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Another interesting development of the postwar 40s were these fluorescent lamps, introduced by Sylvania in 1945. The lamps were sold in outfits of seven by companies such as Royal and Polly. Quite expensive--they were about two and a half times as costly as a regular lighting outfit-- the sets did not not sell well and were discontinued by the end of the decade. The lamps are a milky white before power is applied, but glow with wonderful soft pastel colors when turned on. The color of the lamp is determined by the various gases and phosphors contained within, and is activated when electrical current passes through the gas. Sylvania offered these lights in coral (orange), yellow, blue, green and orchid (pink). The orchid color was a later addition to the color mix, as boxes from the first year of production like the one pictured above only list the other four colors. The lamps dim with age and use and eventually fail to glow, but do not burn out suddenly like their incandescent counterparts. Below is another set offered by Miller Electric: |
Note: This is an archive of the late Bill Nelson's "Antique Christmas Light" web site as it existed in 2001. Except for contact information, link updates, and some information that has been lost, we have attempted to keep the text and illustrations as Bill presented them. However, the original pages included much outdated HTML code and graphic conventions, so we have done a lot of work "behind the scenes" to bring you this archive. Consequently:
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