On Thu, 12 Dec 2019 12:58:07 -0500, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article , lid says...

I found several of those around here, when I installed ceiling fans. The
box would have a bundle of black wires and a bundle of white wires. The
black bundle would usually have one white (for the switch loop) in it.




I don't know the code now.

Way back it was common to use the same wire that had a black and white,
bare wire for everything. So going to the wall switch you would have
the black, a white that should be marked to black usually by tape and
the bare. When that wire gets back to the junction box, the white wire
should be marked black. The black marking may or may not be done
depending on how sloppy the electrician and inspectors are.

That is because the black ( hot ) wire goes to the switch and is broken
to cut off the current and back to the light. A netural wire should not
be switched.
A minor correction to your statement - A load should not be
controlled by switching a neutral. No problem with a DPST switch which
switches BOTH power and neutral (as is done on all "double insulated"
appliances)