Some friends of mine in Durham, NC are looking at a house in Durham, NC and came across this thing. What on earth is it? The house is supposed to date from 1940, but I have no idea if that is accurate.
Dave
Dave
Odd vintage electric center?
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Interesting indeed.. Didn't old electric shavers use round plugs like would fit on the right most outlet? Not sure what that odd one would be with the angled hole.
That outlet with the angled slot may be for a TV antenna - I remember seeing something like that in an old Popular Mechanics book. Perhaps the round pin outlet is for a speaker... Hey, this could be the first generation of home theater wiring!! LOL
Funny you say that about the tv antenna in the slant plug. I have seen plugs like that for electrical connections. From the way they look the 1st set on the left appears to be a 20 amp outlet. The one next to it looks like a 15 amp outlet and the one with the weird configuration, I don't know. The round one looks like either a headphone jack or a microphone jack. Now the last one with the rounded holes looks like an antenna connection. We had those alone in one house in every room and they were for the antenna system.
Jon
Jon
Whatever it is, it's neat! One of the joys of old home (think 1890's) is finding interesting wiring ideas.
repair-man
Well-known member
But if you look at how the mounting screws are configured it looks as if the odd angled one is part of the normal 15 amp one. It has a single center screw like any typical duplex outlet would. And of you look closely they have the same emblem between the two slots. The two 20 amp outlets do not.
I'll have to check out my electrical books and see if there's an example of that slanted one.
I agree that the two pin receptacle on the far right was likely for a TV antenna. We had them in our house growing up. I just removed a couple of defunct ones recently.
Editing with additional info:
My books showed nothing, and there's a reason. Per a couple of forums on line, that slanted slot receptacle is for a radio aerial and isn't connected to A/C power. Makes sense if the far right one is for TV, although such an option for television seems quite state of the art for a '40s home. There probably wasn't any such thing as a combo A/C and antenna receptacle for TVs yet, but apparently such a pairing was common for radios.
[this post was last edited: 2/20/2017-16:55]
I agree that the two pin receptacle on the far right was likely for a TV antenna. We had them in our house growing up. I just removed a couple of defunct ones recently.
Editing with additional info:
My books showed nothing, and there's a reason. Per a couple of forums on line, that slanted slot receptacle is for a radio aerial and isn't connected to A/C power. Makes sense if the far right one is for TV, although such an option for television seems quite state of the art for a '40s home. There probably wasn't any such thing as a combo A/C and antenna receptacle for TVs yet, but apparently such a pairing was common for radios.
[this post was last edited: 2/20/2017-16:55]
gusherb
Well-known member
Come to think of it I think that receptacle on the right is what a twin-lead jack looked like. There were some of those in my grandmas house leading up to the antenna my dad had installed on the chimney.
That electric center or whatever one wants to call it fascinates me to no end. I'd love to take it out and see what's going on behind it. (And TBH update it to something modern and put the piece in a collection. Old worn out electrical devices are not something you want, unlike most other vintage things.)
That electric center or whatever one wants to call it fascinates me to no end. I'd love to take it out and see what's going on behind it. (And TBH update it to something modern and put the piece in a collection. Old worn out electrical devices are not something you want, unlike most other vintage things.)
Combination power and radio antenna receptacles used to be popular. The 1930's Arrow-Hart catalog in the link is Canadian, but the same devices were used in the US, see pg. 44. The setup pictured is fancy with extra jacks all in one plate.
Perhaps the odd outlet could be for the antenna rotor?
I don't know if there would have been antenna rotors around when this setup would suggest it dates from. In the 50s and 60s I believe there were oulets for a rotor but they had 5 pins if I remember correctly. Wiring a rotor with that flat 5-conductor cable was a royal pain!!
I'm glad Ralph determined it was for a radio, because I never would have figured it out. I was looking at charts of NEMA receptacles and nothing seemed to match up. Good thing, because you wouldn't want to plug your radio antenna into a live socket!
It's also a bit odd to have a 15-amp receptacle in the same strip as a 20-amp, isn't it?
It's also a bit odd to have a 15-amp receptacle in the same strip as a 20-amp, isn't it?
classiccaprice
Well-known member
Grounded Arial Antenna
Some neighbors of mine bought a craftsman style home as a rental back around 1970, and it still had a radio aerial mounted to one of its peaks. I really wanted it, but there was no way to safely get up there and remove it. I'll bet short wave radios could pull in a lot more stations via outdoor aerial than with just some wires hanging off the back of the cabinet.
Regarding the T-slot duplex receptacle
At the time this was made, that configuration was not for 20 amp. 125 volt, but rather rated for both 15 amp. 125 volt (NEMA standard 1-15) and 15 amp. 250 volt (NEMA 2-15) . The tandem blade plug was usually used for 240 volt equipment. Needless to say, this wasn't the safest, as the receptacle could be wired to a 240 volt circuit. Since it would accept the plug commonly used for 120 volts, a light or appliance could be connected to the higher voltage, likely damaging the equipment. My dad's uncle's grocery store had such a receptacle for the 240 volt Hobart meat grinder. I remember the cleaning lady plugged a vacuum cleaner in one time, ruining the motor (It was marked "220 volts", but she didn't read it).
When my house was built in '52, all the original receptacles (Pass & Seymour) were the 15 amp. 125 volt rating (NEMA 1-15). My parents had some additional receptacles installed in the basement sometime around '58, and they were all the T-slot type. The present day grounded versions were available by that time; I don't know why the electrician didn't install them using a cable with ground. I tore out all that old wiring, and replaced with 20 amp. receptacles with 12-2 w/g cable.
The round jack in the next space is probably to connect to a remote radio speaker.
At the time this was made, that configuration was not for 20 amp. 125 volt, but rather rated for both 15 amp. 125 volt (NEMA standard 1-15) and 15 amp. 250 volt (NEMA 2-15) . The tandem blade plug was usually used for 240 volt equipment. Needless to say, this wasn't the safest, as the receptacle could be wired to a 240 volt circuit. Since it would accept the plug commonly used for 120 volts, a light or appliance could be connected to the higher voltage, likely damaging the equipment. My dad's uncle's grocery store had such a receptacle for the 240 volt Hobart meat grinder. I remember the cleaning lady plugged a vacuum cleaner in one time, ruining the motor (It was marked "220 volts", but she didn't read it).
When my house was built in '52, all the original receptacles (Pass & Seymour) were the 15 amp. 125 volt rating (NEMA 1-15). My parents had some additional receptacles installed in the basement sometime around '58, and they were all the T-slot type. The present day grounded versions were available by that time; I don't know why the electrician didn't install them using a cable with ground. I tore out all that old wiring, and replaced with 20 amp. receptacles with 12-2 w/g cable.
The round jack in the next space is probably to connect to a remote radio speaker.
Thank you all!
That solved an interesting mystery.
Dave
That solved an interesting mystery.
Dave
cehalstead
Well-known member
round jack
The round jack could also possibly be an early telephone jack. Before 4 prong jacks and then later the modular jacks we use today, the Bell System used a single pole plug for extension telephones. I'm not sure about this being a jack, but it's likely.
The round jack could also possibly be an early telephone jack. Before 4 prong jacks and then later the modular jacks we use today, the Bell System used a single pole plug for extension telephones. I'm not sure about this being a jack, but it's likely.
brucelucenta
Well-known member
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I think you may be right about the telephone jack. If you use a couple of old Joan Crawford movies for reference, you'll see that they used a large one prong plug in for the phones in "Mildred Pierce" and "Flamingo Road". Jack Carson pulls the end of one out in M/P and Sydney Greenstreet does in F/R.
John,
While the rules are clear - you can't have a 20 amp outlet on a 15 amp circuit, there's nothing about the reverse situation in the code.
In point of fact: Nearly all GFCIs are 'pass through' 20Amp but only 15 amp duplex outlets.
I had quite a fight on my hands several years back with that at the homo depot - needed to plug in a 20amp commercial light-duty microwave into a GFCI and wanted a 20amp device. Know-it-all insisted I didn't. Sigh. Finally got the damned thing, but to this day I avoid eye contact in the electrical aisle of all box stores.
While the rules are clear - you can't have a 20 amp outlet on a 15 amp circuit, there's nothing about the reverse situation in the code.
In point of fact: Nearly all GFCIs are 'pass through' 20Amp but only 15 amp duplex outlets.
I had quite a fight on my hands several years back with that at the homo depot - needed to plug in a 20amp commercial light-duty microwave into a GFCI and wanted a 20amp device. Know-it-all insisted I didn't. Sigh. Finally got the damned thing, but to this day I avoid eye contact in the electrical aisle of all box stores.
