When I was very young, a lot of the old homes had those push button
light switches. The top button was ON, bottom was OFF. They were usually
black and white, while some had a pearl inlay on the bottons. I remember
being fascinated by them at Grandma's house, since my parents house
built in 1952 had the modern (rather boring) switches we all have today.

I also recall some rotary switches that were rather nice, except may of
those were downright dangerous since the actual 120V wires were on
EXPOSED screws (or did they come with covers that fell off over time?)
Those were always connected to knob & tube wiring systems, so it's
pretty apparent why they vanished with time.

Today, all light switches are pretty much the same, and lack any
artistic qualities. Yea, there are rocker switches available, but they
are no more interesting than the standard flip switches.

Homes in general have lost the old artistic qualities. I recall all the
fancy carvings around the gables, which was usually called
"gingerbread". Today's homes are all pretty much the same box
construction, with little uniqueness or artistic quality. Either people
have lost "taste" or they are just too busy with work and politics and
thier facebook accounts to give a damn about making their homes unique
and creative. It's a real shame, and I miss all of that, and I miss
those push button switches, and the sounds of coal fired boilers
clanking in the heavy iron pipes and radiators, and the smell of
homemade bread and cookies, back when people still baked at home.

But they call it progress. Now we have computers, where everyone can go
on facebook and find out exactly what time our neighbors took a ****,
and which ones were arrested last night and which are getting a divorce.
They call it progress, but I sure cant see what has progressed.... In
fact, I think we have all taken a step backwards and resorted back to
our primate origins, where we no longer have any creativity, but we will
continue to decline as a species until we live only to destroy. Destroy
everything from the past, and destroy each other!

On Monday, April 4, 2016 at 2:47:01 AM UTC-5, wrote:
When I was very young, a lot of the old homes had those push button
light switches. The top button was ON, bottom was OFF. They were usually
black and white, while some had a pearl inlay on the bottons. I remember
being fascinated by them at Grandma's house, since my parents house
built in 1952 had the modern (rather boring) switches we all have today.

I also recall some rotary switches that were rather nice, except may of
those were downright dangerous since the actual 120V wires were on
EXPOSED screws (or did they come with covers that fell off over time?)
Those were always connected to knob & tube wiring systems, so it's
pretty apparent why they vanished with time.

Today, all light switches are pretty much the same, and lack any
artistic qualities. Yea, there are rocker switches available, but they
are no more interesting than the standard flip switches.

Homes in general have lost the old artistic qualities. I recall all the
fancy carvings around the gables, which was usually called
"gingerbread". Today's homes are all pretty much the same box
construction, with little uniqueness or artistic quality. Either people
have lost "taste" or they are just too busy with work and politics and
thier facebook accounts to give a damn about making their homes unique
and creative. It's a real shame, and I miss all of that, and I miss
those push button switches, and the sounds of coal fired boilers
clanking in the heavy iron pipes and radiators, and the smell of
homemade bread and cookies, back when people still baked at home.

But they call it progress. Now we have computers, where everyone can go
on facebook and find out exactly what time our neighbors took a ****,
and which ones were arrested last night and which are getting a divorce.
They call it progress, but I sure cant see what has progressed.... In
fact, I think we have all taken a step backwards and resorted back to
our primate origins, where we no longer have any creativity, but we will
continue to decline as a species until we live only to destroy. Destroy
everything from the past, and destroy each other!

Push button light switches that handle the amount of current of modern light switches are more complicated to manufacture than toggle switches. A toggle switch is also easier to operate. Even a large enough dog can operate a toggle switch. ^_^

[8~{} Uncle Toggle Monster

On Mon, 04 Apr 2016 02:46:24 -0400
wrote:

When I was very young, a lot of the old homes had those push button
light switches. The top button was ON, bottom was OFF. They were
usually black and white, while some had a pearl inlay on the bottons.
I remember being fascinated by them at Grandma's house, since my
parents house built in 1952 had the modern (rather boring) switches
we all have today.

I also recall some rotary switches that were rather nice, except may
of those were downright dangerous since the actual 120V wires were on
EXPOSED screws (or did they come with covers that fell off over time?)
Those were always connected to knob & tube wiring systems, so it's
pretty apparent why they vanished with time.

Today, all light switches are pretty much the same, and lack any
artistic qualities. Yea, there are rocker switches available, but they
are no more interesting than the standard flip switches.

Homes in general have lost the old artistic qualities. I recall all
the fancy carvings around the gables, which was usually called
"gingerbread". Today's homes are all pretty much the same box
construction, with little uniqueness or artistic quality. Either
people have lost "taste" or they are just too busy with work and
politics and thier facebook accounts to give a damn about making
their homes unique and creative. It's a real shame, and I miss all of
that, and I miss those push button switches, and the sounds of coal
fired boilers clanking in the heavy iron pipes and radiators, and the
smell of homemade bread and cookies, back when people still baked at
home.

But they call it progress. Now we have computers, where everyone can
go on facebook and find out exactly what time our neighbors took a
****, and which ones were arrested last night and which are getting a
divorce. They call it progress, but I sure cant see what has
progressed.... In fact, I think we have all taken a step backwards
and resorted back to our primate origins, where we no longer have any
creativity, but we will continue to decline as a species until we
live only to destroy. Destroy everything from the past, and destroy
each other!



Many on amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Button...n+light+switch

On Monday, April 4, 2016 at 3:47:01 AM UTC-4, wrote:
When I was very young, a lot of the old homes had those push button
light switches. The top button was ON, bottom was OFF. They were usually
black and white, while some had a pearl inlay on the bottons. I remember
being fascinated by them at Grandma's house, since my parents house
built in 1952 had the modern (rather boring) switches we all have today.

I also recall some rotary switches that were rather nice, except may of
those were downright dangerous since the actual 120V wires were on
EXPOSED screws (or did they come with covers that fell off over time?)
Those were always connected to knob & tube wiring systems, so it's
pretty apparent why they vanished with time.

Today, all light switches are pretty much the same, and lack any
artistic qualities. Yea, there are rocker switches available, but they
are no more interesting than the standard flip switches.

Homes in general have lost the old artistic qualities. I recall all the
fancy carvings around the gables, which was usually called
"gingerbread". Today's homes are all pretty much the same box
construction, with little uniqueness or artistic quality. Either people
have lost "taste" or they are just too busy with work and politics and
thier facebook accounts to give a damn about making their homes unique
and creative. It's a real shame, and I miss all of that, and I miss
those push button switches, and the sounds of coal fired boilers
clanking in the heavy iron pipes and radiators, and the smell of
homemade bread and cookies, back when people still baked at home.

But they call it progress. Now we have computers, where everyone can go
on facebook and find out exactly what time our neighbors took a ****,
and which ones were arrested last night and which are getting a divorce.
They call it progress, but I sure cant see what has progressed.... In
fact, I think we have all taken a step backwards and resorted back to
our primate origins, where we no longer have any creativity, but we will
continue to decline as a species until we live only to destroy. Destroy
everything from the past, and destroy each other!

It's not just homes that lost the artistic qualities; compare a modern box-like skyscraper to an ornate medieval cathedral. My theory is that in olden times it took a lot of skill and effort to produce the gingerbread for a house or the gargoyles on a cathedral, where now we can mass produce such things very quickly and cheaply, so their value is lost. Sort of like how a diamond necklace makes a lady look sophisticated and stylish but twenty pounds of rhinestone accessories don't.

Paul

On 04/04/2016 12:46 AM, wrote:
Homes in general have lost the old artistic qualities. I recall all the
fancy carvings around the gables, which was usually called
"gingerbread". Today's homes are all pretty much the same box
construction, with little uniqueness or artistic quality. Either people
have lost "taste" or they are just too busy with work and politics and
thier facebook accounts to give a damn about making their homes unique
and creative. It's a real shame, and I miss all of that, and I miss
those push button switches, and the sounds of coal fired boilers
clanking in the heavy iron pipes and radiators, and the smell of
homemade bread and cookies, back when people still baked at home.

Do you miss the trips to the cellar at 3 AM to stoke up the coal furnace?

On 4/4/2016 10:05 AM, rbowman wrote:
On 04/04/2016 12:46 AM, wrote:
and creative. It's a real shame, and I miss all of that, and I miss
those push button switches, and the sounds of coal fired boilers
clanking in the heavy iron pipes and radiators, and the smell of
homemade bread and cookies, back when people still baked at home.

Do you miss the trips to the cellar at 3 AM to stoke up the coal furnace?

And be sure to remember to poke a hole in it!

One time I visited a friend who had a wood burning
stove. The 3 AM waking cold to throw more Readers
Digest condensed books in, that was memorable.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
.. www.lds.org
..
..

On Monday, April 4, 2016 at 3:47:01 AM UTC-4, wrote:
When I was very young, a lot of the old homes had those push button
light switches. The top button was ON, bottom was OFF. They were usually
black and white, while some had a pearl inlay on the bottons. I remember
being fascinated by them at Grandma's house, since my parents house
built in 1952 had the modern (rather boring) switches we all have today.

I also recall some rotary switches that were rather nice, except may of
those were downright dangerous since the actual 120V wires were on
EXPOSED screws (or did they come with covers that fell off over time?)
Those were always connected to knob & tube wiring systems, so it's
pretty apparent why they vanished with time.

Today, all light switches are pretty much the same, and lack any
artistic qualities. Yea, there are rocker switches available, but they
are no more interesting than the standard flip switches.

Homes in general have lost the old artistic qualities. I recall all the
fancy carvings around the gables, which was usually called
"gingerbread". Today's homes are all pretty much the same box
construction, with little uniqueness or artistic quality. Either people
have lost "taste" or they are just too busy with work and politics and
thier facebook accounts to give a damn about making their homes unique
and creative. It's a real shame, and I miss all of that, and I miss
those push button switches, and the sounds of coal fired boilers
clanking in the heavy iron pipes and radiators, and the smell of
homemade bread and cookies, back when people still baked at home.

But they call it progress. Now we have computers, where everyone can go
on facebook and find out exactly what time our neighbors took a ****,
and which ones were arrested last night and which are getting a divorce.
They call it progress, but I sure cant see what has progressed.... In
fact, I think we have all taken a step backwards and resorted back to
our primate origins, where we no longer have any creativity, but we will
continue to decline as a species until we live only to destroy. Destroy
everything from the past, and destroy each other!


Push button switches make noise and are hard to operate when your hands are
full. I can flip a switch with a cup of coffee or a laundry basket.

When I moved into my first apartment, I replaced all of the old toggle
switches that made that loud "clack" with silent ones. (I put the old ones
back when I moved out 3 years later)

Gingerbread looks nice until it needs to be painted. Then all that "artistic
quality" suddenly becomes a time consuming, labor intensive PITA.

Coal can be dirty, ashes need to be cleaned out, you can't let the fire go out.

We still bake bread and cookies at home - from scratch, not from boxed mixes.
How about you, do you bake?

Does your house have push button switches, gingerbread trim or clanging
radiators? They are all still available if you want them.

On Monday, April 4, 2016 at 10:28:54 AM UTC-4, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Monday, April 4, 2016 at 3:47:01 AM UTC-4, wrote:


Push button switches make noise and are hard to operate when your hands are
full. I can flip a switch with a cup of coffee or a laundry basket.


Years ago we rented a house with push button switches.

The landlord had Parkinson's. It took him multiple stabs to hit that pushbutton and was painful to watch. Of course a toggle wouldn't have been easy either, but better than the button.

On Monday, April 4, 2016 at 10:05:49 AM UTC-4, rbowman wrote:
On 04/04/2016 12:46 AM, wrote:
Homes in general have lost the old artistic qualities. I recall all the
fancy carvings around the gables, which was usually called
"gingerbread". Today's homes are all pretty much the same box
construction, with little uniqueness or artistic quality. Either people
have lost "taste" or they are just too busy with work and politics and
thier facebook accounts to give a damn about making their homes unique
and creative. It's a real shame, and I miss all of that, and I miss
those push button switches, and the sounds of coal fired boilers
clanking in the heavy iron pipes and radiators, and the smell of
homemade bread and cookies, back when people still baked at home.

Do you miss the trips to the cellar at 3 AM to stoke up the coal furnace?

I have some friends that bought a nicely remodeled farm house. Most of the
old charm was still intact. The living room/dining area was one big space.
They had a coal burning stove in the dining area and a wood burning
fireplace in the living room. They were slaves to the coal stove because
it had to be stoked 3 times a day.

The first Christmas in the house, they threw a big party. They built a huge
fire in the fireplace and opened the glass doors so we could all enjoy the
view. As the evening went on, the house was getting colder and colder. The
owner checked the coal stove and temperature was way down. In an effort
to determine the problem, he opened the door on the stove.

He, and the entire dining area, were immediately covered in ash and dust.

As it turned out, the fire in the fireplace was drafting so much that it
was pulling air down the chimney of the coal stove, slowly putting out the
coal. When the door was opened, a huge gust of air came down the chimney and
blew ashes everywhere.

At first it was a shock, then it was hilarious, then it was a good old
fashioned "Amish barn raising" as we all helped clean up the mess.

On 4/4/2016 10:49 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
I have some friends that bought a nicely remodeled farm house. Most of the
old charm was still intact. The living room/dining area was one big space.
They had a coal burning stove in the dining area and a wood burning
fireplace in the living room. They were slaves to the coal stove because
it had to be stoked 3 times a day.

The first Christmas in the house, they threw a big party. They built a huge
fire in the fireplace and opened the glass doors so we could all enjoy the
view. As the evening went on, the house was getting colder and colder. The
owner checked the coal stove and temperature was way down. In an effort
to determine the problem, he opened the door on the stove.

He, and the entire dining area, were immediately covered in ash and dust.

As it turned out, the fire in the fireplace was drafting so much that it
was pulling air down the chimney of the coal stove, slowly putting out the
coal. When the door was opened, a huge gust of air came down the chimney and
blew ashes everywhere.

At first it was a shock, then it was hilarious, then it was a good old
fashioned "Amish barn raising" as we all helped clean up the mess.


One time when I was helping install a furnace,
the family had a fire in the fireplace. Problem
was, the make up air came down the funace flue,
which must have been right in the chimney. The
acrid smoke coming down the flue nearly drove
me out of the cellar. I opened a cellar window
and put a bag and rubber bands around the flue
pipe, which helped a lot.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
.. www.lds.org
..
..

On Monday, April 4, 2016 at 6:07:39 AM UTC-5, burfordTjustice wrote:
On Mon, 04 Apr 2016 02:46:24 -0400
wrote:

When I was very young, a lot of the old homes had those push button
light switches. The top button was ON, bottom was OFF. They were
usually black and white, while some had a pearl inlay on the bottons.
I remember being fascinated by them at Grandma's house, since my
parents house built in 1952 had the modern (rather boring) switches
we all have today.

I also recall some rotary switches that were rather nice, except may
of those were downright dangerous since the actual 120V wires were on
EXPOSED screws (or did they come with covers that fell off over time?)
Those were always connected to knob & tube wiring systems, so it's
pretty apparent why they vanished with time.

Today, all light switches are pretty much the same, and lack any
artistic qualities. Yea, there are rocker switches available, but they
are no more interesting than the standard flip switches.

Homes in general have lost the old artistic qualities. I recall all
the fancy carvings around the gables, which was usually called
"gingerbread". Today's homes are all pretty much the same box
construction, with little uniqueness or artistic quality. Either
people have lost "taste" or they are just too busy with work and
politics and thier facebook accounts to give a damn about making
their homes unique and creative. It's a real shame, and I miss all of
that, and I miss those push button switches, and the sounds of coal
fired boilers clanking in the heavy iron pipes and radiators, and the
smell of homemade bread and cookies, back when people still baked at
home.

But they call it progress. Now we have computers, where everyone can
go on facebook and find out exactly what time our neighbors took a
****, and which ones were arrested last night and which are getting a
divorce. They call it progress, but I sure cant see what has
progressed.... In fact, I think we have all taken a step backwards
and resorted back to our primate origins, where we no longer have any
creativity, but we will continue to decline as a species until we
live only to destroy. Destroy everything from the past, and destroy
each other!



Many on amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Button...n+light+switch

This is what I put in my parents home when I was 10 or so...
http://tinyurl.com/hkpn7yx

On 04/04/2016 09:05 AM, rbowman wrote:
On 04/04/2016 12:46 AM, wrote:
Homes in general have lost the old artistic qualities. I recall all the
fancy carvings around the gables, which was usually called
"gingerbread". Today's homes are all pretty much the same box
construction, with little uniqueness or artistic quality. Either people
have lost "taste" or they are just too busy with work and politics and
thier facebook accounts to give a damn about making their homes unique
and creative. It's a real shame, and I miss all of that, and I miss
those push button switches, and the sounds of coal fired boilers
clanking in the heavy iron pipes and radiators, and the smell of
homemade bread and cookies, back when people still baked at home.

Do you miss the trips to the cellar at 3 AM to stoke up the coal furnace?



I've known people who had coal furnaces when they were kids...but I
never had to deal with that.

As to those old push-button switches...my house was wired in 1932 and
still has a few. I like to keep the old look so found a place on-line
that can supply new ones which are almost identical to the originals.


Concerning the rotary type switch, I have never seen one in the US. but
when I was stationed in Germany our barracks were former German WWII
vintage...and did have rotary switches.

It was kind of a creepy feeling at first to be staying there.

On Monday, April 4, 2016 at 2:47:01 AM UTC-5, wrote:

When I was very young, a lot of the old homes had those push button
light switches.

Blah

Blah

Blah

Blah

Blah

*snip* *snip* *snip*

They're still made but of course improved
and safer.

Pavel314 writes:

It's not just homes that lost the artistic qualities; compare a modern box-=
like skyscraper to an ornate medieval cathedral.

Ok. Let's look at an ornate medieval cathedral. Notre Dame is a good
start. First cornerstone was laid in 1163. Final elements were completed
in 1345 (almost two hundred years later).

Winchester Cathedral was started in 1079, consecrated in 1093 and
work continued for decades thereafter.

St. Paul's was started in 1670 and completed in 1711, but construction
continued for years afterwords.

Meanwhile, one world trade center was started in 2006 and finished in 2014,
without the cheap labor available a millenia ago (and the original world trade
center tower was built in four years).

Apples != Oranges. You get what you pay for.

On 4/4/2016 7:05 AM, rbowman wrote:
Do you miss the trips to the cellar at 3 AM to stoke up the coal furnace?

My in-laws place was heater with coal-fired hot water. But, they had
an automatic stoker so you just had to ensure the "tender" was full.
Messier than all hell! Coal dust EVERYWHERE!

On 4/4/2016 10:28 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:



Gingerbread looks nice until it needs to be painted. Then all that "artistic
quality" suddenly becomes a time consuming, labor intensive PITA.

There seems to be a renewal of properly painting it on the older homes
around here. Thirty years ago everything was just painted white, but
now many of the Victorian homes have multi colors like they did back
than. I appreciate the effort people are putting into it. Fortunately,
my house built in 1978 has none of it.

Coal can be dirty, ashes need to be cleaned out, you can't let the fire go out.

I partly heated with a wood burning stove until about a dozen years ago.
These days I find it easier to write a check to the oil man.
Stacking, splitting, etc was good exercise and it was nice to have a
stew cooking on the stove for a few hours. Or a steak grilled over the
coals.



We still bake bread and cookies at home - from scratch, not from boxed mixes.
How about you, do you bake?

We do. No boxed stuff in this house.


Does your house have push button switches, gingerbread trim or clanging
radiators? They are all still available if you want them.


Bottom button on some is turned for the dimmer now. Nothing beats
sitting next to the old radiators on a cold night. Miss that once in a
nostalgic while.

On Monday, April 4, 2016 at 10:58:10 AM UTC-5, philo wrote:

Concerning the rotary type switch, I have never seen one in the US.

We had one in the barn (Central WI) about 20 yrs ago. Very cool...one click on, another click off, clock-wise only.

On 4/4/2016 10:40 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
There seems to be a renewal of properly painting it on the older homes around
here. Thirty years ago everything was just painted white, but now many of the
Victorian homes have multi colors like they did back than. I appreciate the
effort people are putting into it. Fortunately, my house built in 1978 has
none of it.

I've missed seeing (natural) wood trim in homes. Newer construction the
trim is often "pieced together" and intended to be painted over (to hide
all the finger joints).

We've been (slowly) replacing the trim here with natural hickory as it
helps tie the house together, stylistically. Of course, finding trim in
anything other than the finger-jointed pine/fir (?) is a bit of a chore...

On Mon, 4 Apr 2016 10:14:47 -0400, Stormin Mormon
wrote:


And be sure to remember to poke a hole in it!

??

One time I visited a friend who had a wood burning
stove. The 3 AM waking cold to throw more Readers
Digest condensed books in, that was memorable.

Condensed books are good fuel. They have much higher heat content
than uncondensed books.

On Mon, 04 Apr 2016 02:46:24 -0400, wrote:

When I was very young, a lot of the old homes had those push button
light switches. The top button was ON, bottom was OFF. They were usually
black and white, while some had a pearl inlay on the bottons. I remember
being fascinated by them at Grandma's house, since my parents house
built in 1952 had the modern (rather boring) switches we all have today.

They are still available.
http://www.houseofantiquehardware.co...GIaQod sz4MVg

http://www.classicaccents.net/category/PBS.html

http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Accent.../dp/B0002EVT5Y

http://www.kyleswitchplates.com/push...ight-switches/

http://www.rejuvenation.com/catalog/...le-pole-switch

http://www.signaturehardware.com/har...on-switch.html

Just for starters...............

On Mon, 4 Apr 2016 06:38:02 -0700 (PDT), Pavel314
wrote:

On Monday, April 4, 2016 at 3:47:01 AM UTC-4, wrote:
When I was very young, a lot of the old homes had those push button
light switches. The top button was ON, bottom was OFF. They were usually
black and white, while some had a pearl inlay on the bottons. I remember
being fascinated by them at Grandma's house, since my parents house
built in 1952 had the modern (rather boring) switches we all have today.

I also recall some rotary switches that were rather nice, except may of
those were downright dangerous since the actual 120V wires were on
EXPOSED screws (or did they come with covers that fell off over time?)
Those were always connected to knob & tube wiring systems, so it's
pretty apparent why they vanished with time.

Today, all light switches are pretty much the same, and lack any
artistic qualities. Yea, there are rocker switches available, but they
are no more interesting than the standard flip switches.

Homes in general have lost the old artistic qualities. I recall all the
fancy carvings around the gables, which was usually called
"gingerbread". Today's homes are all pretty much the same box
construction, with little uniqueness or artistic quality. Either people
have lost "taste" or they are just too busy with work and politics and
thier facebook accounts to give a damn about making their homes unique
and creative. It's a real shame, and I miss all of that, and I miss
those push button switches, and the sounds of coal fired boilers
clanking in the heavy iron pipes and radiators, and the smell of
homemade bread and cookies, back when people still baked at home.

But they call it progress. Now we have computers, where everyone can go
on facebook and find out exactly what time our neighbors took a ****,
and which ones were arrested last night and which are getting a divorce.
They call it progress, but I sure cant see what has progressed.... In
fact, I think we have all taken a step backwards and resorted back to
our primate origins, where we no longer have any creativity, but we will
continue to decline as a species until we live only to destroy. Destroy
everything from the past, and destroy each other!

It's not just homes that lost the artistic qualities; compare a modern box-like skyscraper to an ornate medieval cathedral. My theory is that in olden times it took a lot of skill and effort to produce the gingerbread for a house or the gargoyles on a cathedral, where now we can mass produce such things very quickly and cheaply, so their value is lost. Sort of like how a diamond necklace makes a lady look sophisticated and stylish but twenty pounds of rhinestone accessories don't.

Paul
One of my good friends just replaced all the gingerbread on his
"southwestern Ontario Farmhouse" with laser cut powdercoated 3/8"
thick aluminum plate. Looks fantastic and he'll never have to scrape
it, paint it, or repair it again in his lifetime (or his daighter's,
wh is taking over the farm)

On Monday, April 4, 2016 at 2:09:38 PM UTC-5, Micky wrote:
On Mon, 4 Apr 2016 10:14:47 -0400, Stormin Mormon
wrote:


And be sure to remember to poke a hole in it!

??

One time I visited a friend who had a wood burning
stove. The 3 AM waking cold to throw more Readers
Digest condensed books in, that was memorable.

Condensed books are good fuel. They have much higher heat content
than uncondensed books.

....you two belong together...maybe an apartment?

On Mon, 04 Apr 2016 10:44:40 -0700, Don Y
wrote:

On 4/4/2016 10:40 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
There seems to be a renewal of properly painting it on the older homes around
here. Thirty years ago everything was just painted white, but now many of the
Victorian homes have multi colors like they did back than. I appreciate the
effort people are putting into it. Fortunately, my house built in 1978 has
none of it.

I've missed seeing (natural) wood trim in homes. Newer construction the
trim is often "pieced together" and intended to be painted over (to hide
all the finger joints).

We've been (slowly) replacing the trim here with natural hickory as it
helps tie the house together, stylistically. Of course, finding trim in
anything other than the finger-jointed pine/fir (?) is a bit of a chore...
All the trim on my main floor is mahogany, except for the newly
installed oak stair railing - which is stained "mission oak" which
matches the stained mahogany about 95%.. Getting hard to get mahogany
trim around here. Not as hard as tha "gumwood" trim in our last house
(which was all natural throughout), or the, I believe it is black ash,
in my brother's place (which was half painted, and the other half all
"aligatored" when he bought it. He has stripped and refinished most of
it.

On Mon, 4 Apr 2016 09:21:09 -0700 (PDT), ItsJoanNotJoann
wrote:

On Monday, April 4, 2016 at 2:47:01 AM UTC-5, wrote:

When I was very young, a lot of the old homes had those push button
light switches.

Blah

Blah

Blah

Blah

Blah

*snip* *snip* *snip*

They're still made but of course improved
and safer.
And not cheap!!

On 4/4/2016 3:09 PM, Micky wrote:
On Mon, 4 Apr 2016 10:14:47 -0400, Stormin Mormon
wrote:


And be sure to remember to poke a hole in it!

??
CY: In the old days of coal stoves, the operator would
shovel a bunch of coal into the stove. It was necessray
to then take a pointed rod and "poke a hole in it" or
the coal dust would build up. The pile of burning could
would explode with a bang, and wake up the people up
stairs. So, the reminder to the boy "be sure to poke
a hole in it". I was told this by my father. When he
was a boy, he was the coal shovel person for the house.

One time I visited a friend who had a wood burning
stove. The 3 AM waking cold to throw more Readers
Digest condensed books in, that was memorable.

Condensed books are good fuel. They have much higher heat content
than uncondensed books.

CY: I've found they have less heat than hardwood. But,
that doesn't surprise me. I had a good fire going one
time with shelled corn. Needed a lot of draft, that
corn tended to make smoke explosions.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
.. www.lds.org
..
..

On 4/4/2016 4:17 PM, wrote:

Years ago, there was this really beautiful small farmhouse, (about 9
miles away), which had all that gingerbread on it. The house was
abandoned, and starting to decay. With the help of a local realtor, I
was able to track down the owner. I phoned the owner and was told the
land was not for sale. I told them I really was not interested in the
land, but asked if they would sell just the house (so I could dismantle
or move it). They refused. A few years later it burned to the ground. It
appeared some kids intentionally torched it. That really ****ed me off!


What a shame. Sad when beautiful art work goes
up in smoke. Being unoccupied, probably took a
while for someone to notice the fire and call
it in?

--
..
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
.. www.lds.org
..
..