new shops I have gone into. You need to be ready to scope them out. Many dealers will put them in showcases, so you need to check there. I bought about 8 Krystal Snows out of a bowl in a shop in CT for $11 a piece and when I brought the whole bowl up they knocked them down to $8 a piece. I have been collecting for 40 years (and I am super cheap) so I must admit that I don't have more than 30 or 40 total. You need to scout everywhere for them. If you have tons of money and just want to buy them at retail, you can check the Glow dealers and get them from them, in boxed sets. Remember that you need to check condition on them. Look to see if they have all their teeth, and if there is lots of heat damage. 2 years ago I bought 2 Noma boxed sets of bubble lights cause I noticed someone had swapped out original Noma tubes for the long Krystal Snow tubes. I paid $125 for both 9 light sets took out the tubes and replaced them with the correct Noma tubes and sold both sets for $60 each. I got 7 long oil tubes for $5 and a whole lot of work. LOL I am now waiting to find the white bases with the colored rings to put them in. And the search goes on............Feel free to reach out anytime if you need assistance.
The conference you are asking about is an annual convention put on by The Golden Glow Of Christmas Past organization. In order to attend you will need to pay membership fees to the Golden Glow. Their website is located at goldenglow.org/ If you want to put your feet in the water without paying membership fees you can visit their facebook page at facebook.com/groups/391749117629214/ thru that you will get to know many of their members and see what they are all about. Each year they hold a convention that goes from weds to sat in late july. This year, sadly might be cancelled due to corona. They have many workshops, a huge museum room where you will see things never seen before. Lots of fun thing to do. It does take quite a bit of money. It is a great way to meet tons of folks that are absolutely sick with collecting vintage and antique christmas. One of the best parts of the convention is the Room Hopping. Many of the folks going to the convention will open their hotel rooms filled with tons of great Christmas for sale days and mostly nights. You will find great things and sometimes many great bargains. Keep in mind that they are strict on their age policy of 40 years or more older. Hope this helps, let me know if you want to know more.
Very professionally done, Thanks for this superb documentry. PS, Even though I have a original box of Goodlites, bought a newer shooter from Carlilse (Blasphemy!) Doesn't seem to want to work, any secret on this to get it to activate? Thanks again for this video
Glad you like, I came to realize that new collectors were becoming frustrated about all the subtle differences in bubble lights and especially price differences. So I figured the video would help. As far as your Carlisle shooter goes....I am sure that you paid a lot for it, I think you should contact him and see if he will send you another one. He really stands behind his products, so now is the time to see if he really will. I just posted a long winded reply about stubborn bubblers, so I am going to copy it here, Just remember that sometimes you get one with very little vacuum in the tube and therefore it will always be a bad bubbler. ............ To answer your question…. You can try what many people do…You can take the light and shake it vigorously and put it back and hopefully it will then bubble. One small problem with doing this is that you stand a chance of breaking the filament in the light bulb. Next….Sometimes after years of use the plastic distorts and causes the tube to separate from the light bulb. YOUR TUBE SHOULD ALWAYS SIT RIGHT ONTO THE LIGHT BULB, FOR GOOD HEAT TRANSFER........A fix for this is to soak the bubble light in hot water and remove the bubble tube. Clean off all old glue, then try to get something skinny that you can try to clean off the old glue from the light bulb, BEING SURE NOT TO BREAK THE LIGHT BULB!!!! Next shake the tube vigorously to break up the bubbling medium in the bottom of the tube. Then put a drop of water soluble glue (like Aileen’s) on the bottom of the tube, and place it back into the plastic. Be sure to snug the tube to the light bulb, MAKING SURE NOT TO PUSH TO HARD AND BREAK THE BULB!!! If none of these work then you may just have a bad bubbler, that has bad methylene chloride in it, or little, to no, vacuum in the tube (this is most likely and cannot be fixed) Finally my last advice is to take a penny or nickel and tap the tube right where it comes out of the plastic, this may often get it bubbling. But you may have to do it, every time you light it. Lastly, you may want to join a great Facebook page that I belong to…. Christmas Lighting of Yesterday And Today. Link is here facebook.com/groups/1731759127043838/ this site is filled with most of biggest Xmas lighting dweebs (including Carlisle) that will be happy to help you with Xmas lighting troubles. Plus we all post lots of great Xmas lighting items all year long. You may have to ask to be let in, but they will do that rather quickly. Hope all this helps.
@@c6lites Chris, Thank you so much for your lengthy response! Got it to go by waving it back and forth and taping it. It seemed to have a bubble at the bottom that was "heaving" like lava trying to break free. I'm a bit scared to tap too hard, I burned out a vintage red oil that way! I recovered after they talked me off the ledge, but I kept it, so I will try to relamp. Also have about 10 Merry Glows. Love those! Thanks kindly for the reply again.
I'm not trying to be smart, but that is like asking me if a car I have never seen is worth buying. If you want to send me pics you can send to c6lites@gmail.com and I'll take a look (be sure to tell me that you are Harley D, so I will recognize. Most of all bubble lights are fun and harmless (just don't break the tube, as it contains what is essentially paint stripper). The biggest concern is whether or not the strings they are in, are in good safe electrical condition. I use old lights sets from the 1910's thru the 1970's with no mishap, but I know what I am doing.
I have been collecting for nearly 40 years. I go to estate auctions, flea markets, antique stores, shows, etc..... I have found them everywhere. I have been in the antiquing business for years so I am attuned to looking for this stuff. Nowadays you see much less of it around and Ebay is the one place to pretty much find everything. But you have to shop smartly. There is currently a fella on Ebay that is selling oil and oil shooters that have new tubes in them and presenting them like they are original tubes. Schiester!! That's why I did this video so that folks will have a brief intro into bubble lights.
Yes, You can normally get C6 strands on ebay rather easily. You may want to keep in mind that the best strands are the 9 light Straight-Line strands. They are not in a loop arrangement, but they run out in a straight line. They also come with 9 sockets as opposed to the normal 8 socket sets that are normally the loop construction. I just sold a Straight-Line set on my Facebook pages market page. You may want to join my facebook page and the market page to align yourself with a group of Vintage Christmas Lighting Dweebs!!! LOL it can be found here... please be sure to answer all entrance questions....facebook.com/groups/475901481145293 if you just want 8 socket loop sets....I have a bunch of them for sale on our market page at much cheaper prices than you will get on Ebay
@@mattdavis5603 You joined the other group, not my group. My page has the market with the C6 strands for sale at super cheap prices. But you may be able to get some on their page too. All the best
@@c6lites I went ahead and requested to join the correct group this time. I was confused because looking through replies here, I have seen you link to the Yesteryear group.
Cool, I let you in. Both groups have great and knowledgable folks in them. i thought you wanted to get into our market to see the C6 Strands that were available. Anyway, nice to have you in the group and hope to see your Bubble lights up and in use real soon.
Why don't you just ask your question first and I'll see if I can help. I have recently noticed spammer/scammer activity on the comments for my videos and I am not real cool on just giving out my email till I know who I am dealing with.
Yes, they have gotten to be very collectible now!!! So the prices are going thru the roof. With the popularity of Mid Century Modern items, this piece has just sky rocketed. Last Christmas season, I believe a few sold for over $500 and $700. But folks get really stupid at that time of year, soooooo....
@@duanemartin7742 Yes The light show those toppers is real cool. As a far a bubble lights...you need to be more specific. There are tons of $25-35 bubble lights on fleabay at any given time. Is there something specific you are asking about? And ....please don't say oils or shooters......as they have now skyrocketed as well. LOL BTW if you are a facebook person, you might want to check out our page, where we also have separate Marketplace page as well The group is called Christmas Lighting Of Yesterday And Today. here's the link. You have to ask to be let in and answer our three admission questions as well. facebook.com/groups/1731759127043838/
@@duanemartin7742 LOL apparently you didn't take much away from the bubble light 101 videos. There were no PRE WWII bubble lights. Only the prototypes were released in 1943 or 44 in a limited run. The bubble lites were then fully released after WWII in 1947. So the oils were only sold in 1947. And for the price range you are asking about, you will be hard pressed to find any oils. The Krystal Snow oils have skyrocketed to $125-$175 per individual bulb. The regular, Non Krystal Snows are going for about $125 each. You need to really search and take many chances. You may try to buy a group of Paramounts (like 6 of them) for, Maybe, $150 right now and you might get lucky and get all oils or possibly one in the group. Folks used to get oils in group lots of bubble lights, but buyers now are emailing the sellers and asking if "That One with the ring" has watery liquid or Oil type liquid. so most of the surprise oils are still bring huge money, even when in groups. If you go to flea markets and Antique shops you may stumble on some oils that way. that is how I got most of mine. Dealers just put them in a bowl and charged $10 a piece for them. But those days are really pretty gone. Most dealers looke everything they get up on fleabay and become edumacated that way. Best of luck. You should come join our page, you will see tons of great stuff there.
Yes, in the 80's, bubble lights got real bad. only green and red bases, and only yellow and red tubes. UGLY!!! Glad to hear that you appreciate the older styles.
@@c6lites I wanna say ours had diff colors but I cant remember....I mean they were not as old as yours but loved them and me and my mom are HUGE fans of imperial molds for halloween and xmas decor
@@c6lites There was also bubble lights with clear bases and coloured light bulbs in the 1980's. [I actually own a set (with another one but with clear light bulbs on the way) that I had recently bought from eBay, which was from the very late 1980's (1989), that is of the Noma brand.]
@@StevenVillman You are correct, Many other styles of bubble lights have been released since they were first created. The reason for this video was to help educate new collectors about vintage and the earlier bubble lights. I found that many collectors were having troubles with identifying the early bubble lights, especially the oil tube, and shooter tube bubble lights. The prices on oils and shooters are now peaking at crazy prices like $45 to $125 per individual light. There are many folks selling bubble lights to new collectors with no education and trying to deceive their buyers. The later bubble lights are fun and worthy of using, but don't sell for the bigger money, like the early ones do. My cut off date was about 1973 when the C6 style bubblers were no longer sold. That is sort of where most collectors interest ends.
@@c6lites How many different versions of bubble lights were there that were made by Noma in the 1980's, and early and mid-1990's? (I only know of 2 varieties, which is with 2 sub-varieties of one of them - the clear casing variety.) I'm interested in bubble lights of all kinds, so long as they are not made in China [the late 1990's was when bubble lights were being made almost exclusively in China, which were the last kind of Christmas lights in which Chinese manufacturers started producing there, which is where I place the cut-off point for vintage bubble lights (bubble lights from the early 1940's to the mid-1970's or late 1970's are the ones that I consider to be antique ones)].
The C6 marbled base is made by Royal from teh 1950's normally called a Royal Bubble light Candolier sometimes battleship. The red one is a Christhopher Radko Bubble Brite or light candolier from the 2000's
@@savingsoul That's fine as long as you only want a C7 stand. Most collectors want to display their C6 bubble lights. There is a fella on my facebook Xmas Lighting page that changed the sockets and wiring in a Radko C7 and it looks good, but he took the long and jerry rigged way of doing it, but it looks ok. Us purists are more interested in doing things the solid and correct way. In his credit...he was afraid of having to solder, so he did the best he could do. LOL It does look good though. Here's my facebook page if you are interested in collecting Xmas lighting items.. We have a big bunch of dweebs there. LOL facebook.com/groups/475901481145293
Very Interesting info - loved these bubble lights when I was a child! 🎄🎄
These lights are just so cool. There all over my house when it’s Christmas time. I LOVE them.
I had no idea - just thought all bubble lights were the same. Thanks for the great information. I can remember the very first time I saw them on the tree. I was mesmerized. They're beautiful!
I literally found some blue clear bubble lights at the goodwill for 1.00$
I have a very useful hint for anyone who collects the C6 style bubble lights. Ever since I was a kid in the 60's, I've been fascinated with bubble lights. Unfortunately, the C6's don't last as long as the C7's. The C6's were very bright and ran hot. Before I made my discovery, I would cringe when turning them on as there would be a good chance that one would burn out - just think, most of these original C6 bubble lights are around 70 years old on average. The C6's typically were sold in sets of 8, sometimes 9 and of course, when one burned out the entire set was out as they were wired in series. If you have a set with 9 bulbs, this solution probably won't be necessary. So, you want to make your C6's last about 10 times longer? All you have to do is add one more light onto the set - remember, these are wired in series. You will need another C6 socket. This just makes the bulbs a little dimmer and definitely operate cooler - a safety bonus. This is no exaggeration, if you wire in one more bulb, they will last at least 10 times longer (I've been collecting bubble lights for many years). The prices on Ebay become higher each year, so this is definitely a money-saving solution. If you are a little skittish with electrical, then find someone who is competent doing electrical work. Of course, this also works with other types of C6 Christmas bulb. Hope you guys try this out. This is a very informative site - someone has done their homework.
That's a good piece of advice, especially if folks have the ability to solder a new socket into a set. I know many folks that run their series bubble lights on 10 or even 11 socket sets. However, you still run the chance of immediate burn-out when you first turn them on. An old light bulb filament goes from ambient room temp to nearly 5000 degrees in a nanosecond, when just turned on. That is where I have discovered that most burn-outs happen. However, most collectors of antique and vintage Christmas lighting use dimmer switches. That way you can gradually bring up the lights very slowly, then you can set them at a lower wattage to help prolong their life. If you check out my other videos you will see my video on how to build a 600 watt dimmer box on a budget. Here is the link for that video. Keep having fun with your lighting!!! ruclips.net/video/esct6ZFnDPA/видео.html
THANK YOU so much for making this video. Really interesting and helpful information. Love hearing the history too !
When I was a kid I was fascinated by these when I saw them on my friends trees...but we never had any at our house....I need to get some so I can finally have some on my own tree.
I hear ya....My parents were too cheap to buy such foolishness. My grandfather had two bubble light trees in his house and I was always mezmerized by them. It's no wonder I collect.
@@c6lites Yes, thats why you collect them now I bet...We had other types of lights but never the bubble lights...I guess they may have been kinda expensive in those days (the mid 60s)...but at least we had other lights for sure lol
Some old man really glued up the ones I am trying to open! lol Great info!! Thanks!
I just got one of theses from my partners grandmother I didn’t know what it was until I saw your video :) I think it’s so cool
Heh Scot. I've been checking out your relamping videos and they are really helpful. I followed your instructions and took apart my first bubble light last night. Worked great! Ordering replacement bulbs soon and picking up some aleenes glue today. I'm now kicking myself because years ago I pitched about six bad lights not knowing that they could be fixed! What a bad move. I'll try and get more to repair now. Oh yeah. When I used the razor knife to separate the base I used gloves and sat the base down horizontally in the center of the heavy cardboard tube which was the core for a roll of twine. Fit snug and held the base securely while I separated the two halves. Take care buddy!
Hi Charles, Glad you liked the video. Have fun relamping, although I know it can be quite a pain in the a$%. Be sure to reach out if you have any problems. I belong to a wonderful facebook page of vintage lighting collectors, where we all share some of our goodies and knowledge. If you are a facebook person you may want to check it out. Here is the site address facebook.com/groups/1731759127043838/ Anyway, I hope you have fun with your lighting and know that you can always reach out to me should you have any questions. Thanks for you kind words in your previous post. Stay safe and light on!!!!!!!!!
Very interesting! My grandmother used to have a night light that looked exactly like the first light on the top left side. It was kind of neat to look at. I didn’t know that there were multiple different color variations. I actually didn’t even know that they were that old either.
very nice job with a lot of information ........
I was mesmerized by these in the 60's on our tree.
I love the look of those champagne like oil lights. I hope they do recreations of them even if we have to pay more for them.
A few folks have made reproduction Oil tubes, that you can put in your own base. Christopher Radko remade the Paramount bubble light bases about 15 years ago so many folks will put a new oil tube into a Radko base to create their own Paramount oil bubble light. There is a new person that is claiming to make oil bubble lights, who sells them on Etsy right now. I think each bubble light is about $50 each?? You can email me if you are interested and I will try to direct you. We have a pair of fellas that make oil tubes on my facebook page. So you can join the page and try to reach out to both creators. facebook.com/groups/475901481145293 please be sure to answer all entrance questions.
i beliieve we met you at a shoiw in Timonium in MD years ago.. We had a great convo about lights but I forgot to give you my card and get yours! Fabulous video about bubble lights!!
That sure sounds like me!!! LOL I will talk to anyone about Xmas Lights. I used to go to Timonium show regularly. I hope you are collecting and using old Lights. I also have a facebook page if you happen to be a facebooker facebook.com/groups/475901481145293
I remember these as a Kid, my mom had a set. What's funny though is what reminded me of these was Lava Lamps. I'm getting back into a lava lamp collection, and was looking something up and it referenced bubble lights. Then I found this video and am watching it now. I don't remember what style we had. It was quite a long time ago. Interesting video though.
Thanks, glad you liked it.
Thanks for posting. I have never seen good video of a shooting star light before. That is a great effect. I can see why they are highly sought after. ;-) I will (hopefully) be at the Pittsburgh Glow next year.
Glad you liked, I began to see that newer collectors needed help realizing the differences between bubble lights, especially Shooters. I am going to repost the video after I've fixed a few things. I forgot to mention that even though the oil shooters were only produced for one year, they continued to use the same identical box throughout. So the later methylene chloride lights came in the same box, making it hard to tell unless you see the lights in action or if you can see the 2 liquids in an oil shooter.
Thx found some in a old barn this summer now I can figure out what they r 👍🏻
GREAT VIDEO!!
Maravilloso 🤩felicitaciones que articulo decorativo de Navidad tan bonito y mágico 😊felicitaciones
Subscribed! Love your videos
Many thanks, Glad you like. Always here to help vintage Christmas light collectors.
Scott, I loved your christmas bubble light house tour...so magical...Just found this video thank you so much very informative...Merry Christmas wishes, to you.... thanks for sharing the magic.
Thanks, I very glad you enjoyed. It's great fun to help folks with their Christmas lighting!!
One of the most nerve wracking videos,
" here is a super rare one of a kind shooting star light " - ( handles it like it's a kid toy made out of solid plastic )
Yeow !
Shooting stars are really cool, you have a good one there, DONT BREAK IT
That red and blue base Shooting Star is probably one of the better operating ones I have seen. I wish you would make a good close up video of just that shooting star for at least 30 seconds.
It looks like someone juggling
Wonderful job outlying the history of your beautiful collection! My folks had some of these on our tree when I was a child in the 80’s. I don’t know what ever became of them, which makes me a little sad. But this takes me back. Thank you!
Thanks, glad you like!!! Maybe you should get some for your Christmas tree to take you back to your parents tree.
@@c6lites could you help me identify my bubble lights. They came in a box from the late forties but don't know if they are from the forties. And it's a less talked about style.
@@bubbs1881 Hi there, I will be happy to help you identify your bubble lights. My two videos, should have identified anything from the later 40's as I have included all types that were made, from the 40's, up thru the 1960's. Perhaps you only looked at the Part 1 video. Here is a link to the part 2 that will continue where part 1 leaves off. ruclips.net/video/OdqC-GPOpNA/видео.html If this doesn't help....you can always email pictures of the lights in question to c6lites@hotmail.com let me know
@@c6lites thanks for the help, so mine are the tulip type. The big sister to the rocket ship. Made by noma what year was that? I got it in a box that was from the forties but I am not for sure if that is really the decade.
@@bubbs1881 The Noma Tulips had a long run. They were produced from about 1947-1960's?? Glad you were able to figure out your bubblers.
Thought the video was very informative. I , too, am a collector so am pretty well versed but have never seen a painted tube before that was not on a Russian set. Ever. That would be super rare! Also might disagree on the color fading on shooter tubes. Have seen lots of dark colors survive no problem. Suspect you are correct that they all started out clear but colors were added further into production. Also, the C6 Clemco version of the Goodlite had a little waist, like an hourglass, near the bottom of the glass tube to help snap them into the base. Good work.
Excuse me sir, i am wondering is you can help me, i have these lights as well that i got from my dad who passed away so i can’t ask him about them, the lights work but one of the sockets has gone bad, where would i be able to buy a new strand or even a new socket to replace the old socket? ... I am not actually sure what kind of strands they are that these lights screw into
I have one of the stands for my counter top. when i got it down for decorating this year, one of my bulbs does not have any liquid in it. And it has no visible break. how does that happen? Thanks!
I have always loved those bubble christmas lights, where can I buy a set of these?
If you want to use or collect vintage bubble lights, you must be prepared to work with old things. In case you don't know, most of the lights in these videos are C6 or miniature base lights and series lights to boot. If one light blows out or comes unscrewed, the whole set goes out and won't light till you go thru all 8 to 10 lights on the entire strand to find and replace the dead one. Most of the lights in these videos are over 60-70 years old. The ones in the video in the back are candelabra base (night light base) or C7 size and the will stay lit if one goes out. There are no c6 bubble lights being made today as all series lights were discontinued about 1973. However C7 bubble lights are still made and offered today and you may find them at certain stores and websites. Most collectors get their vintage lights on Ebay, Etsy and other online sites. You can also start going to local estate sales, tag-yard sales, antique shops and such to try and find vintage ones. Have fun and good luck finding your bubble lights.
What kind of strands do these bulbs screw into? c6? I have these bulbs but that actual sockets have gone bad and i can’t figure out where to buy a new strand or a new socket to replace the old socket?
WOW, I've never seen a holder like that for the bubble lights. Are those available as well? having this as a display for Christmas time would be wonderful!
Christopher Radko... eBay...
I used to have one of those Santa bubble light holders, I lost it years ago. Looking for another or some old plastic Christmas figurine I can put some light sockets in.
uhh, wow, i need to apparently look for bubble light videos more often!! I haven't looked in about 5 years at bubble light videos, noticed this year they seem to be very scarce. And of course like 12 of mine out of the gate this year are blown, so they have been set aside to hopefully put new lamps in. they are vintage to me, 90s i reckon... they had a good run :) Also, noticed there doesn't appear to be much activity on the Christmas by Carlisle site, anyone know if he is still alive? I know he was getting up there in age...
Anyway, Loved bubble lights my whole life. Have ONE set of minis left, those were always my favorite, but happy to meet a community apparently also enthused by bubble lights :)
Glad you found the video. The video mostly covers things from 1946 till the early 1970's and then cuts off after that. I would go crazy if I tried to keep up with things made after that. LOLOL. Keep in mind that this video is only part 1. There is a second video as well. If you want to know more about Tom Carlisle you can reach out on my new face book page. Here is a link to it. facebook.com/groups/475901481145293 Hope to see you there
New collector here, what kind of voltage do these run on? Some people test the bulbs with a 9V battery. Are C6 candoliers hard to find? I have some vintage Noma bubble lights but no cord to test them, yet. Thank you!
Always glad to meet a new collector, welcome to the fold. There are Series lights that are in the front candolier in the video. They are 14-15 volt each and run in series of 8 or 9 sockets, thereby sharing the 110 volt being fed into the strand or candolier. In series lights, IF ONE GOES OUT THEY ALL GO OUT. The ones in the back candolier in the video are candelabra base and all are 110 volt each. They run in a parallel line and all use 100 volt. So if one goes out the rest stay lit. I hope this makes sense. Regular 8 light candle lights (tall candles) in c6 are common and easily found at yard sales, goodwill, and estate sales all year long. The fastest way to find them is Ebay. NOW, the c6 bubble light candoliers (the front ones in the video) are getting much harder to find. Only a few pop up on ebay per year. So If you want one of them I suggest hitting ebay and keep looking for them. If you just want cords for your bubble lights, they are quite easy to find, estate sales, yard sales, church sales and antique shops have them. I have even seen them in Goodwill. You can check c6 lights with a 9 volt battery, but not c7. I now carry a continuity tester sold by Ace hardware, that way I can test all light bulbs. Always happy to help new collectors, so you can always email me at c6lites@gmail.com Good luck and have fun with your lights.
c6lites Great video! I am very interested in acquiring some Paramount oil bubble tubes. Any suggestions on where to get them? Are there any modern replicas that can be purchased?
Hi Brian, Finding the Paramount bubble lights/tubes is pretty much relegated to Ebay now. If you are a member of the Golden Glow, then you can go to the convention and pic some up. I was there this year and saw a few, but the prices were thru the roof and it was the same dealers that have had them for the last 10 years (about $80 to $90 each). I have found them in antique shops that I frequent often and even some new shops I have gone into. You need to be ready to scope them out. Many dealers will put them in showcases, so you need to check there. I bought about 8 Krystal Snows out of a bowl in a shop in CT for $11 a piece and when I brought the whole bowl up they knocked them down to $8 a piece. I have been collecting for 40 years (and I am super cheap) so I must admit that I don't have more than 30 or 40 total. You need to scout everywhere for them. If you have tons of money and just want to buy them at retail, you can check the Glow dealers and get them from them, in boxed sets. Remember that you need to check condition on them. Look to see if they have all their teeth, and if there is lots of heat damage. 2 years ago I bought 2 Noma boxed sets of bubble lights cause I noticed someone had swapped out original Noma tubes for the long Krystal Snow tubes. I paid $125 for both 9 light sets took out the tubes and replaced them with the correct Noma tubes and sold both sets for $60 each. I got 7 long oil tubes for $5 and a whole lot of work. LOL I am now waiting to find the white bases with the colored rings to put them in. And the search goes on............Feel free to reach out anytime if you need assistance.
can you tell me about the glow conference , when and where
The conference you are asking about is an annual convention put on by The Golden Glow Of Christmas Past organization. In order to attend you will need to pay membership fees to the Golden Glow. Their website is located at goldenglow.org/ If you want to put your feet in the water without paying membership fees you can visit their facebook page at facebook.com/groups/391749117629214/ thru that you will get to know many of their members and see what they are all about. Each year they hold a convention that goes from weds to sat in late july. This year, sadly might be cancelled due to corona. They have many workshops, a huge museum room where you will see things never seen before. Lots of fun thing to do. It does take quite a bit of money. It is a great way to meet tons of folks that are absolutely sick with collecting vintage and antique christmas. One of the best parts of the convention is the Room Hopping. Many of the folks going to the convention will open their hotel rooms filled with tons of great Christmas for sale days and mostly nights. You will find great things and sometimes many great bargains. Keep in mind that they are strict on their age policy of 40 years or more older. Hope this helps, let me know if you want to know more.
Very professionally done, Thanks for this superb documentry. PS, Even though I have a original box of Goodlites, bought a newer shooter from Carlilse (Blasphemy!) Doesn't seem to want to work, any secret on this to get it to activate? Thanks again for this video
Glad you like, I came to realize that new collectors were becoming frustrated about all the subtle differences in bubble lights and especially price differences. So I figured the video would help. As far as your Carlisle shooter goes....I am sure that you paid a lot for it, I think you should contact him and see if he will send you another one. He really stands behind his products, so now is the time to see if he really will. I just posted a long winded reply about stubborn bubblers, so I am going to copy it here, Just remember that sometimes you get one with very little vacuum in the tube and therefore it will always be a bad bubbler. ............ To answer your question…. You can try what many people do…You can take the light and shake it vigorously and put it back and hopefully it will then bubble. One small problem with doing this is that you stand a chance of breaking the filament in the light bulb. Next….Sometimes after years of use the plastic distorts and causes the tube to separate from the light bulb. YOUR TUBE SHOULD ALWAYS SIT RIGHT ONTO THE LIGHT BULB, FOR GOOD HEAT TRANSFER........A fix for this is to soak the bubble light in hot water and remove the bubble tube. Clean off all old glue, then try to get something skinny that you can try to clean off the old glue from the light bulb, BEING SURE NOT TO BREAK THE LIGHT BULB!!!! Next shake the tube vigorously to break up the bubbling medium in the bottom of the tube. Then put a drop of water soluble glue (like Aileen’s) on the bottom of the tube, and place it back into the plastic. Be sure to snug the tube to the light bulb, MAKING SURE NOT TO PUSH TO HARD AND BREAK THE BULB!!! If none of these work then you may just have a bad bubbler, that has bad methylene chloride in it, or little, to no, vacuum in the tube (this is most likely and cannot be fixed) Finally my last advice is to take a penny or nickel and tap the tube right where it comes out of the plastic, this may often get it bubbling. But you may have to do it, every time you light it. Lastly, you may want to join a great Facebook page that I belong to…. Christmas Lighting of Yesterday And Today. Link is here facebook.com/groups/1731759127043838/ this site is filled with most of biggest Xmas lighting dweebs (including Carlisle) that will be happy to help you with Xmas lighting troubles. Plus we all post lots of great Xmas lighting items all year long. You may have to ask to be let in, but they will do that rather quickly. Hope all this helps.
@@c6lites Chris, Thank you so much for your lengthy response! Got it to go by waving it back and forth and taping it. It seemed to have a bubble at the bottom that was "heaving" like lava trying to break free. I'm a bit scared to tap too hard, I burned out a vintage red oil that way! I recovered after they talked me off the ledge, but I kept it, so I will try to relamp. Also have about 10 Merry Glows. Love those! Thanks kindly for the reply again.
I have several sets I pulled out of my folks attic. How safe are these?
I'm not trying to be smart, but that is like asking me if a car I have never seen is worth buying. If you want to send me pics you can send to c6lites@gmail.com and I'll take a look (be sure to tell me that you are Harley D, so I will recognize. Most of all bubble lights are fun and harmless (just don't break the tube, as it contains what is essentially paint stripper). The biggest concern is whether or not the strings they are in, are in good safe electrical condition. I use old lights sets from the 1910's thru the 1970's with no mishap, but I know what I am doing.
Sent an email! Just have a quick question on how to assemble the stand. Thank you!
The oil ones are alot like mini lava lamps!
Where do you get your lights? Sales?
I have been collecting for nearly 40 years. I go to estate auctions, flea markets, antique stores, shows, etc..... I have found them everywhere. I have been in the antiquing business for years so I am attuned to looking for this stuff. Nowadays you see much less of it around and Ebay is the one place to pretty much find everything. But you have to shop smartly. There is currently a fella on Ebay that is selling oil and oil shooters that have new tubes in them and presenting them like they are original tubes. Schiester!! That's why I did this video so that folks will have a brief intro into bubble lights.
Ohhhhh ok. Thank you!!!!!!!
New collector here, i will need a C6 stringer to use vintage bubble lites? Should be easy enough to acquire on ebay?
Yes, You can normally get C6 strands on ebay rather easily. You may want to keep in mind that the best strands are the 9 light Straight-Line strands. They are not in a loop arrangement, but they run out in a straight line. They also come with 9 sockets as opposed to the normal 8 socket sets that are normally the loop construction. I just sold a Straight-Line set on my Facebook pages market page. You may want to join my facebook page and the market page to align yourself with a group of Vintage Christmas Lighting Dweebs!!! LOL it can be found here... please be sure to answer all entrance questions....facebook.com/groups/475901481145293 if you just want 8 socket loop sets....I have a bunch of them for sale on our market page at much cheaper prices than you will get on Ebay
@@c6litesthanks so much, I went ahead and joined the Dweeb Team haha. Some really awesome people in there!
@@mattdavis5603 You joined the other group, not my group. My page has the market with the C6 strands for sale at super cheap prices. But you may be able to get some on their page too. All the best
@@c6lites I went ahead and requested to join the correct group this time. I was confused because looking through replies here, I have seen you link to the Yesteryear group.
Cool, I let you in. Both groups have great and knowledgable folks in them. i thought you wanted to get into our market to see the C6 Strands that were available. Anyway, nice to have you in the group and hope to see your Bubble lights up and in use real soon.
How can I send a picture for you to give advice on
Why don't you just ask your question first and I'll see if I can help. I have recently noticed spammer/scammer activity on the comments for my videos and I am not real cool on just giving out my email till I know who I am dealing with.
in Europe We have not seen such a thing yet.
We had the Bradford spinning tree topper. I've seen one online for 300$. Are they really that expensive,?
Yes, they have gotten to be very collectible now!!! So the prices are going thru the roof. With the popularity of Mid Century Modern items, this piece has just sky rocketed. Last Christmas season, I believe a few sold for over $500 and $700. But folks get really stupid at that time of year, soooooo....
@@c6lites Wow. Wish I still had it. It shed some interesting patterns on the ceiling.
Any recommendations on bubble lights? 25-35$ range.
@@duanemartin7742 Yes The light show those toppers is real cool. As a far a bubble lights...you need to be more specific. There are tons of $25-35 bubble lights on fleabay at any given time. Is there something specific you are asking about? And ....please don't say oils or shooters......as they have now skyrocketed as well. LOL BTW if you are a facebook person, you might want to check out our page, where we also have separate Marketplace page as well The group is called Christmas Lighting Of Yesterday And Today. here's the link. You have to ask to be let in and answer our three admission questions as well. facebook.com/groups/1731759127043838/
@@c6lites oil bubble light? Pre ww2? I'll check out the FB link. If you ever put anything on Ebay let me know please. TY for all the info!!!
@@duanemartin7742 LOL apparently you didn't take much away from the bubble light 101 videos. There were no PRE WWII bubble lights. Only the prototypes were released in 1943 or 44 in a limited run. The bubble lites were then fully released after WWII in 1947. So the oils were only sold in 1947. And for the price range you are asking about, you will be hard pressed to find any oils. The Krystal Snow oils have skyrocketed to $125-$175 per individual bulb. The regular, Non Krystal Snows are going for about $125 each. You need to really search and take many chances. You may try to buy a group of Paramounts (like 6 of them) for, Maybe, $150 right now and you might get lucky and get all oils or possibly one in the group. Folks used to get oils in group lots of bubble lights, but buyers now are emailing the sellers and asking if "That One with the ring" has watery liquid or Oil type liquid. so most of the surprise oils are still bring huge money, even when in groups. If you go to flea markets and Antique shops you may stumble on some oils that way. that is how I got most of mine. Dealers just put them in a bowl and charged $10 a piece for them. But those days are really pretty gone. Most dealers looke everything they get up on fleabay and become edumacated that way. Best of luck. You should come join our page, you will see tons of great stuff there.
Give me an abridged 5 minute edition and I will watch it
I grew up with an 80s version (I'm 35) and I prefer old styles to the new crap
Yes, in the 80's, bubble lights got real bad. only green and red bases, and only yellow and red tubes. UGLY!!! Glad to hear that you appreciate the older styles.
@@c6lites I wanna say ours had diff colors but I cant remember....I mean they were not as old as yours but loved them and me and my mom are HUGE fans of imperial molds for halloween and xmas decor
@@c6lites There was also bubble lights with clear bases and coloured light bulbs in the 1980's. [I actually own a set (with another one but with clear light bulbs on the way) that I had recently bought from eBay, which was from the very late 1980's (1989), that is of the Noma brand.]
@@StevenVillman You are correct, Many other styles of bubble lights have been released since they were first created. The reason for this video was to help educate new collectors about vintage and the earlier bubble lights. I found that many collectors were having troubles with identifying the early bubble lights, especially the oil tube, and shooter tube bubble lights. The prices on oils and shooters are now peaking at crazy prices like $45 to $125 per individual light. There are many folks selling bubble lights to new collectors with no education and trying to deceive their buyers. The later bubble lights are fun and worthy of using, but don't sell for the bigger money, like the early ones do. My cut off date was about 1973 when the C6 style bubblers were no longer sold. That is sort of where most collectors interest ends.
@@c6lites How many different versions of bubble lights were there that were made by Noma in the 1980's, and early and mid-1990's? (I only know of 2 varieties, which is with 2 sub-varieties of one of them - the clear casing variety.) I'm interested in bubble lights of all kinds, so long as they are not made in China [the late 1990's was when bubble lights were being made almost exclusively in China, which were the last kind of Christmas lights in which Chinese manufacturers started producing there, which is where I place the cut-off point for vintage bubble lights (bubble lights from the early 1940's to the mid-1970's or late 1970's are the ones that I consider to be antique ones)].
What’s the name of the stands
The C6 marbled base is made by Royal from teh 1950's normally called a Royal Bubble light Candolier sometimes battleship. The red one is a Christhopher Radko Bubble Brite or light candolier from the 2000's
@@c6lites thanks for the info, yes I’d probably have to buy something of a new base cause the vintage ones are alittle expensive
@@savingsoul That's fine as long as you only want a C7 stand. Most collectors want to display their C6 bubble lights. There is a fella on my facebook Xmas Lighting page that changed the sockets and wiring in a Radko C7 and it looks good, but he took the long and jerry rigged way of doing it, but it looks ok. Us purists are more interested in doing things the solid and correct way. In his credit...he was afraid of having to solder, so he did the best he could do. LOL It does look good though. Here's my facebook page if you are interested in collecting Xmas lighting items.. We have a big bunch of dweebs there. LOL facebook.com/groups/475901481145293
cant believe people on ebay want nearly 300 dollars for a single oil light
Hey how can I contact you I have a few questions on a set of lights
c6lites@gmail.com be sure to tell me who you are so I know.