General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

metal shell & parts/ porcelain base/ hard rubber switch handle/ paper insulation

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

N/A

Width

N/A

Height

4.9 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

5.1 cm

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Energy-electric

Category

User site

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Arrow

Country

United States of America

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

North America

State/Province

Unknown

Period

late 19th century

Canada

An American made switch of a type used in Canada.. Part of a large & varied collection of over 7500 electrical items acquired & documented by Ontario Hydro in the 1960s. The collection was thought to be the largest & most comprehensive of its kind in Canada & was donated to the National Museum of Science & Technology in 1992.

Function

An electrical wiring device used to make or break a connection in an electrical circuit, this type to control 80 lights.

Technical

An example of a rotary switch, turned in one direction to give on-off-on-off alternately. From 1880 to 1890 the great majority of switches were of the turn type. Edison was one of the very first to give attention to the question of the branch switch. Out of the many possible movements, he chose that of turning, partly through its association with the gas tap. He thought that it would be a good selling point to allow his customers to turn electricity on or off in the same manner as they were accustomed to dealing with gas (Ref. 3).

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

raised "E" superimposed on arrow on switch handle & underside of base/ raised "3032/ S" on underside/ incised lettering on shell reads "5 A 125 V"

Missing

appears complete

Finish

nickel plated shell/ black switch handle/ partially glazed white base

Decoration

N/A