Lighting during the depression years

Due to the 1929 depression, between 1930 and 1940 few people had enough money to spend on anything unnecessary, and certainly not outdoor christmas lights. Therefore, they used what they had in order to save money. In an effort to relieve some of the effects of the depression, in 1933, President Roosevelt came up with an idea called the National Recovery Act. Any lights that were sold between 1933 and 1935 were required to carry the NRA symbol on the box. (Discussing this era in history sounds a lot like the economic downturn and near-depression of 2008-2009 that we have been experiencing.)