electure — The book page with the nippled lamps and horseshoe filaments really points out the antiquity of the system, and matches well with the apparent age of the switchboard. [Never mind the broken lamp with its handy 480V exposed-live parts.]

[Linked Image from 6l6.net]

There is a lot of this type of stuff still in service out there—however ancient, misunderstood and neglected. It’s not hard to imagine a painter tipping a ladder up to the switchboard and planting a kneecap into the broken lamp.