Here's some more pictures for our (upcoming) Nostalgic Area:
(Some picture quality sacrificed to speed up loading times)
- Thanks to Joe Goble, - mountainman













[This message has been edited by Webmaster (edited 04-01-2003).]

WOW! I CANT TELL IF THEY ARE SPLICING WIRE OR GETTING THEIR FISHING POLES READY. QUITE SOME CHANGE FROM THEN TILL NOW!

Thanks for the scans--these are great. A change, indeed, from today's crimp-it, microwave-it, e-mail-it, overnight-mail-it, etc.

I'll never understand why people call it "The good old days"!

The Western Union splice technique will come in handy next time I have to splice a broken telephone wire in my house!!!

I'd use heatshrink to cover it though....instead of tape.

I've actually used quite a few of these splices myself in telecoms/electronics work!

The "Western Union" splice was also commonly found in the U.K. in GPO Telephone manuals.

Sure glad that that is a past practice I am very grateful to the feller(s) that invented wire nuts and kirneya!!

Don,

What is "kirneya?"

Anyone know when wire-nuts started being used? I'm assuming 1930s or 1940s?

Sven, you may be referring to an electrical connector with the brand name of "Kearney" http://www.cooperpower.com/AboutUs/history.asp They are now a division of Cooper Power...one of the big boys.

Bjarney:
Are Kearney's the same thing as "Split Bolt" connectors?

Mike (mamills)

Mike -- I think so.

Sven:
Kirneya is caused by lifting a very heavy box of Kearneys.

HEY ! R yall maken funn uv mi spellin ?

O.K. Split bolts it is !

[This message has been edited by txsparky (edited 04-02-2003).]

Note that figures 9, 10, 11 “sleeve method” look like they may have been a predecessor to hydraulic-compressed splices.

Guys,
To a certain extent, we still use some of these tying techniques, although really only
for attaching lines to Insulators on poles or at service entries.
Crimp sleeves and split-bolts have done away
with most of the older jointing methods.

Guys, you have no idea of the "old school" methods of wiring. I have an American Electricians Handbook dated 1913! I also have a Hawkins Electrical guide that is dated 1927; and last but not least, I have a Practical Electrical wiring book that is dated 1947. You should see some of the methods that are explained in these books. All three books are in excelent condition. Signs with chasing lights had a drum and electric motor that turned the drum. The drum had "tits" like you would see on a music box and as the drum turned, the tits would make the limit switches turning on the lights in sequence. Wow, we have come a long way!

Would like to see some of those pics if you could scan and post.

I agree!

Send them to:

Photos@Electrical-Contractor.net

So then that _IS_ how they work?!?!

When I was a kid I'd stand under the metal awnings of some grocery stores with chasing lights around the rim and I'd hear a constant mechanical whir-whirr clank clank in rythm with the lights.

I always thought it would be something similar to what you described

Are these devices still made or have they been replaced by some sort of solid-state thing?

Directly for sign chasing, I doudbt it,
although the old (1987) school bus sitting
in the yard for storage, has a motor/contactor thing for the blinking lights as a schoolbus has.

To date still, the same sort of technology is used in the timers for appliances.

Of note, in high school, the shop teacher had
a little sign board with such a motor, and
the students got to dismantle the old scoreboard, which had appliance timer like motors/contacts for the timers and such
that are on a scoreboard .

Ok guys, I'll try to get some of the pictures in the books scanned. It there anything you want me to look up and scan? Just post a message and I'll do what I can. See ya'll later!

GEC-1,

SWIMMING POOLS would be interesting topic I think.


Bill