General Electric toggle switch
name: label: maker
content: General Electric Company
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Single-pole, single-throw wall switch Porcelain housing, plastic switch, copper connectors (screws missing), paper insulator. "7" and "A" molded on back, "G.E. Co. / U.S.A. / Und. Lab. / Insp" and "5A.250V / 10A.125V. stamped on yoke. GE logo on switch. This switch, made by GE is an early example of a devices still in common use today. In this case, the unit shows a heavy ceramic housing rather than a modern plastic design. The paper insulator can be removed to service the switch from the front without having to remove the switch from the wall.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The adoption of electrical systems was one of the most significant events of the 19th and 20th centuries. The convenience and efficiency of electric lighting and other applications has revolutionized our daily existence and resulted in benefits and challenges that continue to affect everyone. An electrical system is just that–a system–and it requires multiple components. Such components include switches, the interface that allows users to operate a given device. Many types of switches have been designed over the past 200 years, many being specialized for particular applications. This unit was designed to be mounted inside a wall or other surface to operate power systems (the lights and outlets in a room, for example) or a device (such as a radio setup or laboratory apparatus). Such recessed switches and outlets made for a cleaner visual appearance and a safer design since they were less subject to physical damage. They were increasingly adopted as more buildings were constructed with an installed electrical infrastructure, rather than older buildings in which electricity was retrofitted.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Reference: Fred E. H. Schroeder, "More 'Small Things Forgotten': Domestic Electrical Plugs and Receptacles, 1881-1931," Technology and Culture 27, No. 3 (July 1986): 525-543.
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: 2023.0177.22
label: accession number
content: 2023.0177
label: catalog number
content: 2023.0177.22
objectType: label: Object Name
content: electrical switch
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 3/4 in x 1 1/2 in x 1 7/8 in; 9.525 cm x 3.81 cm x 4.7625 cm