old push-button light switch
In the old building I live in. The cover plate is missing because my landlord recently removed the wallpaper in this hallway.
This type of light switch was widely manufactured from the initial advent of light switches (late 1800s) to the 1920s. After that the modern flip type of switch became more common. (You can still buy "reproduction" push-button switches, though, in case you are decorating your house in a vintage style.)
I had lived in this place for several months before I realized that this was a light switch -- I initially thought it was a remnant of an old intercom system, where you press one button to transmit and another to receive. (there are such things that look similar) The mystery was solved one day when I actually pressed the button, and the light turned on. Oh.
old push-button light switch
In the old building I live in. The cover plate is missing because my landlord recently removed the wallpaper in this hallway.
This type of light switch was widely manufactured from the initial advent of light switches (late 1800s) to the 1920s. After that the modern flip type of switch became more common. (You can still buy "reproduction" push-button switches, though, in case you are decorating your house in a vintage style.)
I had lived in this place for several months before I realized that this was a light switch -- I initially thought it was a remnant of an old intercom system, where you press one button to transmit and another to receive. (there are such things that look similar) The mystery was solved one day when I actually pressed the button, and the light turned on. Oh.