This is a very early Edison socket, believed to be a lamp socket, or perhaps a fuse cutout socket. It dates to around 1881 and is one of the first light sockets ever made for Edison’s electrical system.
This link has a few pictures of other interesting old forgotten electrical things:
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Things Forgotten Last, for now, here’s a picture of an early GE brochure that dates to the early 1890s. Thomas Edison formed GE after his company merged with Thomson-Houston. This brochure was one of the first things sporting the new name “General Electric”, a household name today:
Regards,
-Tim Tromp (aka Kilokat7)
www.BulbCollector.com