The fancy brass-capped tumbler switches have also become quite in vogue in England as well in certain sorts of homes. There are some nice replica-type tumbler switches being made, but they're expensive, anything up to around £10 (about U.S. $15) each! And these days, as good woodworking craftsmen are harder to find, they're also selling the wooden mounting pattresses to compliment the switches, and I've seen some of those at nearly £5 a piece!
I had somebody a year or so ago who had ideas of having an old Victorian town house fitted out with these replicas throughout -- Until I worked out the cost, that is!
These days, of course, all the exposed metalwork of such a switch is required to be properly grounded (a requirement since 1966 in fact!).
