The Safe and Modern Way to Light Up Your Tree

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 6:14 am

You have to wonder who uses just 8 lights on their tree .

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 6:22 am

Martin Milner wrote:You have to wonder who uses just 8 lights on their tree .

Charlie Brown.

missy · Post by **missy** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 6:30 am

anyone remember the REAL bubble lights that had methylene chloride in them????
I'd love to see what the safety warnings on that box would look like now adays - especially in California!!

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 6:36 am

missy wrote:anyone remember the REAL bubble lights that had methylene chloride in them????
I'd love to see what the safety warnings on that box would look like now adays - especially in California!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_light

Innocent Bystander · Post by **Innocent Bystander** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 7:08 am

LOVE the smoking jacket. And the Leg-o'-Mutton Sleeves.

Got any material left over, Annie?

Doug_Tipple · Post by **Doug_Tipple** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 7:18 am

missy wrote:anyone remember the REAL bubble lights that had methylene chloride in them????
I'd love to see what the safety warnings on that box would look like now adays - especially in California!!

Not about Christmas tree lights, but I remember glass globes full of red liquid in my father's auto body shop. They were placed along the walls in holders so that the balls could be easily removed. Believe it or not, the glass balls were filled with carbon tetrachloride dyed red, and they were meant to be used for fire contol. If you had a fire, you were suppose to grab one of the glass balls and throw it at the fire. Come on, guys, what a dumb idea.

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 7:38 am

missy wrote:anyone remember the REAL bubble lights that had methylene chloride in them????
I'd love to see what the safety warnings on that box would look like now adays - especially in California!!

Oooh, oooh, oooh -- I do. We only had two of them on the string. They were my favorites -- used to watch them for hours until we got a television.

Click the pictures for more bubble light fun.

missy · Post by **missy** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 7:47 am

Doug_Tipple wrote: Believe it or not, the glass balls were filled with carbon tetrachloride dyed red, and they were meant to be used for fire contol. If you had a fire, you were suppose to grab one of the glass balls and throw it at the fire. Come on, guys, what a dumb idea.

well, technically, if you were interested in putting out the fire, it would work. Just looked up carbon tet - and it doesn't have a flashpoint. So it probably would smother a fire........

...... of course, you'd get cancer in the process, especially if you breath in the fumes, or got it on your skin, but technically, it would put the fire out.

Innocent Bystander · Post by **Innocent Bystander** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 8:09 am

Wow! Is that what those were?

We had those on our tree when I was a kid.

I never saw them bubble though. They were probably REALLY old even then. It's all one with the chocolate tasting of pine needles.

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 9:28 am

You never saw them bubble? Oh no! We didn't have any but I remember seeing them in stores. The whole point was that they bubbled

. At least I think so.

That is a lovely advertisement, Walden.

I tried to find a picture of those globe fire extinguishers Doug mentioned but I couldn't---I had never heard of that idea. I suppose carbon tet worked well for electrical fires especially where you couldn't use water, but missy is right. It is very hazardous. In addition to its own vapors being hazardous, it will react chemically in a fire and give off other very dangerous gasses. It was used in a lot of fire extinguishers, some of which might look similar to the ones we are accustomed to seeing. If you ever found one, you should turn it in to some agency that collects hazardous waste.

EricWingler · Post by **EricWingler** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 9:37 am

Cynth wrote: I suppose carbon tet worked well for electrical fires especially where you couldn't use water, but missy is right. It is very hazardous. In addition to its own vapors being hazardous, it will react chemically in a fire and give off other very dangerous gasses.

Phosgene comes to mind.

fel bautista · Post by **fel bautista** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:30 am

I thought Iwas the only one that loved bubble lights. I'd look at those lights for hours when I got home from school.

djm · Post by **djm** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 11:17 am

Yes, we had a string of them in the early sixties. They looked like the one in gonzo's second picture. They slowly worked less and less each year (probably from being stored in an attic where they fried in summer and froze in winter as warned against in the wiki article). Eventually they got tossed. But they were way cool in their day.

djm

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 1:48 pm

Any links out there that show them working in all of their glory?