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[-] Jimmycrackcrack@lemmy.ml 99 points 6 months ago

What I remember most about them is that they were extremely effective as unintentional bug zappers. The SMELL of instantly vaporized burnt moths in the room is something I'll likely never forget.

[-] Valmond@lemmy.world 19 points 6 months ago

I'm tall so sometimes I was the first person in ages to discover a bug graveyard at someones place.

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[-] MrJameGumb@lemmy.world 51 points 6 months ago

I had one of these! I want to say it was purchased in the late 90s and lasted until around 2006 before I finally threw it in the garbage lol! They definitely were not stable and once it fell over the bulb would usually break around 50% of the time... Also once it fell over or even if it just got moved a little bit all the parts that screwed together would get loose and the lamp would stand crooked and wobble until you tightened it all back up again!

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[-] iamjackflack@lemm.ee 31 points 6 months ago

These are awesome still. Replace the halogen bulb with an LED and you’re all set?

[-] jballs@sh.itjust.works 10 points 6 months ago

That's what I did. Still works great!

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[-] itsgroundhogdayagain@lemmy.ml 28 points 6 months ago
[-] jballs@sh.itjust.works 10 points 6 months ago

Same! I read this and thought "Remember? I'm sitting right next to mine."

[-] UtMan1988@lemmy.world 26 points 6 months ago

The candle that burns twice as bright will burn your fucking house down

[-] Cooljimy84@lemmy.world 24 points 6 months ago

They also put out a huge amount of heat ! Quite useful in old high rise flats !

[-] Pretzilla@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

Good for heating the ceiling anyway

Knock them over and put the heat where it belongs

[-] chimpo_the_chimp@lemmy.world 21 points 6 months ago

I used to put my socks on these as a kid cause it'd warm them up. I ended up forgetting them one day and there was a fucking roaring fire coming out of the top of the bowl within minutes.

[-] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 20 points 6 months ago

These would be much easier to do with LEDs but somehow they didn't survive the transition.

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[-] Pacmanlives@lemmy.world 18 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Girl I was dating in the mid 2000’s was sleeping with one of these lamps in her dorm room. One of those desks on the floor and bed up top bunkbed setups and her pillow fell onto the bulb needless to say the pillow got really nicely burnt. Luckly it didn’t catch fire

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[-] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 17 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Those things have been around since the 60s

[-] mp3@lemmy.ca 16 points 6 months ago

I swapped mine for an LED-equivalent bulb.

[-] Neato@ttrpg.network 10 points 6 months ago

Yep. IKEA has a bunch of models. It's really great for providing indirect light to a whole space to combat glare. Mine also has a little reading light.

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[-] Sombyr@lemmy.zip 15 points 6 months ago

Older gen Z here, I remember these really strongly.
People always forget gen Z was alive for these kind of things and I'm starting to think nobody realizes how old we actually are. Most people you think of as gen Z are only really on the younger end of gen Z. Some of us are in our late 20s now and also struggling to understand kids these days.

[-] Colour_me_triggered@lemm.ee 10 points 6 months ago

That's cute how you think you're old.

[-] Sombyr@lemmy.zip 11 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I never said old? Quick edit, I meant "how old" as in people have a misimpression of our age, not old as in "oh we're so old." People think gen Z is just a bunch of teenagers who couldn't possibly share any experiences with them.

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[-] FeelThePower@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 6 months ago

I had one of those in my bedroom all the way until about 2021.

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[-] TwoBeeSan@lemmy.world 13 points 6 months ago

Doubles as fly killer. Remember hearing a couple zap on that fucking food service light

[-] Mystry@lemmy.world 9 points 6 months ago

Ah, the smell of freshly burnt bugs. We once had a giant moth catch on fire which shot several inches above the top of the lamp and set off the smoke detector. The apartment reeked for days.

[-] Cris_Color@lemmy.world 13 points 6 months ago

Occasionally a bug or a Nerf dart would end up in ours and you'd smell a gross burnt aroma 😅

[-] tory@lemmy.world 10 points 6 months ago

I almost burned a neighbors house down by forgetting about a piece of cloth I put on that badboy for mood lighting.

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[-] agent_flounder@lemmy.world 8 points 6 months ago

I miss mine. They were awesome. Just don't touch the bulb when installing it.

[-] crank0271@lemmy.world 8 points 6 months ago

They also drew about as much current as a hairdryer. (Kidding - it was closer to a desktop PC, though.)

[-] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

They also made great pretend/play jousting lances, though all the insects that were dead inside of it would get all over the place as you swung those things around, but still, good times (at least until you got caught doing that).

And changing the bulb on one of those that newly burned out was like trying to work with lava.

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[-] mrcleanup@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

I saw one of the bulbs burn out once, four inch flames straight out of the top.

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this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2024
637 points (100.0% liked)

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