Christmas lights with vintage look and glow?

November 8, 2023 9:34 AM

Any recommendations for commercially available Christmas lights that have a vintage glow, colors, etc.? The LED ones I've found just don't have the same feeling. Are there LED's that still read like old-school incandescent, painted bulb Christmas lights?
posted by Unsomnambulist to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

Best answer: Tru-Tone
posted by RonButNotStupid at 9:36 AM on November 8, 2023 [10 favorites]

See also youtubeses for Technology Connections / Connextras for Alec's attempts to recreate them
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:42 AM on November 8, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: You can still get actual incandescent lights here. Don't know for how much longer. I personally stocked up last year. This is one area in which I just can't accept substitutes.
posted by praemunire at 9:55 AM on November 8, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Seconding Tru-Tone. They are not cheap but they do an amazing job of replicating that warm incandescent glow (without the hot incandescent heat)
posted by fancypants at 10:05 AM on November 8, 2023 [2 favorites]

I'm not sure if you're looking specifically for "vintage" as in large-bulb, mid-century style, or "vintage" just as in, the incandescents that were popular up until very recently. If it's the small lights you're looking for, Balsam Hill's micro line is pretty good. We put both types -- the LEDs and a strand of incandescent -- on my mother's tree last year and they were pretty well indistinguishable unless you were right up in there.

(Holiday lights are currently exempt from the incandescent sale ban, FWIW. Like praemunire though I am being careful to stock up just in case.)
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:30 AM on November 8, 2023 [1 favorite]

Target makes it difficult, if not impossible, to buy them online but in the past they've had LED string lights in classic mid-century bulb shapes, where the bulb is a smooth, semi-translucent plastic cap over an LED. They've sold them in multiple bulb sizes (e.g. C3, C6, C7, C9, from smallest to largest). They sell similar string lights with fully translucent, faceted bulb caps, but to my eyes those don't pull off the same vintage look. I've bought the smooth C3 version in different years, so I know they weren't a one time thing, but I have no idea what any given Target store will have now.
posted by fedward at 10:59 AM on November 8, 2023 [2 favorites]

I have these LED lights and feel they meet your criteria.
posted by rollcredits at 12:35 PM on November 8, 2023

Best answer: Seconding/thirding/whatever the Tru-Tone Classicolor C7 and C9 LED bulbs. To my eye, those are effectively perfect replicas of the incandescent coated/painted type C7 and C9 bulbs of yore.

A close second are the OptiCore C7 and C9 "smooth" red, green, and orange bulbs. Their white bulbs have a bit of an off color to me, and their blue bulbs are unacceptably strange looking for indoor use. (I'm quite fussy about this; they would probably look fine to most people.)

If you're looking to replace the C7/C9 bulbs with the clear colored glass finish (as opposed to the painted/coated ones), that's a bit harder I think. The OptiCore version of those don't give a similar look or light distribution as the originals, and while the Tru-Tone Jeweltone bulbs are closer, they don't look truly identical to the incandescent versions.
posted by Juffo-Wup at 12:50 PM on November 8, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I would like to add, when I say that the Tru-Tone Classicolor C7 and C9 bulbs are "effectively perfect replicas" of incandescent bulbs to my eye, I mean both in terms of the color and brightness of the light.

Most LED C7/C9 replacements I've seen are much dimmer than their incandescent originals, even if the colors are more-or-less OK. But these bulbs are spot-on for both as far as I can see.
posted by Juffo-Wup at 12:52 PM on November 8, 2023

Best answer: N-thing the TruTone recommendations, with the added note: if you’re interested, order now. They just opened orders for the holiday season last week, and they sell out fast.
posted by bluloo at 1:05 PM on November 8, 2023

Best answer: If you, like me, went to the TruTone website and found that they have bulbs in stock but not light strings (and nearly started crying from nostalgia of hanging these lights with your Dad as a kid), I found light strings available that to me are "close enough" as long as I get the TruTone bulbs.
posted by tubedogg at 2:08 PM on November 8, 2023