Richard Prosser writes: > Hi Martin, >=20 > Richard here in NZ. >=20 > I'm pretty sure that the bulbs were 12V with ~20 in a string (at least > early on). Every year it was 'hunt the faulty lamp' game as at least one > bulb will have died or at least unscrewed itself. Later bulbs had a sprin= g > loaded bypass so that when the filament died the spring tension would=20 > short > the bulb out and the remaining bulbs would light (with slightly increased > brightness). You could then easily see which had failed & replace it. > And the flasher bulbs as you describe also became available. > Later strings had more bulbs so the individual bulb voltage was less. The > connection method also changed from a scew - in type (like a panel lamp > fitting) to a miniature screw version, to a push fit. > All versions had the added excitement of being able to trap some=20 > conductive > tinsel and expose most of the tree to live @ up to 230V or so. It didn't > really bother us for some reason, you just had to be a bit careful when > changing a bulb. >=20 > RP I remember some of that same technology as a boy in the late fifties and early sixties as we had various screw-type bulb schemes. The 12-volt lamps you describe would have been in strings of 10 for 120 volts but the loose bulbs and occasional spectacular fireworks from trapped tinsel were possible and happened on occasion. One memory stands out vividly in my mind. I must have been 9 or 10 years old which would have been around 1960 or 61. I was at my aunt's house and she and my grandmother were decorating the tree when a strand of tinsel made an impromptu shunt between two bulbs. There was a bang like a fire cracker as the shunt turned in to aluminum vapor and my grandmother could have launched in to orbit right then but my aunt acted like 'hey! This happens all the time.'. Neither got shocked and nothing else happened but I was developing an interest in electricity at that time and I remember thinking that it was fortunate that nothing worse than a flash and a loud bang happened. Too bad it didn't wait until New Year's Eve. Martin --=20 http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .