# What are the, er, wall nipples in old British homes on TV? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 24, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620 "2010-03-24T13:55:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Oswald\_Bastable](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oswald_bastable/32/214_2.png) [@Oswald\_Bastable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oswald_Bastable)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620/21 "2010-03-24T15:59:49Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I can’t open the picture - I get a Problem Loading Page. Try this: [http://gallery.me.com/mclaughlinj#100034/acgs](http://gallery.me.com/mclaughlinj#100034/acgs) OB ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620/22 "2010-03-24T16:23:25Z")
Yes, those are them. They are those. Those are the things I’m talking about. So how do they _work_, if one just does one light. Does it actually operate an outlet? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620/23 "2010-03-24T16:29:59Z")
The things in Oswald Bastable’s link are just light switches - in that picture, probably one for the main room light and maybe another for a pair of wall-mounted lights. Also (pointless, but I feel like mentioning it), in the UK, throwing a switch in the downward direction (or pressing on the bottom part of a rocker switch) is typically the ‘on’ operation - except obviously in the case of circuits with multiple switches, where the direction of switching is dependent on the state of the other switch) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620/24 "2010-03-24T16:31:37Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > I haven’t seen one of those in years. The apartment I grew up in had switches like that. As did a house I used to rent. Still worked, too. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620/25 "2010-03-24T18:09:39Z")
Are British light switches still that high up? It’s been a while and I don’t really remember. (I DO remember that you always have to turn the stupid light on BEFORE you go into the bathroom, though. What’s up with that?) ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620/26 "2010-03-24T18:39:31Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Are British light switches still that high up? It’s been a while and I don’t really remember. (I DO remember that you always have to turn the stupid light on BEFORE you go into the bathroom, though. What’s up with that?) Not in our house (1970s). Mostly about 4’ 6" from the floor so chest height on me (about 6’). The ones in the pic are above shoulder height so unless Christopher Timothy is very short - don’t think he was - they must be above 5’. Bathroom lights - that’s our inate fear of mixing electricity and water 😃 Building codes require light switches to be out side the room or to be mounted on the ceiling and operated by a draw string. I never did understand why this didn’t apply to other rooms with running water - kitchens, cloakrooms etc. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620/27 "2010-03-24T18:44:29Z")
> [@MarcusF](#): > > Not in our house (1970s). Mostly about 4’ 6" from the floor so chest height on me (about 6’). The ones in the pic are above shoulder height so unless Christopher Timothy is very short - don’t think he was - they must be above 5’. > > Bathroom lights - that’s our inate fear of mixing electricity and water 😃 Building codes require light switches to be out side the room or to be mounted on the ceiling and operated by a draw string. I never did understand why this didn’t apply to other rooms with running water - kitchens, cloakrooms etc. above 5’; adults only switches a bathroom could be small enough that a person could both be in contact with grounded plumbing and reach a light switch. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620/28 "2010-03-24T19:07:02Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > [This](http://mpi.andrewmrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/794px-push_button_light_switch.jpg) is what antique light switches in the US look like - not often found in the wild these days. In fact, I’ve really only seen them in very “period correct” restored homes. My Grandmother’s house had light switches like that. I once had to replace one and discovered that there had once been a gas valve there, for turning on the wall-mounted gaslights. When the house had been converted to electricity, they just replaced the gaslights with wall-mounted electrical fixtures, ran wires through the old gas pipes, and put one of those push button switches where the gas valve had been. Makes sense, I guess. The gaslights had been in appropriate places in the room to light it up, and the gas valve had been near the doorway entering the room. And re-using the gas pipes as electrical conduit was certainly faster and easier than tearing into the walls. Outlets were tougher – they were mostly installed very low, with the wiring run behind the baseboards. ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620/29 "2010-03-24T19:08:56Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Something to ring a bell to summon servants would be a third possibility, though James Herriot would not have had servants – if it was that, it would be a relic of the pre-World-War-1 era. You mean apart from the housekeeper, who features heavily in the books by the name of Mrs Hall? (I can’t remember her real name.) Regardless of that, a couple of the houses I grew up in, built between the 20s and the 60s, had bells. We used to ring to get my brother down from his attic bedroom for breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620/30 "2010-03-24T19:19:10Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Are British light switches still that high up? It’s been a while and I don’t really remember. (I DO remember that you always have to turn the stupid light on BEFORE you go into the bathroom, though. What’s up with that?) The Montessori school I went to as a kid did this. Each switch had a light on it, and it was used to tell you if the bathroom was occupied or not (as they didn’t want to give us locks.) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620/31 "2010-03-24T19:38:52Z")
> [@Teacake](#): > > You mean apart from the housekeeper, who features heavily in the books by the name of Mrs Hall? (I can’t remember her real name.) > > Regardless of that, a couple of the houses I grew up in, built between the 20s and the 60s, had bells. We used to ring to get my brother down from his attic bedroom for breakfast. Additionally, at least in the books it’s a big old rambling house, one which probably had been built to house live-in servants. I’m pretty sure that if you called Mrs. Hall with a bell she’d beat your shit up, but that’s just speculation. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620/32 "2010-03-24T19:46:04Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Each switch would control one light (or more rarely one set of lights), so there are probably at least two lights in that room. Actually it’s slightly more probable that one switch controlled the lights to the adjacent room, so that you can turn off the hallway from the lounge while watching TV or whatever. I never thought to check lighting set-ups while I was in the US, but I’d assume it’s much the same there? In my house, every room except the second bedroom and the bathroom & laundry - I just checked - has two light switches: one for the current room, one for the adjacent. (The kitchen has 4, meaning I invariably go through a flick on/flick off cycle looking for the right one if I come in through the back door.) ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620/33 "2010-03-24T20:16:56Z")
> [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](#): > > Actually it’s slightly more probable that one switch controlled the lights to the adjacent room, so that you can turn off the hallway from the lounge while watching TV or whatever. > > I never thought to check lighting set-ups while I was in the US, but I’d assume it’s much the same there? > > In my house, every room except the second bedroom and the bathroom & laundry - I just checked - has two light switches: one for the current room, one for the adjacent. (The kitchen has 4, meaning I invariably go through a flick on/flick off cycle looking for the right one if I come in through the back door.) in the USA the style is to have a switch at any entrance to a room or hallway. though garages and basements are often switched from inside the house on the first floor. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620/34 "2010-03-24T20:52:09Z")
> [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](#): > > Actually it’s slightly more probable that one switch controlled the lights to the adjacent room, so that you can turn off the hallway from the lounge while watching TV or whatever. > > I never thought to check lighting set-ups while I was in the US, but I’d assume it’s much the same there? > > In my house, every room except the second bedroom and the bathroom & laundry - I just checked - has two light switches: one for the current room, one for the adjacent. (The kitchen has 4, meaning I invariably go through a flick on/flick off cycle looking for the right one if I come in through the back door.) Not really - sometimes you’ll have that, my kitchen does for no good reason so half the time I turn on the dining room light, but most rooms have switches for the room you’re actually in. ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620/35 "2010-03-24T20:54:54Z")
The house I grew up in and most of the others at the time had switches like that. There are still some properties that have them even now. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620/36 "2010-03-24T22:23:44Z")
The thread title was an irresistible reminder of the Fawlty Towers episode where Basil is trying to fix the lights in bathroom of the attractive Australian woman guest, and Sybil enters the room to find Basil trying to flip the wrong “wall nipple”. 🙂 The light switch in that scene was similar to the one in MrDibble’s image and Oswald Bastable’s links. ---
**Author:** ![stargazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@stargazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stargazer)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620/37 "2010-03-25T02:46:08Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > [This](http://mpi.andrewmrees.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/794px-push_button_light_switch.jpg) is what antique light switches in the US look like - not often found in the wild these days. In fact, I’ve really only seen them in very “period correct” restored homes. My in-laws’ house still has one set of these, and they work - they’re for the chandelier in the dining room and the porch light. Their house is on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, and was built in 1907. It is definitely not a restored home, although they do take the home’s history into account when renovating, etc. The house had been through some crazy reconfigurations before my in-laws bought it 20 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620/38 "2010-03-25T03:42:25Z")
> [@Oswald\_Bastable](#): > > Try this: > > [http://gallery.me.com/mclaughlinj#100034/acgs](http://gallery.me.com/mclaughlinj#100034/acgs) > > OB Just an FYI: The second picture in that set is upside down. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620/39 "2010-03-25T04:06:33Z")
The house I grew up in, until it burned down when I was 6, had switches like that. And the hospital where my parents worked had those switches way into the 80s, so I am very familiar with them. A nice satisfying _thunk_ every time you switched them. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620/40 "2010-03-25T04:11:21Z")
I’ve personally been to Herriot’s house and surgery in Yorkshire, and they did exist there, and were still working IIRC. I might have a photo of them somewhere, in fact. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-er-wall-nipples-in-old-british-homes-on-tv/533620.md?page=3)