Edison General Electric push-key lamp socket
date: label: date made
content: ca 1890
name: label: maker
content: Edison General Electric Company
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Edison General Electric push-keyed socket for medium-screw based incandescent lamp. Brass shell with plastic shell insulator, porcelain base, mica insulating sheet in socket, brass push-key with lever arm release, threaded post connector. Painted silver. Stamped on shell: “Edison General / Electric Co. / New York, U.S.A. / Patented / Dec. 27, 1881 / May 2, 1882 / Oct. 3, 1882 / Feb. 12, 1884 / May 13, 1884 / Jan 20, 1885 / Apr. 15, 1890."
label: Description (Brief)
content: This socket from the late 1890s was made by Edison General Electric Company, one of the immediate predecessors to the modern GE. While it was made for a by-then standard medium-screw base lamp, it has a very unusual push-key switch with lever arm release. The adoption of electric lighting was one of the most significant events of the 19th and 20th centuries. The convenience and efficiency of electric lighting systems has revolutionized our daily existence and resulted in benefits and challenges that continue to affect everyone. An electric lighting system is just that–a system–and it requires multiple components beyond just a light emitter (lamp). One such component is the socket that provides a 3-way interface between the user, the lamp, and the electrical supply. Sockets are designed for a particular lamp type, often proprietary designs of specific companies, and as such have demonstrated the impact of standardization. They also show a variety of user interfaces, one unusual interface being the push-key seen on this socket.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2023.0177.02
label: accession number
content: 2023.0177
label: catalog number
content: 2023.0177.02
objectType: label: Object Name
content: lamp socket
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 1/2 in x 2 in x 1 5/8 in; 6.35 cm x 5.08 cm x 4.1275 cm