As the holiday season draws near, the familiar glow of Christmas lights begins to fill homes and storefronts. Yet behind the nostalgic sparkle lies a choice: to buy mass-market, commercialized holiday decor — or to invest in something more?
This year, one small, queer-owned brand offers both aesthetic magic and a reason to rethink festive consumption in a meaningful way.
Tru-Tone Brings Nostalgia and Authenticity
Tru-Tone gained notoriety in 2020 by recreating the warm incandescent glow of vintage Christmas lights, but with modern LED technology.
What’s special about the brand isn’t just their incredible products or clever marketing; it’s their commitment to traditions over holiday trends.
The team behind Tru-Tone is preserving a feeling by helping to recreate our childhood memories and visual experiences of holiday cheer long gone. Until now.
The quiet hum of the tree lights, the soft reflection of color against a frosted window, the way the living room seemed to glow from within. These lights remind us of a time when the holidays felt personal, not commercial — when decor was about connection, not capital.
By bringing back the elements that shaped some of our earliest holiday memories, Tru-Tone isn’t just selling lights; they’re restoring an emotional touchstone we thought was lost to time.
When Big Brands Try to Mass Produce Holiday Magic
Like the Grinch stealing the joy of the Who people, the problem lies with major companies preying upon the success of small niche brands like Tru-Tone and attempting to replicate their work, their message, without the holiday spirit, without the authenticity or the values behind it.
This year, you’ll notice more holiday decor pushing a similar “vintage” style from big-box retailers — always cheaper, always with less character, and always missing the warmth that gave the originals their magic.
Meanwhile, the small brand rebuilding bringing the meaning of Christmas back to life is competing for your attention (and your holiday budget).
One community voice summed it up on Reddit: “No company but Tru-Tone makes LEDs that are indistinguishable from vintage incandescent.”
That authenticity is lost when replicated at scale without the same standards, design intention, or ethos. When mass producers copy the look but skip the heart, it flattens what Tru-Tone built: the emotional resonance of nostalgia reimagined through queer creativity.
It’s a reminder that a truly meaningful product can’t be manufactured overnight by corporations trying to monetize sentimentality.
Commercialized Holidays vs. Purpose-Driven Holiday Shopping
At its core, holiday shopping has become a test of values. If we buy the big-brand, mass-produced products, we’re reinforcing a cycle of consumption that prioritizes profit over purpose.
But purchasing from a queer-owned, design-led small business means your dollars support more than just a product. They support creative labor, meaningful representation, thoughtful material choices, and the continuity of niche craft.
We’ve said it before and we will say it again: Now more than ever, it matters where we spend our money … our dollar is our power, and choosing to invest in companies that invest in us is how we build lasting change.
This holiday, the brands you choose to support can say something. It can say: I choose authenticity. I value independent creators. I support queer-owned business.
It can say: I will not participate in a commercialised Christmas where profit matters more than people.
Why Tru-Tone’s Christmas Line Is Worth Supporting
Their vintage-style LED bulbs replicate the warm glow of incandescent lights, indoors or out, and are built with quality in mind. They’re weather-resistant, dimmable, and flexible for use.
They are a small team, born out of passion for craft, not of corporate greed. Meaning each purchase directly affects a person, a team, a community, not supply-chain profit margins.
They offer options for every aesthetic: mod mixes, jewel tones, rainbow strands, and the ability to customize your decor the same way our grandparents did. A way personal to you and your style.
In a moment when rainbow imagery and queer-affirming celebration are under pressure, a brand that elevates queer visibility year-round, not just in June, is a statement as much as it is decor.
A Call-To-Action for Holiday Shoppers
This year, before you click “add to cart,” think about who is profiting from your hard-earned dollar. How that dollar trickles down to the people responsible for making holiday magic … or up to the Scrooges who want to rob us all of what the holidays are really about.
Take a moment to ask: Who made this? Does this brand have values that align with me? Does the product tell a story? What is the company ethos?
When you decorate with Tru-Tone you share the brand’s ethos, its values, Your décor becomes activism.
This holiday season doesn’t have to be about over-consumption. Choose brands like Tru-Tone, that way, the lights in your window aren’t just pretty — they’re meaningful. Shop their collection here.
