Private House Electric Lighting (Part One)

A few weeks ago I started a new project. Well maybe not quite so new, as I was revisiting a text which I had used as inspiration a few years ago (perhaps I'll dig out some images of the piece at some point). It did take a bit of searching to find the book again, especially as I remembered that it didn't have a spine. I was worried I might need a librarian, but eventually found the book on this set of shelves:

Anyway, here is the book:

I do have a bit of a thing for old technical manuals and textbooks, which feed into my interests in analogue machinery, technical aesthetics and narratives of function. 'Private House Electric Lighting' is a fantastic piece of social history from 1904- as well as being a practical guide to actually wiring a house for the first time, it details the regional costs of electricity and gives an insight into the average domestic arrangements at the time.

For the purposes of my project, I am concerned with the practical aspects of the guide, particularly the splicing of wires and subsequent insulation. The photographs of the samples are in essence purely functional...

... but I am drawn to the aesthetics of the constructions. The details of the wrapped insulation are fascinating; after all, there was no plastic coated cable available then, so the spliced joins had to be carefully waterproofed using several layers of various materials.

Private house electric lighting, a set on Flickr.