This cast iron Tri-Light tree stand is from the early
1920s, and was made to resemble typical ceiling fixtures of the day. The
stand originally came with three "standing Santa" lamps, imported from
Japan. The stand is a product of the North Brothers Manufacturing Company. |
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Made of cast iron and extremely heavy, this is one of
NOMA's first tree stands, and is circa 1926. The center of each poinsettia
has a socket for a miniature base C-6 lamp, and the flange of the base
incorporates a handy electrical outlet to connect the tree lights. Later
offerings of this stand featured parallel wired candelabra based sockets
for C-7 type lamps. |
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This is the Belmont Treelighter Stand, and was first
sold in 1926. It is a big stand, which includes four light sockets with
aluminum reflectors for standard base light bulbs as well as two plugs for
tree lights. |
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Chris Cuff shares this tree stand with us from his
collection. The stand is made of painted
steel and incorporates a string of nine miniature base C-6 lamps.
The date of the stand is unknown, but the presence of cloth covered wiring
suggests a pre-1945 production. Later versions of the stand use only
eight lamps, have green vinyl coated wires and removable legs for easy
storage. This style of stand is a difficult one for the collector to find
today. |
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This early 1930s cast iron tree stand is by North
Brothers. Although the company was not connected with NOMA in any way,
this stand was sold with a NOMA 110 loop-style string of eight lights
installed in the base during manufacture. The unit can be found in several
factory applied colors, including red, green and cream. |
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This stand is also from the collection of Chris Cuff. A
NOMA product first offered in their 1935 catalog and described as "No.
176- A new era in tree bases", the stand came packaged with several sheets of decals so the
owner could customize his or her own unit. Along with the traditional
poinsettia shown here, various images of Santa with reindeer, snow scenes
and popular licensed cartoon and Disney characters were included. The
stand has eight series wired miniature base C-6 lamps around its perimeter
and a plug to facilitate the connection of tree lights. NOMA sold this
stand, virtually unchanged, through their 1962 selling season- a total of
27 years! |
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Here is a charming lighted tree stand from the
collection of Frank Wysong. Offered by NOMA starting in 1941, the stand
has an unusual rotating top and handle combination that allows it to be
twisted tightly around the trunk of the tree, gripping it firmly. The
stand also disassembles for easy storage. Along with pictures of the
actual stand, I've included a NOMA catalog picture from their 1948
edition. This stand continued to be sold until 1951. |
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Punched and preformed tin is the material of choice for
this stand, which is circa 1946 and lit from within by a single
standard-base light bulb. There are light portals in the base that direct
light upwards towards the tree, as well as decorative cutouts covered from
the back with colored gels that add interest to the base. When lit, the
decorative cutouts provide a bit of novelty, while the base performs its
duty of lighting the underside of the tree quite nicely. This example has
been repainted in silver, while the original color of the stand was dark
green. |
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Here is a marvelous tree stand produced by NOMA for
many years. Lighted by eight miniature base lamps (absent from the stand
in the picture), the central cone has beautifully colored Christmas scenes
and also held 23 pounds of water for ballast and to keep the tree moist.
The scenes depicted on the stand varied throughout the production years.
Also pictured is the label on the bottom of the unit. NOMA gave this stand
model number 175, and first sold it in 1932. |
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