20.12

Light, Holiday

1935 Approximate

String of Matchless Star Christmas Tree Lights. Material: plastic, glass, textile, metal. Size: 13' string, 1 1/2" diameter decorative star lights. Description: 8 socket set, multi colored plastic stars each made up of 9 faceted rays wired around a center gem; the sockets are mounted on a long cloth-covered wire with a two-pronged electrical plug-in at one end. (b,c) Container. Material: paper. Size: 5" x 10 1/2" x 1 1/2". Description: white paper over gray cardboard container, holiday paper over gray cardboard lid; label on lid: "Our Leader, Matchless Christmas Tree Outfit".

The crystal Matchless Wonder Star was designed and assembled in Chicago. The glass points were made in Czechoslovakia. They were sold for only six years, 1935 to 1941. They came in four sizes and in double or single row. This string was used to decorate the Christmas tree in the Alfred and Emma Wetzstein home from the 1930s to 1973. The house located at 506 3rd Ave., Waseca behind the Congregational Church.