WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:00.089 --> 00:00:04.081 When I got up this morning, I found that my pepper, onion powder, 00:00:04.081 --> 00:00:08.055 cloves, and nutmeg had all escaped from the pantry. 00:00:08.055 --> 00:00:13.737 They were standing together on the countertop, and cheerfully wished me a good morning. 00:00:14.270 --> 00:00:16.399 And that can only mean one thing… 00:00:17.293 --> 00:00:19.474 Seasoning’s Greetings! 00:00:19.661 --> 00:00:20.536 [awkward pause] 00:00:20.801 --> 00:00:23.408 Yes, No Effort November is coming to a close, 00:00:23.408 --> 00:00:28.082 and what better topic with which to conclude the month than a pointless decorative light 00:00:28.082 --> 00:00:34.937 filled with a mysterious clear liquid that makes bubbles thanks to the heat generated by an incandescent bulb in its base. 00:00:34.937 --> 00:00:36.515 Oh, a lava lamp you say? 00:00:36.515 --> 00:00:38.125 No, we just did those! 00:00:38.125 --> 00:00:40.257 We’re talking about bubble lights! 00:00:40.257 --> 00:00:41.308 These things! 00:00:41.308 --> 00:00:43.012 [faint rustling as tree is shaken ever-so-weirdly] 00:00:43.012 --> 00:00:47.780 Ever since the tradition of putting soon-to-be dead evergreen trees indoors for a month or so 00:00:47.780 --> 00:00:53.670 was combined with the advent of electric lighting, we’ve been conceiving of wacky and wackier electrical things 00:00:53.670 --> 00:00:55.445 to throw in our Christmas trees. 00:00:55.445 --> 00:00:58.832 Because if there’s one thing we oughta put in a mass of drying needles, 00:00:58.832 --> 00:01:03.135 it’s electric lights on cost-cut strings! Super safe. 00:01:03.135 --> 00:01:05.887 But you all know of that hazard by now - 00:01:05.887 --> 00:01:07.118 at least I hope so. 00:01:07.118 --> 00:01:10.194 And anyway it doesn’t have anything to do with this video. 00:01:10.194 --> 00:01:11.605 Or does it? 00:01:11.605 --> 00:01:16.039 You see, I can force a connection between the heat hazard and these lights. 00:01:16.039 --> 00:01:16.944 Watch. 00:01:16.944 --> 00:01:19.767 What makes Christmas trees dry out? 00:01:19.767 --> 00:01:22.326 Dry air and a lack of water, of course. 00:01:22.326 --> 00:01:24.725 But what makes that go faster? 00:01:24.725 --> 00:01:28.841 The heat generated by incandescent bulbs strung among the branches. 00:01:28.841 --> 00:01:34.319 But what if, instead of just resigning ourselves to the fact that the heat is a wee bit dangerous, 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:38.035 we used that heat to create a new sort of Christmas tree light, 00:01:38.035 --> 00:01:47.340 a light “which shall present a neat and pleasing appearance, and which shall be light in weight, durable in construction, inexpensive to produce and efficient to operate.” 00:01:47.340 --> 00:01:54.988 Carl W. Otis made such a connection in 1941 when he conceived of and patented these silly little things. 00:01:54.988 --> 00:01:59.492 Bubble lights, or as he put them, "ornamental illuminating devices." 00:01:59.492 --> 00:02:04.710 Did he have any concern about the safety implications of electric lights in giant kindling cones? 00:02:05.157 --> 00:02:11.083 Uh, probably not, but these do spread the heat generated by their bulbs over a larger surface area 00:02:11.083 --> 00:02:17.790 and thus they don’t get as hot as a naked bulb so… I guess technically they are slightly safer. 00:02:18.067 --> 00:02:22.489 Still, slightly safer certainly seems separate from the objectives of Carl. 00:02:22.489 --> 00:02:25.431 He probably just wanted to make a… thing. 00:02:25.431 --> 00:02:26.590 And these are them! 00:02:26.590 --> 00:02:27.830 So, what are they? 00:02:27.830 --> 00:02:33.164 Well, they’re constructed as if they are a very odd kind of light bulb - 00:02:33.164 --> 00:02:37.591 the actual bulb in here isn’t meant to be replaced, instead you’re expected to replace 00:02:37.591 --> 00:02:40.159 this entire thing when one goes out. 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:46.480 Everything is glued together - again, this entire thing, ostensibly, is the bulb. 00:02:46.480 --> 00:02:49.739 Indeed, even in the patent, this is how it was envisioned. 00:02:49.739 --> 00:02:52.209 No user serviceable parts inside. 00:02:52.541 --> 00:02:57.593 Also, hang on, we need to talk about the way “Fig” is stylized here. 00:02:57.593 --> 00:02:59.043 This is… 00:02:59.043 --> 00:03:00.142 a lot. 00:03:00.142 --> 00:03:04.391 And I can’t unsee what is simply Ohio with a few embellishments. 00:03:04.391 --> 00:03:07.315 Get it together, patent attorney of the 1940’s! 00:03:07.315 --> 00:03:09.177 I can’t even figure out what your name is, 00:03:09.177 --> 00:03:12.433 Ulforio Arichstein? 00:03:12.801 --> 00:03:16.163 Anyway, the key feature of this is of course this glass tube. 00:03:16.163 --> 00:03:20.277 It’s filled with dichloromethane, sometimes also called methylene chloride. 00:03:20.277 --> 00:03:26.734 This solvent has a very low boiling point, just 39.6 metric degrees, or 103.3 Fahrenheit. 00:03:26.734 --> 00:03:30.358 So, you don’t need to heat it up all that much for it to boil. 00:03:30.358 --> 00:03:34.485 Put a light bulb underneath a vial filled with the stuff and you’ll get bubbles. 00:03:34.485 --> 00:03:35.755 Simple as that. 00:03:35.755 --> 00:03:40.937 Fun fact! This chemical is used in one method of coffee decaffeination. 00:03:40.937 --> 00:03:45.762 One of the most interesting things about these, to me, is that they don’t take long at all to start bubbling 00:03:45.762 --> 00:03:48.670 and when they do, they just… go. 00:03:48.670 --> 00:03:52.419 There’s no build-up or gradual rise, it’s just… bang! 00:03:52.419 --> 00:03:53.489 Full bubbles! 00:03:53.489 --> 00:03:56.096 And they actually make noise! Take a listen. 00:03:56.601 --> 00:04:04.603 [ each light starts with a thud; then a faint rumbling can be heard akin to a boiling pot on the stove ] 00:04:06.203 --> 00:04:09.210 After they’ve been on for a while, when you unplug them they’ll be bubblin’ 00:04:09.210 --> 00:04:11.820 for a few solid minutes before they stop. 00:04:11.820 --> 00:04:15.599 This time, though, they do sort of just fizzle out. 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:19.500 Looking at the patent, it seems the vials have something designed to concentrate 00:04:19.500 --> 00:04:23.038 the heat from the bulb in one spot for the bubbles to form, 00:04:23.038 --> 00:04:27.894 and perhaps that’s why they start bubbling with a bang and then take so long to stop. 00:04:27.894 --> 00:04:33.284 I’d break one of these open and take a look for myself but A) this is no effort November and 2) 00:04:33.284 --> 00:04:36.530 I like these things and don’t want to break it so long as it works. 00:04:36.530 --> 00:04:39.828 I’ve read that it may simply be a bit of rock salt at the bottom, 00:04:39.828 --> 00:04:44.115 and perhaps that explains this weird crystally stuff up here on this one. 00:04:44.115 --> 00:04:45.979 Now, you can still buy these today. 00:04:45.979 --> 00:04:50.288 I, a midwesterner, obtained these at, say it with me now, 00:04:50.288 --> 00:04:51.320 Menards! 00:04:51.320 --> 00:04:54.552 but I imagine they’re available in other places, too. 00:04:54.552 --> 00:05:01.345 But, as far as Christmas lights go these are actually pretty expensive, these were $20 a set and that’s only seven lights! 00:05:01.345 --> 00:05:04.319 Though I snagged them at the end of last year when they were half-off. 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:07.334 [ with uncomfortable enthusiasm ] And I got an 11% rebate on EV- 00:05:07.334 --> 00:05:11.563 This website I found says that they peaked in popularity in the 1970’s 00:05:11.563 --> 00:05:16.801 and fell out of favor once the common-as-sand miniature fairy lights came into existence. 00:05:16.801 --> 00:05:20.260 And I suppose this is corroborated by my experience growing up. 00:05:20.260 --> 00:05:24.879 I knew only one family who adorned their Christmas tree with these things, 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:27.479 and I’m not gonna lie I thought it was cool as heck. 00:05:27.479 --> 00:05:30.440 But aside from them, I’d never seen them. 00:05:30.440 --> 00:05:35.228 Not in a public display, not any one I knew, no one else in extended family… 00:05:35.228 --> 00:05:38.919 just that one tree in the family of my brother’s classmate. 00:05:38.919 --> 00:05:43.860 And until I bought these I had never seen them in use anywhere else. 00:05:43.860 --> 00:05:47.715 I really wish these had developed into something with a replaceable lamp 00:05:47.715 --> 00:05:51.860 as I think it’s pretty dumb to throw the entire thing away. 00:05:51.860 --> 00:05:55.479 I wouldn't be surprised if this was a contributing factor in their downfall. 00:05:55.479 --> 00:06:00.450 Plus, of course, they’re kind of energy-intensive, though not all that bad really. 00:06:00.450 --> 00:06:06.040 Each “bulb” consumes about 5 watts, so a set of 7 runs near 35 watts. 00:06:06.040 --> 00:06:08.802 That’s slightly less than your average lava lamp! 00:06:08.802 --> 00:06:14.300 And also, uh well methylene chloride isn’t the best thing to just have a vial of 00:06:14.300 --> 00:06:17.809 casually boiling away in your house or right in front of your face as you hold it. 00:06:17.809 --> 00:06:20.870 I mean, it’s not *that* bad but still. 00:06:20.870 --> 00:06:25.121 Oh, and you could put these things on a dimmer and run them at maybe half-power? 00:06:25.121 --> 00:06:29.647 That would probably still get the bubbling action going and would prolong their life significantly! 00:06:30.368 --> 00:06:32.042 But anyway, that’s it. 00:06:32.042 --> 00:06:34.479 That’s about all I wanted to say. 00:06:34.479 --> 00:06:37.528 These are a neat little oddity that you can still get new 00:06:37.528 --> 00:06:42.821 (well actually, I’m only assuming that, I haven’t been to a Menards in months what the the whole everything) 00:06:42.821 --> 00:06:45.497 but have largely fallen by the wayside. 00:06:45.958 --> 00:06:49.100 Jeez this video's really gonna tank my watch time metrics. 00:06:49.930 --> 00:06:50.632 Oh well. 00:06:50.776 --> 00:06:53.322 At least I actually didn’t put a lotta effort into this one. 00:06:53.322 --> 00:06:54.701 Finally. 00:06:55.604 --> 00:06:58.129 ♫ festively smooth jazz ♫ 00:06:59.334 --> 00:07:02.630 Yeah, ‘cause this video is so short there weren’t that many opportunities for me to 00:07:02.630 --> 00:07:06.380 mess up so I don’t know how many bloopers you’re even gonna see; there were a few, 00:07:06.380 --> 00:07:07.293 but I mean… 00:07:07.293 --> 00:07:11.543 I might not even be able to fill up the entire bloopers segment, and the thing is I know that! 00:07:11.543 --> 00:07:13.509 That’s why I’m saying this right now. 00:07:13.509 --> 00:07:15.642 Because, well, what am I - 00:07:15.642 --> 00:07:18.188 I.. I can’t just end, ya know I've got.. 00:07:18.188 --> 00:07:22.886 I have some standards, this, this may be No Effort November but I gotta continue on with something. 00:07:22.886 --> 00:07:24.592 Anyway, have you heard of lava lamps? 00:07:25.659 --> 00:07:28.901 I found that my pepper, onion, powder … 00:07:28.901 --> 00:07:30.345 onion powder 00:07:31.008 --> 00:07:32.734 [laughter] 00:07:32.734 --> 00:07:33.613 ohhh 00:07:34.406 --> 00:07:38.276 We’ve been conceiving of wacky and wackier ideas… 00:07:38.276 --> 00:07:39.745 electrical things 00:07:39.745 --> 00:07:43.038 But what if… instead of just requi … resigning - 00:07:43.038 --> 00:07:44.330 [noises of frustration] 00:07:44.792 --> 00:07:49.416 I suppose y'all want some sort of secret caption at the end like I normally do. 00:07:49.416 --> 00:07:52.106 Well, here it is. 00:07:52.106 --> 00:07:56.122 It's not very good. 00:07:56.122 --> 00:08:01.409 Welp, on to Do Things December!