Old wiring devices

[David Roper]

The Hubbell outlet appears in a 1915 electrical goods catalog, so it goes back at least that far, but the blade-style quick attachment we all know was only one of several different styles/formats shown, which makes me think it was still very new and very far from common much less universal in a time when cords still draped from the ceiling.

An original 1905 installation of a baseboard outlet is not impossible, but it would probably look like this...

[holmesuser01]

Originally Posted by David Roper

The Hubbell outlet appears in a 1915 electrical goods catalog, so it goes back at least that far, but the blade-style quick attachment we all know was only one of several different styles/formats shown, which makes me think it was still very new and very far from common much less universal in a time when cords still draped from the ceiling.

An original 1905 installation of a baseboard outlet is not impossible, but it would probably look like this...

This is the plug I was referring to earlier. The house it's in was built in the 1880's. There's one of these outlets in each room on the main floor. No outlets upstairs at all, just overhead lights with pushbutton light switches.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by holmesuser01

This is the plug I was referring to earlier. The house it's in was built in the 1880's. There's one of these outlets in each room on the main floor. No outlets upstairs at all, just overhead lights with pushbutton light switches.

If you look at real old catalogues from the '20s, showing electrical products, they show a Edison base adaptor included with the straight blade plug.