EXCLUSIVE: Study Finds Shire's Most Spectacular Christmas Lights Can Be Traced Back to One Very Influential Set of Coloured Bulbs.

Sandy Shores | Editor-in-Chief | Sutherland Shire Gazette

24 December 2025

New research suggests the Shire’s most elaborate Christmas light displays didn’t start with solar panels, Bluetooth apps or inflatable Blueys - they started with one precious string of oversized coloured bulbs on a black cord.

The study, released this week by the Gymea TAFE Unit for Decorative Culture, found that many of today’s most committed Christmas light households are run by adults who grew up in the 1980s and 90s, when festive lighting options were limited, bright, and deeply symbolic.

“If you were lucky, you had one set,” said lead researcher Dr Elaine Glimmeridge. “Red, blue, green and yellow. Big bulbs. No twinkle settings. No spare globes. You didn’t decorate - you strategised.”

Families without the “fancy lights” made the most of what they had. One string was looped three times around the same shrub. The rest of the yard relied heavily on imagination. Kids measured success not by quantity, but by whether the lights were visible from the street.

According to the study, those moments mattered. Children who once pressed their faces to car windows, counting bulbs and ranking houses, are now the adults syncing music, mapping power loads and calmly explaining to neighbours that “it’s not finished yet.”

“It’s not about showing off,” Dr Glimmeridge said. “It’s about recreating a feeling - when December felt long, nights were warm, and Christmas lived outside.”

Locals agree. Many say today’s displays are as much for their younger selves as for their kids.

“I remember thinking those coloured bulbs were the height of luxury,” said one Caringbah dad.

Council welcomed the findings, noting that while technology has evolved, the motivation hasn’t. “It’s still about community,” a spokesperson said. “Just with better extension cords.”

The study concludes that when a house lights up this December, you’re not just seeing decoration - you’re seeing a childhood memory, finally given enough power.

As one neighbour put it: “Fairy lights are nice. But those old coloured bulbs? That’s where the obsession began.”