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1992.2452.001
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- OBJECT TYPE
- turn/rotary/flush
- DATE
- 1913
- ARTIFACT NUMBER
- 1992.2452.001
- MANUFACTURER
- Diamond H
- MODEL
- Unknown
- LOCATION
- United States of America
More Information
General Information
- Serial #
- N/A
- Part Number
- 1
- Total Parts
- 1
- AKA
- N/A
- Patents
- N/A
- General Description
- ceramic cup & switch handle/ metal plate & parts
Dimensions
Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.
- Length
- 11.5 cm
- Width
- 7.0 cm
- Height
- 5.3 cm
- Thickness
- N/A
- Weight
- N/A
- Diameter
- N/A
- Volume
- N/A
Lexicon
- Group
- Energy-electric
- Category
- User site
- Sub-Category
- N/A
Manufacturer
- AKA
- Diamond
- Country
- United States of America
- State/Province
- Unknown
- City
- Unknown
Context
- Country
- North America
- State/Province
- Unknown
- Period
- circa 1913+
- Canada
-
An American made switch of a type used in Canadian households. 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, specifically in domestic lighting. - Technical
-
An example of a rotary switch. Edison was one of the very first to give serious 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. From 1880 to 1890 the great majority of switches were of the turn type (Ref. 3). First they were made of wood, with no definite on or off positions. Later switch bases were made of marble or slate, then porcelain with definite on-off positions. Another improvement was quick-make-and-break mechanisms. Rotary switches remained popular in Canada until the late 1920s, but gradually were used more in stoves & other appliances than lighting. By 1921 they no longer appeared in Canadian catalogues. Diamond H, previously named the Hart Mfg. Co., was a company formed by American Waldo Hart in 1890. The first push-button switch made by Hart & Co. appeared in 1899. By 1915 Diamond had become part of Hart & Hegeman. (Ref. 1) - Area Notes
-
Unknown
Details
- Markings
- incised logo on switch handle consists of "H" enclosed in diamond./ identical logo on underside of cup/ handwritten on ceramic is "HALLIDAY/STONEY CREEK/ ADA/ SEE MEMO/ APR 13/65"
- Missing
- appears complete
- Finish
- white ceramic/ plated metal
- Decoration
- N/A
CITE THIS OBJECT
If you choose to share our information about this collection object, please cite:
Diamond H, Switch, circa 1913, Artifact no. 1992.2452, Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation, http://collection.ingeniumcanada.org/en/id/1992.2452.001/
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