Multiple outlets throughout the years - a sample

[turquoisedude]

Inspired by the discussion generated by those early ads for additional conveniece outlets, I dragged out some examples from my collection.  Let's start with the lamp socket ones.  Here are a few that would have allowed one to light a bulb and screw in the plug for a toaster or coffee perk.

I will bet that some clever soul soon figured out how to add another twin adapter to the empty socket of the adapter already in place...

I've included samples of a couple of adapters that allow any two-prong plug to be plugged into a light socket.  Surprisingly, these still exist today.

Last 2 photos are the guts of the screw-in type plug. As a brat, I was fascinated by the way these would allow the cord to be connected without twisting.   Ok, still am...

 

[turquoisedude]

The light fixture was likely the only electrical wiring in some very old kitchens and since there are never enough outlets, some clever manufacturers made these drop cord extensions.

This one was still in its box with instructions on how to wire it so that the switch would control the light while the outlets were on all the time.

I will guess it was assumed most people had a notion of basic electricity!

 

[turquoisedude]

No surprise from me that these are all GE products...

First is a sample of one of the early duplex outlets - I am guessing from the 20s

Second is from the mid-50s. Despite the lack of wiring and poor physical placement, the house where I grew up had these all through the house!  I have seen in catalogues from the early 60s a version that could take 5 flat plugs.

Third is a GE quad outlet. These were around from the early 60s right into the 70s. Not sure exactly when they disappeared.

In the last picture, and it is not clear, the rear plate of the GE triple outlet has instructions on how to snap off a section of the cover plate to permit 2 (or maybe more!) of these outlets to be 'ganged' together.  A 9 outlet unit is what every 50s kitchen needed, no??

 

[turquoisedude]

Now the era of living dangerously begins...

The early multiple-outlet strips like this mid-50s version of the Tap-a-Line appeared on hardware and department store shelves.

Of course if anyone bothered to read the product leaflet, these models made it pretty clear that the total power consumed was the limit to how many things could be used simultaneously.  But the temptation to use one's toaster, iron, and coffee pot must have been too great... LOL 

8 seemed to become the 'magic number' of plugs...

[this post was last edited: 9/17/2018-18:05]

 

[turquoisedude]

In the late 50s, Fedtro made these extension strips.

Again, 8 was the magic number, but if you tried real hard, you could jam in 10 or 12...

I would dispute that 15 amp rating too.

[this post was last edited: 9/17/2018-18:05]

 

[turquoisedude]

These are the ones that I remember best. They were everywhere in our house!

Fedtro 'offshored' production to Japan when these multiple outlet strips were in production. They were around for a long time, only fading in the mid 70s.

There was some fine print as to wattage capacity, but 'if that smiling model on the package can run an iron and a frypan off this, then why can't I' was the customer's attitude. Full disclosure - when one of these beasties failed it was either the attachment plug or when the solder holding the wires to the internal brass strips melted.  Not pretty...

I suppose the Hex-O-Let was the safest. Well, as safe as using 2 cube taps in a double outlet.  LOL 

But the package graphics were great and you could choose just how many extra outlets you needed...

 

[turquoisedude]

I'll end with what could have really been Fedtro's 'safest' outlet strip.  The Benchmaster was huge, with grounded outlets AND a fuse.  Where's the fun in that??? 

 

[rp2813]

Interesting!

I was using one of those lamp socket splitters (similar to pictures 3 and 4) at the top of the basement stairs in the pantry area of our previous house.  It had a utilitarian porcelain bare bulb fixture.  I would go in and out of there a lot, and would have to drop what I was doing if the bulb failed.  The antique splitter in a box of old wire and cords held the answer, so instead of a singe 100w bulb I had two 60s.  It's still there.  The new owners haven't begun any remodeling yet.

 

[wayupnorth]

I lived in an apartment with 5 outlets and multiple extension cords, but didnt know any better. My house is wired so no breaker has more than 3 of the 35 outlets connected and no extension cords any more. I only have one of those double screw in taps left with 2 15 watt CFL's in the basement.[this post was last edited: 9/17/2018-19:18]

 

[xraytech]

My house still has one of those GE triple outlets in the back bedroom.

And I remember my grandmother had one of those Tap-a-line power strips in her finished basement, it was plugged in to a practically inaccessible outlet, and there was a table lamp and her Sunbeam Ironmaster always plugged into that strip up until she died in 2014.
I have no idea how that strip never melted.

I have those 2 prong adaptors screwed into 2 of the 4 light sockets in my basement. They are used to plug in fluorescent light fixtures

 

[ultralux88]

3rd post, picture 4. My grandma still has one of these in her kitchen!

 

[norgeway]

I have a Sunbeam

Unit that mounts in the wall, it has a fluorescent light and 4 separately fused 15 amp 120 volt receptacles, you run a 10 gauge 30 amp 240 volt line to it.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I have several old electrical adapters and outlets as well. I have that GE you're talking about with the 5 outlet, still has the card attached to it. I'll try to upload some photos this week if that's alright.

 

[philr]

The benchmaster doesn't look like the other Fedtro products!

I'm just trying to imagine what could happen with the other units when plugged to a 20 amp receptacle with a toaster and an electric kettle!

 

[paulg]

My experience with a 1957 home

Great thread.
Let me relay my experience with outlet pictured in post 592, center receptacle (triple).
One of my prior houses was built in 1957. It had the triple, no ground outlets as shown.
One day I come home and the kitchen is electrically dead. The house still had fuses. The kitchen fuse was open (I HATE the word "blown" for fuses), so I replaced it. The new fuse immediately opened indicating a short in the kitchen.
Uh-oh. Looks like it is going to be a long night.
Well, unplugging everything in the kitchen revealed nothing (initially). When I started pulling those outlets out I found that the outlet at the kitchen counter had arc tracking across the back.
Replacing the outlet restored the room to operation.
HOWEVER,
I decided to replace ALL of these outlets in the home. An interesting thing was revealed.
For years, the TV in the back bedroom would occasionally get strong interference. It would only last a few moments. The symptoms would disappear for months, appear for a couple of days and disappear again.
The kitchen was adjacent to the back bedroom. When I removed the receptacle behind the refrigerator I noticed it had been replaced before. I decided to change it anyway.
When I removed the receptacle I found that not only had the receptacle been wired hot-neutral in reverse, the screws were never tightened down! Almost certainly the intermittent arc from wiring to the screw terminal was creating the interference in the nearby TV. Correct replacement of the receptacle ended all problems. I still don't know how I never noticed the refrigerator malfunction in all those years prior.

 

[circlew]

One of my neighbors had the Tap-a-line or Octo-let devices in their kitchen until 1972, when they renovated (and installed proper wiring).

I have a few of the type T'dude shows in his first pic, and also a couple that screw in that have one pull-chain light socket and two receptacles at the sides. That is the type that almost set my bedroom on fire when my mom decided to plug the dehumidifier into it. I smelled something burning when I opened my BR door, no light, and saw the white plastic adapter was charred. Fortunately there wasn't anything flammable nearby.

The link is to a 1932 Pass & Seymour catalog.

https://archive.org/details/PassSeymourIncPSgeneralcatalogno310001

 

[northwesty]

Amazing collection

I'll have to keep my eye out for some of these.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Interesting as more electrical small appliances were introduced, so had the need for more built-in, and not to mention, safer & permanent outlets...

Too bad my house, given the lack of any on my most-used portion of my counter for small kitchen equipment must be still stuck in that “before” time:

— Dave