Switch
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Ingenium,
1992.2512.001
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- OBJECT TYPE
- turn/rotary
- DATE
- 1914
- ARTIFACT NUMBER
- 1992.2512.001
- MANUFACTURER
- Unknown
- MODEL
- Unknown
- LOCATION
- Unknown
More Information
General Information
- Serial #
- N/A
- Part Number
- 1
- Total Parts
- 1
- AKA
- N/A
- Patents
- N/A
- General Description
- porcelain base/ brass & porcelain shell/ brass switch handle/ metal parts
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
- 5.7 cm
- Thickness
- N/A
- Weight
- N/A
- Diameter
- 6.3 cm
- Volume
- N/A
Lexicon
- Group
- Energy-electric
- Category
- User site
- Sub-Category
- N/A
Manufacturer
- AKA
- Unknown
- Country
- Unknown
- State/Province
- Unknown
- City
- Unknown
Context
- Country
- North America
- State/Province
- Unknown
- Period
- circa 1914+
- Canada
-
A 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, 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
- incised "5A" on shell
- Missing
- appears complete
- Finish
- glazed black & white porcelain/ gold & green painted shell/ gold coloured switch handle
- Decoration
- gold, cream & brown painted designs on shell
CITE THIS OBJECT
If you choose to share our information about this collection object, please cite:
Unknown Manufacturer, Switch, circa 1914, Artifact no. 1992.2512, Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation, http://collection.ingeniumcanada.org/en/id/1992.2512.001/
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