British man still using Christmas lights purchased 48 years ago

When Ross Shaddick puts up the lights on his Christmas tree at home, he takes pride in the fact that they’re a decade older than he is. Even more incredible, not a single bulb has been changed. The 38-year-old Shaddick lives in Plymouth, England, and says his mom bought the lights back in 1969 for a whopping 3 pounds ― the equivalent of around $58 in 2017.
Although the lights came with a spare set of bulbs, Shaddick says he’s never needed to replace them, according to the British news agency South West News Service.
By comparison, he bought some LED Christmas lights two years ago for around $25, and they’re already on the fritz.
Shaddick would like the older lights to celebrate their 50th anniversary of use, so he takes special care of them by storing them on a plastic tree year-round “so we don’t have to keep wrapping them and unwrapping them,” he said.
He added: “I will only have them on if I’m in the room with them ― to keep an eye on them. As the years go on I increase my checks.”
So far, the Christmas lights have brought nearly 30,000 hours of holiday cheer. However, Shaddick knows there will come a time when he can’t depend on them anymore. Till that happens, he refuses to throw the metaphorical dimmer switch on them.
“The worst issue is if the plastic around the wire begins to deteriorate,” he said. But they are the very stable component in my life. It’s nice to keep the tradition going.”