We find these carbon rods frequently on early 20th c. sites in New York,
both the ribbed and smooth varieties. They had paper wrapping (we once
found several with the decayed wrappings still in place in a 1954 fill
deposit) and two brass screw terminals, one in the middle and one on the
edge of the top, and were 3-3 *" in diameter. Checking the Sears
Catalogs and other online sources seems to indicate that the primary
household uses of these large (5"-to 7") cylindrical batteries were for
doorbells and the old "magneto" telephones, although Sears describes
such other common uses as starting stationery engines and operating a
variety of small appliances from electric fans to medical apparatuses of
various sorts. When I was in grade school in the '50s, they were still
used for doorbells and science-fair experiments. Back then most common
dry cells were 1 * volt, the size difference affecting the durability of
the charge. These were used in applications like telephones and
telegraph apparatus because they lasted quite a while in continuous use.
Telephone companies would replace the batteries in household phones
(rented from the company) every 4-6 months. 
 
An interesting telephone history site is: 
www.gutenberg.org/files/15617/15617-h/15617-h.htm 




Marty Pickands
New York State Museum

>>> "Leslie C. "Skip" Stewart-Abernathy" <[log in to unmask]>
5/22/2007 6:58 PM >>>
Hi.  We found a larger-than-flashlight-core carbon rod at the 
steamboat debris field at the West Memphis Ghost Boats site (ca 
1910-20) and we took it for a carbon-arc lamp remnant, with, as I 
recall, some confirmation from an old riverman.  Mark Twain in Life 
on the Mississippi called them "daylight in a box" and contrasted 
them with the primitive pine-pitch-in-a-basket lighting he knew as a 
cub.  I'll have to check the measurements.  At the Moser farmstead 
site (1880s-1920) in Ozarks Benton Co. in Arkansas we found a battery 
core that matched the 1890s Sears catalog, and also 3 or 4 from a dry 
cell battery at the Polk farmstead (1920s-30s) house cellar in 
Ouachitas Howard Co. in Arkansas.

At 10:39 AM 5/22/2007, you wrote:
>Work on early 20th century sites commonly produces molded or extruded
>carbon rods of various sizes, generally identified as cores from
>zinc/carbon cells or batteries. Our recent excavation at a relatively
>isolated farmstead in Missouri produced one single oversized example
out
>of a deposit datable to the first decade of the 20th century. The
piece
>is 5.75 in long, cylindrical with flattened ridges along its length,
1
>in. in diameter, and with a hole at one end filled with corroded
whitish
>material and what might be the remnants of a copper wire.
>
>
>
>We haven't been able to track down much about specifics on these
carbon
>rods, in terms of manufacturing dates and specific uses for different
>sizes and configurations. Any suggestions for such sources or
references
>to archaeological studies with more information on these artifacts
will
>be greatly appreciated.
>
>
>
>Larry McKee, Ph.D., RPA
>
>Program Manager and Senior Archaeologist
>
>
>TRC
>
>1865 Air Lane Dr., Suite 9
>
>Nashville, TN, 37210
>
>
>
>615.884.4430  phone
>615.884.4431  fax
>615.594.4675  cell
>[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>
>www.trcsolutions.com <http://www.trcsolutions.com>
>
>