The Historic District

Wow. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, though. It's a shame something as simple as a wooden fence has become nearly unobtainium.

I just hope this idiocy starts to calm down by this fall. I have a half-rotted porch to replace and I don't know how many more winters it has in it!

SouthBend - I've scanned a 1903 Sears Roebuck Electrical Goods and Supplies catalog from my personal library. It has quite a few illustrations of electric and combination fixtures that are very typical of the styling during the era your house was built. PM me and I'll send it to your email.

I'm seeing paddle switches with the Lightolier logo on a couple of your fixtures. Lightolier was established in 1904, but the logo on those switches puts them in the 1920s. The ceramic socket inside the one sconce looks to be an older replacement. Since your house appears to be an older restoration,...

Gothichome wrote: ↑Sat May 15, 2021 10:59 am Was the home built originally with gas then electrified? That would explain the mix of lighting.

That's what I'm thinking as well. Looks like they may have added electricity a little later, but kept the gas as backup for a while.

Here's an example of some of the wall sconces. There's probably a dozen in the house all together Light.jpgIMG_20191119_192800947.jpgIMG_20191119_192753564.jpg The first one appears to be cast brass and looks like a higher quality fixture. I could be wrong on this one, but without seeing the back o...

If I may be allowed to expand on Colonial’s words. There were also gas/electric combo’s as well. In the early days of municipal electrical systems many were undependable, so if you had original gas lighting and you converted to this new fangled electricity you had both available. But still they wer...

I really, really need to get around to scanning my library of old catalogs and putting them online for the benefit of all. Most electric lighting of the first few years of the 1900s were designed in much the same manner as the gas fixtures were, the exception being single-bulb fixtures, which were u...

phil wrote: ↑Thu May 13, 2021 5:50 pm ...I envision being old and skinny and trying to operate a new Gillette razor with 20 blades

Eh, just do what I do and don't shave!

If the razor companies were depending on my revenue, they would have gone broke a long time ago!

I'm looking forward to hearing what you find in your closer examination of the basement and attic. It's possible the core of the house is from the late 19th century. What made me say 1900s or 1910s was the front porch and the arrangement of the windows on the first floor, though those could have com...

I'd be more concerned over the wildlife than the heat gun. Raccoons can get aggressive (believe me, I know)! Had a couple of them set up shop in my garage a few years ago and getting them out was painful.