Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Adapter |
Object Number |
2022.036.005 |
Description |
Light bulb socket adapter Brown plastic and metal light bulb socket adapter with two two-prong outlets; cylindrical in shape; vertically orientated; silver metal screw thread with electrical foot contact on one end of adapter; threaded bulb socket on opposite end; brass tab contact on side and silver metal tab contact on bottom of socket interior; text engraved on the bottom tab reads: "LEVITON;" raised text along the outside of the socket reads: "MAX TOTAL/ CSA 660W - 125V A.C./ LEVITON;" between the ends of the adapter are two two-slot plug outlets with a centre screw; silver metal pull chain with bell-shaped end extends from centre of adapter. |
Provenance |
Light bulb socket adapter removed from the donor’s home during renovations. The donor’s house, located along Wells Rd in Sardis, was built in 1925 by William and Mary Lucinda Newby and occupied by the Newby family until the 1990s when the donor purchased the house. This 660 watt - 125 volt light bulb socket adapter, made by Leviton, was likely used in areas of the house that lacked electrical outlets but had a light socket. To use this adapter, the threaded end of the adapter is screwed into a light socket which provides electricity to the two outlets on the adapter’s side; a light bulb can be screwed into the open socket on the end which is controlled by a pull-chain (www.youtube.com/watch?v=062fHUauboc). However, when the adapter is screwed in, the outlets are always live even if the bulb is turned off. William Newby (b. 20 Jul. 1862, Knapton, England - d. 6 May 1945, Chilliwack, B.C.) immigrated to Canada from England in 1880; he worked briefly as a carpenter in Kingston, Ontario before coming to the Fraser Valley via Chicago and San Francisco (The Chilliwack Progress, 9 May 1945, p. 1). William settled on an undeveloped piece of land on McGuire Rd and spent several years clearing and draining the area to establish a homestead and farm (The Chilliwack Progress, 9 May 1945, p. 1; 12). On June 16, 1885, William married Mary Lucinda Bicknell (b. 24 Aug. 1865, Napanee, On. - d. 12 Oct. 1940, Chilliwack, B.C.) and the couple raised their 12 children on their McGuire Rd farm. Mary and William were heavily involved in the founding of the Lotbinière school which served children in the Prest Rd/McGuire Rd area, as well as the building of Carman United Church in Sardis (The Chilliwack Progress, 9 May 1945, p. 12). In 1925, William and Mary retired from farming and took up residence in their newly constructed home in the subdivision developed as part of the A.C. Wells estate; their son Charles maintained the farm (The Chilliwack Progress, 16 Dec. 1925, p.11; The Chilliwack Progress, 20 Jun. 1935, p.4). The two-story and basement house was architecturally designed in the Arts and Craft style. In 1947, after both Mary and William had passed, their eldest son Clarence Roswell Newby (b. 7 Sept. 1888, Chilliwack, B.C. - d. 10 Aug. 1976, Vancouver, B.C.) and his wife Nellie Newby née Mower (b. 25 Apr. 1893, Devonshire, England - d. 1 Jan. 1968, Chilliwack, B.C.) took over occupancy of the house after moving off their dairy farm on Lickman Rd (The Chilliwack Progress, 21 Oct. 2001, p. 14). Clarence and Nellie’s son Douglas "Doug" William Newby (b. 6 Mar. 1924, Chilliwack, B.C. - d. 7 Nov. 2011, Chilliwack, B.C.) inherited the house and lived there until he subdivided the property and built his own ranch-style home next door (The Chilliwack Progress, 21 Oct. 2001, p. 14). After highschool, Doug became a teacher, an ordained minister, and later a principal at several schools in Abbotsford, Langley, Yarrow and Chilliwack, eventually retiring from Chilliwack’s Robertson Elementary School in 1979 (The Chilliwack Progress, 21 Oct. 2001, p. 14). In the 1990s, the 1925 house was purchased by the donor who started to renovate both the interior and exterior of the home; the front windows and front stairs were replaced, the heating and electrical upgraded, and the kitchen remodelled. |