That’s what Christmas tree lights looked like when I was a child, except they were incandescent bulbs wired in series, so when one burned out they all went out and it was an adventure finding the bad one.
@craigthom I find the LED colors boring and sterile in comparison - the great thing about the old incandescent bulbs was that every manufacturer didn’t use the same blue/green/red/yellow paint. Plus - we had many more colors like oranges, lavenders, and golds when I was a kid.
The best alternative I’ve found are high-end bulbs from GE that have a colored LED inside a colored shell (color matched) and you can mix the shells on the lamps to get some (very mild) variations.
@mebisping But are these an E17 base? I assumed they were permanently attached to the string. (i.e. no base at all, and not a replacement for an E17 or any other light bulb)
@Kyeh@mebisping@troy@xobzoo Fwiw, judging from the QVC reviews I found searching for “Ebenezer & Co. Oversized 20 Bulb 20FT LED Light Strands”, it appears that they are indeed screw base. One reviewer mentioned having to unscrew all of them to get them out of the cardboard packaging. No mention of what size the base is, although E17 bases are commonly paired with C9-sized bulbs.
I think I would have preferred if the colored ones were all colored and not 1/5 clear (maybe a pink of some sort), but I’m just shocked to see them actually using colored bulbs over white lights (which is objectively better, at least if “objectively” can mean “strongly preferred by a niche YouTuber who I agree with”), so I think I’ll just take what I can get!
@agnesnutter I hadn’t actually paid attention to the multicolor string having clear/white in it. If we hadn’t already written them off as unnecessary, that might’ve been a problem/annoyance for us.
@Kyeh Well, yeah but that was before the mid-1980s. The indoor/outdoor mini incandescent lights have been around for longer, but that’s when they really started to replace the C7s and the C9s.
I remember my Dad practically leaping with joy when he found incandescent C9s that had “candle flame” shaped glass for the bulbs at an estate sale. He said it reminded him of the ones he had as a kid back in the 1950s…
@marvelljones We didn’t have them but I always coveted the bubble lights, even though they never stay upright and always lean over all wonky. I bought some as an adult but they quit working so fast.
They look like the old Cool Brites from when I was a kid. The great feature they had was they blinked individually, not any of this half a strand at a time crap. I think it was so your tree did not catch on fire.
@ponagathos If I recall correctly, the old style of bulb that blinked independently didn’t do so for a ‘purpose’, but as an effect of how the blinking was achieved. I could be very wrong about this, but I seem to recall the way they blinked was that after the bulb warmed to a certain temperature, a bi-metallic “spring” in the bulb would spring to it’s “warm” curvature, that moved the end of it away from the contact for the incoming voltage to go through the filament, thereby turning that bulb “off”. When it cooled, the bi-metallic spring would relax back against the contact, and turn the bulb on for another cycle. Of course, now that I’ve typed this all out, I will subsequently feel compelled to go confirm my memories.
@ponagathos Yes, seems I had the gist of it right. Copied from some place that seems knowledgeable-
“There is a bimetallic strip inside the bulb - similar to the strip in an old-school thermostat. The two metals (one on each side of the strip) have slightly different thermal expansion constants. As the strip warms from the electric current, it bends and the switch disconnects. It then cools over the next second or so and reconnects the switch. There is a bit of tension on it at room temp and the strip is fairly thick so it has a rather slow response (1 to 2 seconds) open and closed. The first flash takes a several seconds because the strip must heat up before disconnecting the first time.”
@Doooood Love the explanation, thanks for it. I wondered what controlled the blinking. But are we sure they did not do it so your tree did not catch fire? Those bulbs got pretty hot if I remember correctly.
Either way, I really liked those old bulbs.
I bought something similar a few years ago and the large colored cover over the LED bulbs was a plastic piece that came off easily, so every time I took them off the shrubs, I would lose many of the plastic covers and they were useless after just a couple of years. I wonder if these are better?
@Christo196 Good point; I think that’s a typo since it’s solely in one place (everywhere else says 2-pack) and it does show 40 bulbs in the photographs. Still, it wouldn’t hurt for it to be edited for clarity.
@llangley I don’t either, but I looked it up out of morbid curiosity; evidently it’s “All Through the House (2015).” I especially don’t watch cheezy horror movies.
@Kyeh@llangley Actually, it’s a much better-rated movie called “Violent Night” starting David Harbour from “Stranger Things.” Thankfully, it isn’t a horror movie, it’s more of a dark comedy/action thriller where Santa kicks ass – so don’t worry, you should see the other guys! Lol … It was pretty entertaining & surprisingly touching in parts, if you don’t mind that interspersed with pervasive violence & irreverent humor.
@ircon96@llangley Oh, okay - I had googled around and I guess one of lists I looked at confused me - good to know! Although I probably still won’t watch it.
Based on QVC video these are a nice warm (yellowish) color, not the harsh blueish or bright white. I’m in for a 2 pack for $32 after tax and shipping. Seems like a good value compared to QVC $24/strand. Wish they provided ways/strand so you could figure ought how many strands you could connect together.
@Packageengineer Having received mine, using a fairly accurate Klein multimeter, I’m measuring 97mA of current draw per strand of twenty bulbs, or about 11.64W, which matches what one of my “smart” power plugs reports.
20 AWG wire, which can handle up to 11 amps at 75C (quite hot, in other words). 5 amp fuses in each plug, which seems far more sensible. In theory you could run up to 51 of these in a daisy chain.
On a side note, these work well with an “Active Air” branded fan speed controller to dim them down; no increased flicker compared to any other AC-driven LED bulb (verified with the high-speed camera in my phone).
@Wireball_ actually there is some increase in flicker at certain settings on the fan speed controller, while others are equal to directly wall-connected.
@marvelljones Or better yet find the old incandescents at a thrift store or in your attic or garage. (or your parent’s or grandparent’s if you are cleaning out their house after their passing.)
P.S. Happy Dia de Muertos
@drz@Kyeh@pmarin That’s “Violent Night,” so he’s more like John Wick crossed with Bad Santa. I think that’s just the chair that the bad guys tied him to, but he does improvise weapons from a lot of innocent-seeming objects in this one. Thumbs up for anyone who likes dark comedy & doesn’t mind a lot of gruesome violence, although the violence is pretty comedic, too, despite the gore.
@mediocrebot I have no idea of the time or place the A.I. dug up for that image. But if that was in a video game I would love to just walk around and explore.
I can’t click the meh button! It looked clicked before I clicked but my calendar still shows unclicked! I recently lost my streak so no big loss, but still weird
Specs
Product: 2-Pack: Ebenezer & Co. 20 Feet Nostalgic LED 20 Bulb Light Strands
Model: H237967027000, H237967AB6000
Condition: New
What’s Included?
Price Comparison
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Warranty
90 days
Estimated Delivery
Friday, Nov 8 - Monday, Nov 11
What a bright idea!
Ooooooh!!
Aaaaaaah!! 
Such pretty lights!! 
@IndifferentDude
You’re getting sleepy…
@IndifferentDude @ircon96
Probably stoned …
@IndifferentDude @ircon96 @Kyeh …or just Indifferent.
Bah! Humbug!
That’s what Christmas tree lights looked like when I was a child, except they were incandescent bulbs wired in series, so when one burned out they all went out and it was an adventure finding the bad one.
@craigthom Fun times!
@craigthom Well, sorry to quote Garfield, but…
@craigthom I find the LED colors boring and sterile in comparison - the great thing about the old incandescent bulbs was that every manufacturer didn’t use the same blue/green/red/yellow paint. Plus - we had many more colors like oranges, lavenders, and golds when I was a kid.
The best alternative I’ve found are high-end bulbs from GE that have a colored LED inside a colored shell (color matched) and you can mix the shells on the lamps to get some (very mild) variations.
@craigthom @Pufferfishy I hear these are pretty good compared to the old bulbs.
https://tru-tone.com/
If you have a light fixture that takes an E17 base bulb, you could buy the clear ones and get 40 bulbs total for $24, which is a bargain.
@mebisping But are these an E17 base? I assumed they were permanently attached to the string. (i.e. no base at all, and not a replacement for an E17 or any other light bulb)
@mebisping @xobzoo That’s a good question - @troy, are the bulbs removable?
@Kyeh @mebisping @troy @xobzoo Fwiw, judging from the QVC reviews I found searching for “Ebenezer & Co. Oversized 20 Bulb 20FT LED Light Strands”, it appears that they are indeed screw base. One reviewer mentioned having to unscrew all of them to get them out of the cardboard packaging. No mention of what size the base is, although E17 bases are commonly paired with C9-sized bulbs.
@mebisping @troy @Wireball_ @xobzoo Thanks!
@lonocat
https://shirt.woot.com/offers/all-tangled-up
@lonocat @narfcake Keep those kitties safe!
I don’t NEED 80’ of these lights, but…
/image sexy-duly-hydrant
So each box in the photos contain two sets,you don’t get two boxes?
I think I would have preferred if the colored ones were all colored and not 1/5 clear (maybe a pink of some sort), but I’m just shocked to see them actually using colored bulbs over white lights (which is objectively better, at least if “objectively” can mean “strongly preferred by a niche YouTuber who I agree with”), so I think I’ll just take what I can get!
Maybe someday I’ll take a page out of Alec’s book and try painting them…
@agnesnutter I hadn’t actually paid attention to the multicolor string having clear/white in it. If we hadn’t already written them off as unnecessary, that might’ve been a problem/annoyance for us.
It kind of annoys me that they’re called “oversized.” They’re the size that was normal in the past.
@Kyeh Nothing like fat-shaming Christmas decorations, huh?
@Kyeh Well, yeah but that was before the mid-1980s. The indoor/outdoor mini incandescent lights have been around for longer, but that’s when they really started to replace the C7s and the C9s.
I remember my Dad practically leaping with joy when he found incandescent C9s that had “candle flame” shaped glass for the bulbs at an estate sale. He said it reminded him of the ones he had as a kid back in the 1950s…
@ircon96 @Kyeh They are not “fat,” they are just big-bulbed.
/image south park cartman meme just big boned
@marvelljones We didn’t have them but I always coveted the bubble lights, even though they never stay upright and always lean over all wonky. I bought some as an adult but they quit working so fast.
@Kyeh @marvelljones BUBBLE LIGHTS!!!
I just wish they had more per string and were a little less expensive.
@Kyeh Yeah, I miss Bubble Lights. My parents had the really old school ones that took an hour to get warm enough to “bubble.”
They look like the old Cool Brites from when I was a kid. The great feature they had was they blinked individually, not any of this half a strand at a time crap. I think it was so your tree did not catch on fire.
@ponagathos If I recall correctly, the old style of bulb that blinked independently didn’t do so for a ‘purpose’, but as an effect of how the blinking was achieved. I could be very wrong about this, but I seem to recall the way they blinked was that after the bulb warmed to a certain temperature, a bi-metallic “spring” in the bulb would spring to it’s “warm” curvature, that moved the end of it away from the contact for the incoming voltage to go through the filament, thereby turning that bulb “off”. When it cooled, the bi-metallic spring would relax back against the contact, and turn the bulb on for another cycle. Of course, now that I’ve typed this all out, I will subsequently feel compelled to go confirm my memories.
@ponagathos Yes, seems I had the gist of it right. Copied from some place that seems knowledgeable-
“There is a bimetallic strip inside the bulb - similar to the strip in an old-school thermostat. The two metals (one on each side of the strip) have slightly different thermal expansion constants. As the strip warms from the electric current, it bends and the switch disconnects. It then cools over the next second or so and reconnects the switch. There is a bit of tension on it at room temp and the strip is fairly thick so it has a rather slow response (1 to 2 seconds) open and closed. The first flash takes a several seconds because the strip must heat up before disconnecting the first time.”
@Doooood Love the explanation, thanks for it. I wondered what controlled the blinking. But are we sure they did not do it so your tree did not catch fire? Those bulbs got pretty hot if I remember correctly.
Either way, I really liked those old bulbs.
Be aware, apparently these DO NOT have a flash feature - just a steady light. Definitely nostalgic, though.
I bought something similar a few years ago and the large colored cover over the LED bulbs was a plastic piece that came off easily, so every time I took them off the shrubs, I would lose many of the plastic covers and they were useless after just a couple of years. I wonder if these are better?
Made by Ebeneezer?
/giphy sus
@iggy71 Unfortunately, the Grinch brand was already trademarked.
This part is confusing - both are on the specs page:
“Product: 2-Pack: Ebenezer & Co. 20 Feet Nostalgic LED 20 Bulb Light Strands”
vs
“What’s Included?
1x Ebenezer & Co. 20 Feet Nostalgic LED 20 Bulb Light Strands”
So is it a “2 pack” = 40 lights total or is a “1x” = 20 lights total?
@Christo196 Good point; I think that’s a typo since it’s solely in one place (everywhere else says 2-pack) and it does show 40 bulbs in the photographs. Still, it wouldn’t hurt for it to be edited for clarity.
Who beat the shit of out Santa?
Er…I guess it’s a movie reference. I don’t do movies so
@llangley I don’t either, but I looked it up out of morbid curiosity; evidently it’s “All Through the House (2015).”
I especially don’t watch cheezy horror movies.
@Kyeh @llangley Actually, it’s a much better-rated movie called “Violent Night” starting David Harbour from “Stranger Things.” Thankfully, it isn’t a horror movie, it’s more of a dark comedy/action thriller where Santa kicks ass – so don’t worry, you should see the other guys! Lol … It was pretty entertaining & surprisingly touching in parts, if you don’t mind that interspersed with pervasive violence & irreverent humor.
@ircon96 @llangley Oh, okay - I had googled around and I guess one of lists I looked at confused me - good to know! Although I probably still won’t watch it.
But would Scrooge himself would buy these?
@phendrick No, he’d probably make Bob Cratchit go out on Christmas Eve in a blizzard to buy them.
When you say these are ‘big’ are they c7 or c9 size? C7’s are what we put on trees back in the 80’s C9’s were the ones we put outside.
Either way I can’t not buy more christmas lights.
@doctorbutts it’s written in the specs but these are C9’s
Could I put these on the roof?
@Jingles4106 They seem to be rated as indoor/outdoor so I don’t see why not.
@Jingles4106 @marvelljones
/youtube chevy chase hanging christmas lights
Based on QVC video these are a nice warm (yellowish) color, not the harsh blueish or bright white. I’m in for a 2 pack for $32 after tax and shipping. Seems like a good value compared to QVC $24/strand. Wish they provided ways/strand so you could figure ought how many strands you could connect together.
@Packageengineer Having received mine, using a fairly accurate Klein multimeter, I’m measuring 97mA of current draw per strand of twenty bulbs, or about 11.64W, which matches what one of my “smart” power plugs reports.
20 AWG wire, which can handle up to 11 amps at 75C (quite hot, in other words). 5 amp fuses in each plug, which seems far more sensible. In theory you could run up to 51 of these in a daisy chain.
On a side note, these work well with an “Active Air” branded fan speed controller to dim them down; no increased flicker compared to any other AC-driven LED bulb (verified with the high-speed camera in my phone).
@Wireball_ actually there is some increase in flicker at certain settings on the fan speed controller, while others are equal to directly wall-connected.
Edit: Meant to say watts/strand.
Get them while you can, these type of lights (C7s & C9s) are the ones that sell out quickly if they’re a halfway decent copy of the old ones.
@marvelljones Or better yet find the old incandescents at a thrift store or in your attic or garage. (or your parent’s or grandparent’s if you are cleaning out their house after their passing.)
P.S. Happy Dia de Muertos
are they the ones in series such that if one breaks, the whole strand won’t work?
@username Parallel; each bulb is rated for 120V, and unscrewing multiple bulbs doesn’t affect the others - they remain illuminated.
Wait. What’s that brown thing at Santa’s left side? Is Santa CARRYING!!?? And is Santa left-handed??
@drz Well, it’s from one of those Santa horror movies, so yes.
@drz @Kyeh He needs both hands to start the chainsaw, though.
@drz @Kyeh @pmarin That’s “Violent Night,” so he’s more like John Wick crossed with Bad Santa. I think that’s just the chair that the bad guys tied him to, but he does improvise weapons from a lot of innocent-seeming objects in this one. Thumbs up for anyone who likes dark comedy & doesn’t mind a lot of gruesome violence, although the violence is pretty comedic, too, despite the gore.
/showme cluttered rotten witch
/image momentous-marginal-rail
/showme momentous-marginal-rail
@mediocrebot I have no idea of the time or place the A.I. dug up for that image. But if that was in a video game I would love to just walk around and explore.
I can’t click the meh button! It looked clicked before I clicked but my calendar still shows unclicked! I recently lost my streak so no big loss, but still weird
@majorpun the whole front page seems to be busted
Mine arrived today. Woo!