20.12.2
Light, Holiday
1927
String of Propp Electrical Christmas Tree Lights. Material: plastic, glass, textile, metal. Size: 13' string x 3/4" diameter x 1 1/2" decorative light bulbs. Description: 8-light set, multi colored glass bulbs; the electrical sockets are mounted on a long cloth-covered wire with a two-pronged electrical plug-in at one end and an electrical receptacle at the other end. (b,c) Container. Material: paper. Size: 6" x 11" x 1 1/2". Description: tan cardboard container with colorful holiday flap printed with a family decorating a Christmas tree, labeled: "Propp XMas Tree Lighting Outfit with Mazda Lamps, for safety sake demand Proppe Electrical Decorative Sets", separate cardboard lid with same Christmas tree scene as inside flap and same lettering on the top; side lid label: "Build them as you like with Mazda lamps, No. 83 8-light outfit".
The Propp brothers were in offices at 524-528 Broadway in New York City. The Company became one of the largest manufacturer of Christmas lighting outfits the world had ever known. It was hard to imagine that little more than a decade had passed since Morris Propp was running his small gas light fixture operation. 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.