General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

porcelain shell/ copper/ brass

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

2.1 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

3.2 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

1920s

Canada

An example of a receptacle 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 provide a point at which power can be drawn from a wiring system by means of a plug .

Technical

An example of a receptacle of around the 1920s. Porcelain bodies were first made around 1907 & were efficient but broke easily, & so were mainly used in domestic settings rather than for industrial & street lighting purposes. A simple arrangement which did not require the service of a mechanic to change a lamp was a necessity for commercial production of electric lamp sockets & receptacles. In 1880 Edison introduced the screw cap which still bears his name (Ref. 2). 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. There were rival lamps before 1900, each with its own base, but Edison's base had 70% of the market in the early 1900s (Ref. 3). There were various standardized sizes of bases in use for lamps. For the screw base, there was the mogul (the largest), the medium, the intermediate & the candelabra (for smaller bulbs).

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

raised lettering on underside reads "9446" & "2"

Missing

appears complete

Finish

glazed white porcelain/ gold coloured metal

Decoration

N/A