December 15...10 days till Christmas

One of my jobs every Christmas was to help my dad untangle the strands of lights, replace burned out bulbs and then help him outline all the windows of the house. The bulbs I remember from my childhood were exactly like these...matte-finished, grooved and pointed on the end, not rounded and shiny like today's colored bulbs. And, wow, could they ever get hot!

We're so spoiled today to strings of lights that keep burning even if bulbs are missing and relatively low-heat bulbs that we forget how much work decorating was in the 50s...and how hazardous it could be. I think I still have scars from those bulbs!

TEN vintage Christmas bulbs
countryjoescollectiblestuff.com

As much fun as finding pictures of all the old decorations has been, I'm already missing posting images of more substantial items for the mid-century home, so I'm going to up the ante a bit and attempt to add a wish list item each day of the Christmas countdown that's in some way related to the main topic of the post.  So, on the topic of lights, Number 10 on my wish list is a PH5 pendant lamp made in Denmark by Louis Poulsen Lighting.

Poul Henningsen designed the PH5 lamp for Louis Poulsen in 1958. The PH5 lamp is considered to be a classical masterpiece and the ultimate functional style icon. Poul Henningsen named it the PH5 because the diameter of the top shade is 50 cm. (Using that rationale, calling it a PH50 would make more sense to me, but what do I know?)

#10 on my Christmas Wish List
PH5 Light, designed by Poul Henningsen
stardustmoderndesign.com