General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

socket & shade holder: brass shell, copper, rubber, cardboard/ porcelain rosette/ fabric covered wire

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

31.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

6.7 cm

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Energy-electric

Category

User site

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

General Electric

Country

Canada

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Unknown

Period

1910s-1920s

Canada

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

Function

An electrical wiring device used to support & connect to electricity a lamp or other electrical device, with a holder for a lamp shade & a rosette to connect it to the ceiling.

Technical

This type of raised shade holder became available in the 1880s, used with glassware adapted from gas light fixtures. They began to be replaced around 1910-1919 by a screw thread shade holder./ Edison had the idea for a light socket while screwing the cap on a kerosene can. It has the advantage of firmly seating the bulb without having to snap, pull or otherwise jar the lamp and its delicate filament./ For ceiling drop cords, the rosette was simplified into one piece of porcelain and the fuse was omitted (Refs. 1-2).

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

partially illegible incised lettering on socket reads "C.G.E. CO./ 250 V"/ raised lettering on rosette reads "C.G.E." & "3 AMP. 250 V"

Missing

appears complete

Finish

socket & shade holder: gold coloured metal, black rubber, black cardboard/ yellow? wire covering/ glazed white porcelain

Decoration

N/A