Vintage Christmas Tree Bubble lights!!

Hi All!!

Have any of you seen these before!! I just came across them and they look super cool!! I need some for Christmas!! The lights have a vial of liquid that bubbles once they have heated up!! A bit like a lava lamp!! Made in the 1930s - 1950's!!

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Permalink Reply by mandysbus on November 12, 2008 at 7:55am

the ones in the pic are new ones.......the new ones have the tops that look like candles........we had some that the bases looked like rocket ships that were very rare.....a set of 10 went for 250 on ebay.they still make the bubbler lights you can get a set a kmart or walmart for cheap...........

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Permalink Reply by Jonas Clark-Elliott on November 12, 2008 at 10:42am

Most stores sell bubble lights, but search online and you'll find replicas of the older ones, which have a "biscuit" base (a sort of flattened globe). I believe replicas of the rocket base ones are available, too.

There are a few notable additions to bubble light tubes.
New:
Glitter - Tiny glitter in the tube sparkles as the tube bubbles.
Lava - Well, thick oil, really, but as the tube bubbles, globs of oil get tossed up. Both of these are still on the market - search online Christmas shops.

Old:
Paramount "oil" bubblers aka Kristal Snow - Paramount's attempt to bypass the NOMA patent on bubble lights. Their tubes used an oily, thick liquid, which carries tiny champagne-like bubbles that rise slowly. Rare, best found on eBay.
Peerless Shooting Star - Another NOMA patent dodge, these contain two liquids, one floating atop the other. The vapr bubbles are lighter than the bottom liquid, but heavier than the top one, so they shoot up and then fall back down - they've often been compared loosely to a fireworks display or, yes, a lava lamp. VERY, VERY RARE - eBay is your best bet, but someone online is selling replicas. Search by name, "Shooting Star" and "bubble lights".

Even the new store-bought cheapies are nice enough, though, and work as expected. If you want to go for pure wow factor, get an artificial table tree about two feet tall, and cover with nothing but new bubble lights - the cheapies are around $14 for a seven-light string, and stores that carry them usually sell two-packs of extra bulbs.