Modern Technology Gives New Glow to Holiday Season : Decorations: Brightly lit Christmas trees evoke nostalgia in some. One gadget lets your tree trimmings do the Wave.

Lighting up an evergreen during the darkest days of the year is a holiday tradition that comes from Germany.

But thanks to Thomas Edison, we no longer have to light wax candles and watch nervously, a bucket of water at the ready in case of unwanted combustion. We just string our lights, plug them in and stand back and admire the twinkling.

The attraction of a brightly lit Christmas tree is deeply rooted; when we remember the holidays of our childhood, we think of trimming the tree, nailing up lights on the outside of the house and turning them on. In a brief instant, winter didn’t seem so gloomy, and the magic of Christmas came a step closer.

In the 1950s, the norm was multicolor strings of lights outside and smaller winking versions for the tree. But there were also wonderful bubble lights, electric candles with candy-color liquid that bubbled when heated.

That baby boomer favorite was revived in the 1980s and is now available in the regular 5 1/2-inch size (about $24 for seven) or mini, about half that size ($12 for 10).

“These are really a nostalgia item,” says Mary Ford, editor of the trade publication Selling Christmas Decorations. “It just shows there’s really nothing totally new.”

Maybe so, but today’s kids are likely to share their novelty light traditions with their own kids.

Instead of tasteful white candles or middle-of-the road multicolor bulbs, they may get misty-eyed about chili peppers, black-and-white cows, bubble-gum-pink pigs, white-bearded Santas, plastic candlesticks, blush-pink poinsettias, dinosaurs, crates of vegetables or skeletons.

“Novelty lights have a definite market,” says Dot Wocl, who runs Ye Olde Fashioned Christmas Shoppe in East Haddam, Conn. “We’re seeing new figures every year.”

The newest gadgetry is something called a multifunction light controller. A set of 160 lights and controller sells for about $26 at hardware stores.

“This is really fun. You can set the lights to burn steadily, blink, chase or fade, and do it at any speed you want,” says Nancy Christensen, residential lighting designer for General Electric Co. in Cleveland. (Chase lights are the kind you see around a marquee; think of them as “the Wave of lighting schemes”; they light up in succession, giving a feeling of movement.) GE and other makers offer these controllers.

The use of novelty lights is spilling over into other seasons.

“We had a big year with pumpkin lights,” Wocl says. Can the Easter Bunny be far behind? We’ll see. There are also lights in the form of Mickey Mouse and his Disney friends.

“I often string clear lights on trees in my back yard for evening parties in the summer,” Christensen says. “It’s really pretty.”

Red chili pepper lights are a natural year-round mood light in kitchens.

But at holiday time, theme decorating is popular.

“We do a lot of consultation for trees,” Wocl says. “I’d say the Victorian tree, with white candles, red bows, traditional ornaments is the most popular. We even have an electric Victorian candle string of lights for the traditionalist.”

But some prefer a jazzier look, so her shop is showing a purple, red and green lighted tree with color-coordinated trim.

GE estimates that Americans will buy about 135 million sets of lights this season.

“Even though people have a basic set of lights, it’s not unusual for them to add to it with a set of novelty lights,” Christensen says. “And there are people who don’t put up a tree, they string lights around the house and windows, or intertwine it in garlands for the same mood.”

When you purchase a light, look for the UL (Underwriters Laboratory) coding on the box. This ensures the lights have been tested and won’t cause a fire.

Even though electric lights have been around since the turn of the century, the nostalgia bug has inspired some to go back to burning real candles.

“We advise that people light them for a very short time and keep a close eye on them,” Wocl says. “This is dangerous and they should never be left unattended.”