Posted 8 years ago
SpiritBear
(813 items)
"Electricity in Franklin's time was a wonder; now we make light of it."
Albeit this looks like a pull-chain or a light bulb of sorts, this is actually how many early plug-ins looked.
This one is most similar to Hubell's 1904 patent, so the porcelain socket plug has some good age to it (late Victorian).
They were very popular as most homes with electricity only had it as a light, so one could take the bulb out and screw this in.
Later, homes got outlets, which led to pronged plugs taking over.
This one, I assume, was for some kind of appliance as it says 300 V on it.
Someone really needs a site dedicated to dating antique plugs. It would make the job of trying to date electrified items, generally, easier.
Neat item. I have heard the first outlets were the lamp outlets. I wonder if this is DC only.
I do not know enough to answer that wonder.