ca 1949:
Royal Electric offered many popular lighted novelty figures, among
them this Santa. As can be seen in the pictures which follow, Royal
wisely offered many variations of these figures with simple changes in
the base of candle arrangement. |
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ca 1949:
This Royal offering uses the same base that the Santa pictured above
stands on, but this time a single candle is used along with two of the
popular Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer figures. |
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ca 1949:
This time, Royal has paired Santa with the same tree that was used
with Rudolph in the picture above. This figure was also available
holding a simple Merry Christmas sign in place of the tree. |
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ca 1949:
Still another variation of the Royal Santa. In this unit, Santa hold a
bubble light. |
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ca 1949:
Royal also sold a simple plain
lighted Santa, inexpensively made by re-tooling the mold from the
figure pictured directly above. |
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ca 1949:
Also from Royal, this snowman was available in all of the same
variations as the company's Santa figures. The snowman is a bit harder
to find. The molds for these figures were later sold to NOMA and
Miller when the Royal Christmas factory burned in 1955. As a result,
you can find boxed examples of these figures with all three names on
them, which can be a bit confusing. Many of them were offered for sale
through the 1970s. |
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ca 1949:
Miller plastics was another company that sold a wide variety of
lighted plastic figures for Christmas. This is their popular Hi Ho
Santa figure. |
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ca 1949:
Another variation of the Miller Hi Ho
Santa, this time with a white reindeer instead of the tan figure
pictured above. The unit was also sold with a dark brown reindeer. |
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ca 1949:
Called "King Santa" by its manufacturer, Miller Electric, this lighted
figure also doubled as a coin bank. The interior light was mounted
above the coin slot, so that falling change would not strike the bulb
and break it. Miller offered a full line of King Santa figures through
the 1960s.
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ca 1949:
Here is yet another classic example of how manufacturers made
different figures from the same mold. With a simple change in the
paint scheme, the addition of a small cigar and the substitution of a
top hat for Santa's crown, King Santa has now become a "lighted
Snowman". This Miller figure originally held a yellow plastic broom in
the hole in his left hand. These figures can also be found holding a
plastic shovel. The figure was modified yet again for year-round use
and was offered as a pirate, painted in green and red. |
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