Old wiring devices

[Tim R.]

A small hobby of mine is antique light switches and outlets. It’s been a lifelong interest of mine, going back to my first encounter with vintage electronics. A neighbor of mine had an old cathedral radio in his living room, and he noticed it had caught my eye. He said that it still worked, and told me to plug it in so we could listen to it. Being that it was an old house (you could see where it had gas light fixtures at one point), it had an older, unusual outlet near the radio and my 5 year old mind could not figure out how to plug the radio in. I remember it looking like this:



That day launched two of my hobbies. I remember the push button switches on the walls of my house, and an old round one by the basement stairs that sparked and made a snap when you rotated it.

Since then I’ve amassed a collection of vintage wiring devices – especially the early ones that predated the standard 3 prong outlets and flip light switches. It’s amazing the sheer variety that was out there in the early days – many different and incompatible types of plugs and outlets, and various unique ways of turning lights on and off. It’s something most of us would ignore, but I can’t help noticing those small details when I am in an older building.

[bob91343]

I see that Hoosick Falls has a population of 3400 or so, and less than 20 radio amateurs.

I could find no mention of Hoosick Falls Radio and Electrical Parts Mfg. Co, Inc. Maybe they were bought out by Leviton (which I like to pronounce as leave-it-on).

[maxhifi]

check out www.electrical-contractor.net
forums there cover this sort of thing, got lots of interesting material
I have similar odds and ends of old electrical stuff
I am partial to antique round surface mount light switches... use them all over for lots of stuff.

[holmesuser01]

I have a copy of the 1934 Westinghouse Electric Parts Catalog that is wonderful reading. They list all of the different Mazda lamps, street lighting equipment, push-button light switches, etc, etc, etc. It's such fun to look through...

One of the latest advances in lighting at the time of printing was the new Mercury Vapor lighting fixture for use in factories.

I found the catalog in an abandoned building less than one week before it burned in a huge spectacular fire that took out some major riverfront businesses here.

I'm another one that likes old lighting equipment.

[Electronic M]

I've got some older switches some are push button some are toggle. One of my toggle switches came from the basement of the house I grew up in, and that is either a very early one or a very high current one as it's made of ceramic and has these HUGE contacts that make a LOUD click and a big spark if the plate is removed for one to see it. At some point the plate was removed for a few days for some reason, and with all those exposed voltages and the sparking it made I was afraid to touch it.

[holmesuser01]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

I've got some older switches some are push button some are toggle. One of my toggle switches came from the basement of the house I grew up in, and that is either a very early one or a very high current one as it's made of ceramic and has these HUGE contacts that make a LOUD click and a big spark if the plate is removed for one to see it. At some point the plate was removed for a few days for some reason, and with all those exposed voltages and the sparking it made I was afraid to touch it.

There are 2 push button switches beside my front door that are original to the house. When I rewired the 1924 house, I pulled new wires and reinstalled these switches. One is for the porch light, and the other operates a ceiling fan.

While I had the switches out, I took them apart, and cleaned them up like new.

The switch on my furnace is an old ceramic shell toggle switch like what you describe. Also rebuilt.

I'm looking for more pushbutton switches and wallplates. I'd like to replace some others in the house, too.

[bgadow]

Here is one I've been trying to figure out for years:

Our shop, which was built around 1950, used nothing but these. My father would just bend one prong of everything he bought, but when I started working for him I replaced them all with standard grounded sockets. Why would they make them like that? I could understand if it were DC, but why for 120vac?

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by bgadow

Here is one I've been trying to figure out for years:

Our shop, which was built around 1950, used nothing but these. My father would just bend one prong of everything he bought, but when I started working for him I replaced them all with standard grounded sockets. Why would they make them like that? I could understand if it were DC, but why for 120vac?

Back in the house I grew up in there was one newer (the house was built in the 30's-40's, but this outlet and a couple of other things were from the 70's-80's) outlet in the dining room that was a hybrid between what you have there and a normal outlet being that it could accept both kinds of plugs. The only thing I saw with the odd plug was a sander or some such that the folks who refinished our floors used. I believe that that outlet may have had it's own fuse. The refinishers also had some thing that I believe ran on 240V as they also had to open the fuse box an patch in with clip leads.

I've seen knob and tube wiring before....The most memorable occasion was in the second floor of an antique shop in Kentucky where the wiring fed some of the oldest bulbs I've seen in person. New wiring and lighting had been added, but they left the old stuff in there.......Was that ever cool to see.

[leadlike]

Brian, that right-angled outlet is so odd! I've seen 240 service with the right angled blades, but those are all grounded. Looking through my NEMA books, even the older ones, show nothing like it.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by leadlike

Brian, that right-angled outlet is so odd! I've seen 240 service with the right angled blades, but those are all grounded. Looking through my NEMA books, even the older ones, show nothing like it.

The Hubbell website shows a device like that, but not in a duplex. They still make a lot of non-NEMA devices, both plugs and recepticals.

[maxhifi]

Originally Posted by bgadow

Here is one I've been trying to figure out for years:

Our shop, which was built around 1950, used nothing but these. My father would just bend one prong of everything he bought, but when I started working for him I replaced them all with standard grounded sockets. Why would they make them like that? I could understand if it were DC, but why for 120vac?

Found it! It's a NEMA 2-20 outlet, 20A at 230V non grounded
Will post catalog pages and NEMA chart tonight.
Some shops would use strange plugs as a lame attempt
To reduce tool theft, maybe that was the logic at
Your father's shop. Or maybe it was 230V originally.

[Chad Hauris]

At my parents house are 120-volt receptacles that both terminals have a T-shaped contact to them...
they can accept a plug with the blades both turned 90 degrees like this -- --
One time I actually found a plug with these type blades and wired it up just as a novelty.

[maxhifi]

Originally Posted by Chad Hauris

At my parents house are 120-volt receptacles that both terminals have a T-shaped contact to them...
they can accept a plug with the blades both turned 90 degrees like this -- --
One time I actually found a plug with these type blades and wired it up just as a novelty.

In the VERY early days of electicitry, plugs were not yet standardized, and both types of plugs were used. The T slot receptacles, and the first one in this thread (which is another design of the same intent), were meant to accomodate both types of plug.

I have an old B&H movie projector with the uncommon style of plug.

[holmesuser01]

Originally Posted by maxhifi

In the VERY early days of electicitry, plugs were not yet standardized, and both types of plugs were used. The T slot receptacles, and the first one in this thread (which is another design of the same intent), were meant to accomodate both types of plug.

I have an old B&H movie projector with the uncommon style of plug.

I also have several B&H projectors. I know what you mean.

I recently saw a house for sale that had several Edison screw plugs in the walls at the floor. They were disconnected, but still there. If the sale happens, I'll pull them and post pictures of them.

[holmesuser01]

I have a bunch of old preheat fluorescent light fixtures out of a factory that have plugs like these in your picture. Maybe this was an industrial standard?