Dubious Quality

We always brought it out during the holidays and put it on the kitchen counter. Now, with no reason to buy a big tree anymore, it's become the sole tree in the house. 

Here's what it looks like: 

I think you can enlarge the picture by clicking on it and see everything in greater detail. And yes, that is Rudolph the Headless Reindeer beside it. One must have traditions. Evan the Inappropriate Elf is also on display.

The switch stopped working on the Charlie Brown tree, which meant I couldn't turn the lights on, so I took it to an electronics repair store. I expected to walk into a building where nothing had moved since 1950, including the dust, but instead I walked into a thoroughly modern lighting store that was spotlessly clean. 

I told the fellow behind the counter what had happened, expecting him to tell me to come back in a month. Bad timing, since I wouldn't have the tree during the holidays, but it couldn't be helped. Instead, he just unscrewed the switch, looked at the wires, and poked around in a box for another switch, which he put on right there. 

Ten minutes. Twelve dollars. Home for the holidays.

I asked him what was the oldest piece of equipment he'd ever worked on, and he said something from the 1880's. He specifically named it, too, but I had no idea what he was talking about. Also, quite a few things from the 1920s, chandeliers in particular. 

It would be fascinating to see a culture's evolution through its lighting.