C9 Holiday Lights–A Christmas Classic

C9–The Chrismas Light of the 1950’s & 1960’s

I bet you didn’t know all those different Christmas lights you see around actually have technical names.  Even though over the years, I’ve seen all kinds of different light strings, it wasn’t until I started researching the Christmas decoration business that I came across the term C9 lights and had need to know just what this light was.

Just exactly what is a C9 light?  Now well informed, I’m happy to help you get in the know as well.  A C9 light bulb is one of the larger size traditional Christmas bulbs.  A Christmas bulb of this type will measure about 2-1/2″ long. Most popular in the 1950’s and 1960’s these lights were and are intended for outdoor Christmas lighting.  As a kid, we used these outside the house and saved the smaller C7 holiday lights for inside use on our indoor Christmas tree

The Bulb that Revolutionized Outdoor Xmas Lighting

These bulbs were introduced by GE in 1927 and even though they were expensive they were the lights to have. C7’s were coveted because for the first time ever, when one Christmas bulb went out the entire light string did not go dim with it.  Instead of testing each light in the string to find the dead bulb, now one blown-out bulb could quickly and easily be replaced and the light string was back in business.  This revolution in technical terms was due to the use of parallel circuitry.

Following WWII, manufacturers offered neighborhood contests for decorating with outdoor Xmas lights to boost sales.  Apparently the contests were very successful for the US is hooked on this now widely accepted tradition.

C9–The Christmas Bulb of Choice for the Outdoors

C9 bulbs are ideal for outdoor Christmas lighting. They are insulated so they will stand up to the cold and wet conditions winter sometimes dishes out.  They are also large enough to be seen quite a distance and for this reason work particularly well on large trees.  In addition, they make a good choice for porches, window and eaves. Consider mounting your C9 string over some greenery or garland for an elegant look.