Licensed to Wire the Watch City: The Fogg Electrician Licenses
Two Commonwealth of Massachusetts journeyman electrician licenses issued to Foggs of Brown Street, Waltham, in 1916, when wiring America's homes was a brand-new certified trade.
TranscriptionLicense renewal, serial no. 3940
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts STATE EXAMINERS OF ELECTRICIANS STATE HOUSE, BOSTON RENEWAL Serial No. 3940 Journeyman's Original License No. E 57 This Certifies that G. M. Fogg residing at No. 920 Brown Street, in the City-Town of Waltham, has this day been licensed as a JOURNEYMAN ELECTRICIAN, in accord- ance with the laws of this Commonwealth. JOHN J. HOGAN JOHN A. O'KEEFE PAYSON SMITH State Examiners of Electricians. Dated August 1, 1916. [signed] Herbert A. Dallas. Clerk. EXPIRES JULY 31, 1917. To obtain renewal of this license send coupon, with fee of 50c., thirty days prior to July 31, 1917. License Fee, 50c.
TranscriptionJourneyman's license no. E57
[Coat of arms of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, motto: ENSE PETIT PLACIDAM SUB LIBERTATE QUIETEM] The Commonwealth of Massachusetts STATE EXAMINERS OF ELECTRICIANS STATE HOUSE, BOSTON Journeyman's License No. E57 [stamped in red] This Certifies that Arthur M. Fogg residing at No. 220 Brown Street, in the City-Town of Waltham, has this day been licensed as a JOURNEY- MAN ELECTRICIAN, in accordance with the laws of this commonwealth. JOHN J. HOGAN JOHN A. O'KEEFE DAVID SNEDDEN State Examiners of Electricians. Dated Sept. 1, 191[6] [signed] H. A. Dallas. Clerk THIS LICENSE WILL EXPIRE ON THE 31st DAY OF JULY, 1916.
The story on the paper
In 1916 electricity was still moving into ordinary houses, and Massachusetts was the first state in the country to decide that only qualified hands should wire them. The State Examiners of Electricians, seated at the State House in Boston, tested and licensed journeymen under a law born of early electrical fires and accidents. These two certificates, one the original license No. E57 and the other its renewal coupon, document that trade in the person of the Fogg family of Brown Street, Waltham.
The renewal names the licensee as living at 920 Brown Street and carries a 50-cent renewal fee, with the warning that it "EXPIRES JULY 31, 1917." The original certificate is signed by clerk Herbert A. Dallas over an embossed Commonwealth seal. Both are printed forms completed for one name and one address by hand, made for a thousand licensees and filled in for one.
Waltham, already famous for its watches and its mills, was electrifying fast in 1916. A licensed journeyman electrician there could count on work wiring homes, shops, and factories for the new light.
- Type
- Licenses (two, with renewal)
- Date
- 1916
- Place
- Waltham, Massachusetts