# Anybody know what this was used for?



## joebanana (Dec 21, 2010)

Looks like the remains of a blown out switch. Where do those wires go?


----------



## telsa (May 22, 2015)

The devastation is so complete that one must guess.

A radio antenna port that was energized with full voltage by a clown that didn't know that such devices existed back a century ago?

BTW, is this the main living room?


----------



## LARMGUY (Aug 22, 2010)

I especially like the baseboard enclosure.


----------



## Dennis Alwon (May 9, 2009)

My guess based on location is that it was a receptacle.


----------



## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

Could have been a butlers foot switch. 
Pulled a few ceramic bodies shaped like that out years ago. 
They had them in the dining room on the floor and several other formal rooms in the baseboard. The wires ran back to the kitchen to a light board to show what room was calling.


----------



## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

I feel dirty just looking at that photo. Most of my renos are 70's and newer. My guess is receptacle as well. Doesn't matter after it's in the dumpster.


----------



## MikeFL (Apr 16, 2016)

Wirenuting said:


> Could have been a butlers foot switch.
> Pulled a few ceramic bodies shaped like that out years ago.
> They had them in the dining room on the floor and several other formal rooms in the baseboard. The wires ran back to the kitchen to a light board to show what room was calling.


Plenty of old homes where I grew up. One friend's house had ropes going through the walls to the kitchen to an array of gongs. Each gong was attributable to a particular room so the domestic help knew who was summoning them.


----------



## 460 Delta (May 9, 2018)

Are the wires still live? Looks like the remains of a switch as others have said, but in the baseboard is a mystery.
Touch the wires together, what could happen, other than mayhem!:surprise:

.


----------



## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

I've seen plenty of pre-1930 porcelain bodied receptacles. They're usually H&H branded. Generally always a double T slot.


----------



## masshysteria (Nov 24, 2011)

Thanks for the replys. It was in the baseboard and will be replacing with an outlet.

Most of the homes in my area are prewar. Need a lot of work which is good but are dirty jobs.


----------



## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

See if you can find a maker's mark on it. Often it's an ink stamp on the porcelain part. The T-slotted yoke has me a little puzzled.


----------



## 460 Delta (May 9, 2018)

Is it just me or do those wires look bigger than 14 gauge? 
Could it be a relic of a Delco system?


----------



## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

460 Delta said:


> Is it just me or do those wires look bigger than 14 gauge?
> Could it be a relic of a Delco system?


You may be on to something, because they used a yoke-mounted single fuseholder. Never saw one in the baseboard, but why not?


----------



## MikeFL (Apr 16, 2016)

Older homes around here have receptacles in the baseboards. I've never seen a switch in a baseboard.


----------



## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

Wirenuting said:


> Could have been a butlers foot switch.
> Pulled a few ceramic bodies shaped like that out years ago.
> They had them in the dining room on the floor and several other formal rooms in the baseboard. The wires ran back to the kitchen to a light board to show what room was calling.


Yeah man, seen this exact same thing in the resort area mansions on the jersey shore. Tied into a large annunciator panel like you mentioned in the kitchen.

The cheaper places used the older style English bell and cord system.


----------

