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Ingenium, 1992.2484.001
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OBJECT TYPE: pendant/feed through/single pole
DATE: 1914
ARTIFACT NUMBER: 1992.2484.001

MANUFACTURER: PERKINS
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: brass shell/ bakelite or hard rubber? buttons/ porcelain/ metal parts

Dimensions

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

Length: 4.6 cm
Width: 3.5 cm
Height: 5.7 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: PERKINS
Country: United States of America
State/Province: Unknown
City: Unknown

Context

Country: North America
State/Province: Unknown
Period: circa 1914+
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: A type of switch made for a small appliance like iron, curling irons, heating pads, percolators, etc. It reduced wear of the socket because only the buttons had to be pushed to allow or stop the current. It also reduced the possibility of over-heating because the red button easily indicated if the current was on (Ref. 1).
Area Notes: Unknown

Details

Markings: incised lettering on shell reads "PERKINS/ 6A. 125V. 3A. 250V./ PAT. NOV. 26, 1907/ UND. LAB. INSP."
Missing: appears complete
Finish: gold coloured metal/ red & black buttons, black parts/ white porcelain
Decoration: N/A

CITE THIS OBJECT

If you choose to share our information about this collection object, please cite:

PERKINS, Switch, circa 1914, Artifact no. 1992.2484, Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation, http://collections.ingeniumcanada.org/en/id/1992.2484.001/

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