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Other Vintage Household Electrical or Electromechanical Items For discussions about other vintage (over 25 years old) electrical and electromechanical household items. See the sticky thread for details. |
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6th Jan 2023, 2:20 pm | #81 | |
Pentode
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Wirral, Merseyside, UK.
Posts: 118
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Re: Strange 2 pin plug socket in upstairs master bedroom (Victorian end Terrace house
Quote:
Kindest Regards, Joseph. |
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6th Jan 2023, 9:34 pm | #82 | |
Pentode
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Wirral, Merseyside, UK.
Posts: 118
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Re: Strange 2 pin plug socket in upstairs master bedroom (Victorian end Terrace house
Quote:
Earlier this afternoon I had a chat with the old man who lives next door but 1 and apparently he had known the last owner of my house very well since the early 1960's as they used to play golf together during the 60's to the 1980's. They were always in and out of each other's houses and he was the same electrician who fitted that socket and alarm back in 1968 or 69 !... It was for his (the previous owner of my house before his daughter, and then me) mother in law who could no longer go up and down the stairs without someone to help her up and down due to severe arthritis she had at the time... so that strange grey plastic 2 pin socket was for a remote control with a red button (momentary switch) she could press from her bedside (as her single bed was in that corner where the right side alcove is) and that's why that strange 2 pin plug socket was fixed to the skirting board on that side of the fire place. He, (the guy who lives next door but 1) told me that the 2 core wire from that strange socket went through the floor and into the lounge downstairs and there was an electric bell (which was connected to an 8 volt ac bell transformer downstairs) and which was placed high up on the center of chimney breast to alert the people sitting in that room that the old lady upstairs wanted to come down stairs and needed their help. The guy next door but 1 told me he's now 94 ! and still going strong !... he was laughing his head off when I told him that I thought it was a socket for a mantle piece clock or a lady shaver ! lol So it was for an alarm bell !... Just like if someone was in hospital and rings the bell from their hospital bed to call the nurse over for something ! Thanks everyone for all your replies ! and I'm really sorry if I upset anyone by going off topic as I hadn't been on here for a long time and didn't know that the rules had changed recently. Best Regards, Joseph. Last edited by Bittyboy; 6th Jan 2023 at 10:03 pm. |
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6th Jan 2023, 11:12 pm | #83 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Oxford, UK.
Posts: 17,820
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Re: Strange 2 pin plug socket in upstairs master bedroom (Victorian end Terrace house
What a nice ending to the mystery, Joseph. Thank you for taking the time to let us know.
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7th Jan 2023, 12:01 am | #84 |
Pentode
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Wirral, Merseyside, UK.
Posts: 118
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Re: Strange 2 pin plug socket in upstairs master bedroom (Victorian end Terrace house
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7th Jan 2023, 12:04 am | #85 |
Nonode
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Stockport, Cheshire, UK.
Posts: 2,000
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Re: Strange 2 pin plug socket in upstairs master bedroom (Victorian end Terrace house
It's very good to hear you managed to solve this mystery of the socket, especially as you by chance the electrician lived next door!
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7th Jan 2023, 12:20 am | #86 | |
Pentode
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Wirral, Merseyside, UK.
Posts: 118
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Re: Strange 2 pin plug socket in upstairs master bedroom (Victorian end Terrace house
Quote:
It was by chance he was outside in his front garden when I clocked him and went over to say hello, The subject came up about the strange socket and he told me that he was the one who put it in for the people who lived there and that he was an electrician for the local council. I will sleep well tonight now that I finally know what that weird socket was for ! - If anyone happens to come across the same socket as in my sketches and doesn't want it - please list it on eBay for us ! - I want it for my Minicraft drill under bench socket ! Thanks everyone and all the very best of luck with your projects ! |
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7th Jan 2023, 3:20 pm | #87 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 13,953
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Re: Strange 2 pin plug socket in upstairs master bedroom (Victorian end Terrace house
Heh! Great to hear that you got to the bottom of the mystery-socket! It's amazing what you can find out by assking neighbours [I found where one of my stopcocks was by asking the neighbourwho remembered the lane being dug up 40 years ago and pointed me at an uneveness in the tarmac, which I followed into the hedge...]
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7th Jan 2023, 4:45 pm | #88 | |
Pentode
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Wirral, Merseyside, UK.
Posts: 118
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Re: Strange 2 pin plug socket in upstairs master bedroom (Victorian end Terrace house
Quote:
Yes, It certainly pays to ask around to find out more about something if you don't know - especially if some folks have lived in the neighbourhood all their lives and have seen a lot of things happen during their time there ! I also found out that the nice lady who sold me the house was in fact his daughter ! (the gentleman who owned my house originally) and not his late wife ! as his wife had been dead since the early 80's sadly. Have a great new year G6 and all the very best of luck with all your projects ! |
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9th Jan 2023, 5:02 pm | #89 |
Octode
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Rayleigh near Southend-On-Sea, Essex, UK.
Posts: 1,852
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Re: Strange 2 pin plug socket in upstairs master bedroom (Victorian end Terrace house
Joseph,
Great stuff you’ve cracked it! I makes sense, although I did like the idea of it connecting a speaker playing 1960’s Motown Whilst in my travels going to jumbles, swapmeets and rallies I’ll keep my eyes peeled for one of those sockets and also trying to identify a possible manufacturer. A few years ago, I inherited my late parents house and moved into it – after doing extensive building work – which included a total rewire of the house – It was quite strange removing wiring I fitted for my parents back in the mid 1970’s when they first moved into the house. Regards Terry |
9th Jan 2023, 6:43 pm | #90 |
Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fife, Scotland, UK.
Posts: 22,801
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Re: Strange 2 pin plug socket in upstairs master bedroom (Victorian end Terrace house
One manufacturer in the day would have been Wipac.
David
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9th Jan 2023, 7:20 pm | #91 | |
Pentode
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Wirral, Merseyside, UK.
Posts: 118
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Re: Strange 2 pin plug socket in upstairs master bedroom (Victorian end Terrace house
Quote:
Yes, It would have been much more cooler if that strange plug socket was for a speaker extension to the downstairs radiogram playing all sorts of good 60's and 70's Soul and Motown !... I can just imagine Barbara Acklin - Am I the Same Girl from 1968 being played through that speaker in the upstairs bedroom during the early 70's... James brown - Get up (feel ike a sex machine) ... Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Make me smile (Come up and see me) or Abba - Dancing Queen... If it were in the early 80's... Georage Benson - Give me the night... or Luther Vandross - Never too much or Gwen McCrae - Keep The Fire Burning would have been really great back in the day ! It was really nice to have a friendly neighbour who turned out to be the same person who did the installation of the strange socket and all the bits that went with it 50 odd years ago whilst he was in his heyday !... he also said that he remembered them building the local train station which is round the corner and that looks very old ! Thank you so much for keeping an eye out at the car boots and jumbles to see if anyone has another socket like the strange 2 pin socket in my sketches, If you or anyone manages to find such a socket, I will happily buy it off eBay and pay whatever they want for it and its postage to me. Before the socket was removed I did bend down to have a good look at it but there didn't seem to be any markings or a maker's name on it anywhere... I wanted to remove it there and then before the room got refurbished but I didn't feel comfortable leaving the downstairs main front door wide open (whilst I was upstairs) when I was supposed to be working downstairs on the front door - fitting the new locks (A Yale cylinder lock and an upright Union 5 lever mortice lock) so I thought I'd remove it (the strange socket) later !...but I completely forgot ! and only remembered 2 days after the decorator had been working in that room... Wish I had at least photographed it with my mobile phone ! I keep looking on eBay morning noon and night ! to see whether someone's put one on or it's in a job lot bundle of old sockets they're selling... but sadly no joy yet ! I bet it must have seemed pretty strange coming back to the same house you rewired all those years ago and seeing your work still there in place ! At least your work stood the test of time well ! - Well done ! All the very best of luck with all your projects mate. Kindest Regards, Joseph. Last edited by Bittyboy; 9th Jan 2023 at 7:40 pm. |
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11th Jan 2023, 9:49 pm | #92 |
Pentode
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Wirral, Merseyside, UK.
Posts: 118
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Re: Strange 2 pin plug socket in upstairs master bedroom (Victorian end Terrace house
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12th Jan 2023, 10:18 am | #93 |
Octode
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Co. Durham, UK.
Posts: 1,111
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Re: Strange 2 pin plug socket in upstairs master bedroom (Victorian end Terrace house
Is Wipac allowed?
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12th Jan 2023, 10:29 am | #94 |
Moderator
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Location: Exeter, Devon and Poole, Dorset UK.
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Re: Strange 2 pin plug socket in upstairs master bedroom (Victorian end Terrace house
As there was no discussion about their products and it is possible it was of their manufacture I think it's OK.
Anyone who wants to look it up is more than welcome to do so as long as it's not further discussed on this forum. As the mystery has been solved it's time to close. Cheers Mike T
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