A retired school caretaker has used the same fairy lights for nearly 70 years – and believes they could ‘last forever’.
John King, 79, from Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire, was bought the set of 12 coloured lights by his mum Elsie, who first hanged them on the family’s Christmas tree in 1956.
The hardy lights, made by electrics company Philips, were purchased at the local Halfords store and cost 18 shillings – equivalent to 90p today.
They were displayed for many years in the family home before John gladly inherited them.
The pensioner said: ‘I was just 10 years old when we got them, they were for the family tree initially.
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‘I don’t know why they still work, they were a Philips product, which says something about the brand’s reliability.
‘I don’t use them anymore as it’s all LED now, I try to keep them in retirement as much as anything. It surprises me that they still work at all.
‘They’ve ‘never once had a bulb change, which is extraordinary. For something so old to not need replacing is amazing.
‘There’s 12 in a set – they were bought from Halfords when they used to sell all sorts of things.
‘They’re still in the same box and everything, they were around 18 shillings.
‘The average wage was £2.10 shillings in those days, so they were quite expensive. Looking back they were expensive, it was a great treat for me.
‘It looks as if they’re going to last forever at the minute.’
Last month, a family from Bristol used 150,000 lights in an incredible Christmas display.
Ricky and Chrissie Fenning’s annual Winterbourne Wonderland is renowned for its dazzling array of holiday decorations and innovative light sequences.
This year’s display combines multiple themed zones, including animatronic butterflies, a magical forest scene, a life-sized wishing well and a snowy wilderness inhabited by polar bears and penguins.
Covering their house in vibrant blue and purple illumination, the Fenning family’s creation includes a roof adorned with ‘Ho Ho Ho’ lights and an extra 50,000 bulbs compared to last year – making it one of the most illuminated private displays in the UK.
The effort involves a meticulous two-month setup, with last year’s spectacle attracting over 10,000 visitors.
Ricky Fenning said: ‘Last Christmas Eve was crazy – we gridlocked Winterbourne.’
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