We seem to have aroused quite a response to the tale of the many electrical misdemeanours common in days of yore ! And thank you all for not taking me to task for my stupid typo ("delighful" - reminds be of the "deadful" we had a while back. Fixed, now).
ancientaviator62,
Warmtoast,
mmitch,
ricardian,
Gulfstreamaviator and
clicker,
Thanks for the various additions you made to the main theme. I hadn't heard of the "Bryant & May" name for the idea before (as a pipe smoker, found "Swan" burned a bit longer), but then you learn something new every day. A Fire Bucket handle (fettled)
does sound a bit extreme; the worst I heard of was the six-inch nail- across-the-fusebox solution to running (strictly prohibited) electric fires in the huts to augment the output of the coke stove (particularly if you were at the far end !).
The silver paper and (the later and better) kitchen foil is the solution to many problems. There may yet be one or two folk who still do not know that the Achilles Heel of many AAA and AA powered devices (notably remote controls) is the little tensioning coil spring at the base, which weakens. A rolled up scrap of foil (the size of a pea) often works wonders.
I note from some of the replies that the domestic fuse is assumed to be of cartridge-type. But earlier yet, you just had a bit of ceramic with a tiny hole at each end through which you threaded your fusewire, then clamped each end round a screw. All was in a two-prong carrier which you plugged back into the box.
This was by no means easy, if your only light source was a burning match. But surely these are things of the past ? Not so ! (I can assure you).
MPN11,
They did ! Unfortunately there was sometimes a human body interposed (if the floor was anything of an "earth"), with a possible fatal outcome.
Cheers, Danny.