On Thu, 31 Oct 2013 07:34:21 -0700 "William Sommerwerck"
wrote in Message id:
:

"JW" wrote in message news On Wed, 30 Oct 2013 20:19:51 +0000 (UTC) Jerry Peters
wrote in Message id: :

There are 3 position wall switches available. The middle position puts
a diode in series to dim the lights, full-on bypasses the diode. My
parents had one of these switches in their dining room, until the
diode opened, when it was replaced with a regular dimmer.

Odd, I have one of those in the bathroom, but the *center* position is
off. Probably from the 1930's or 1940's, but I'm just guessing.

So there are two ON positions and one OFF?

Yes, one of the on positions is dim, the other full bright. I assume
there's a diode in there.