Austin023

I also wanted to include that the old ceramic switches are pretty easy to inspect internally & clean out/repair if needed and so desired. I always check the contacts inside them to make sure they are still nice and tight and free of dust/debris--and I slightly oil the mechanism if needed. Only if the rocker inside or the ceramic housing is broken are you really out of luck with these....they were made to literally last a lifetime.

I have had very good luck finding decent used/vintage and even NOS on eBay....usually they run about $10-15 each and often you can find a bunch being sold in a lot for good prices. I totally agree that the old ones from the 1910s and 20s were made much better than the expensive reproductions. One of the push button switches I found in my travels (still in great working condition with mother of pearl buttons) was removed from a house built circa 1905 during rewiring, with a patent date of Aug 30, 1897. The good ones have all-ceramic housings, not Bakelite or other plastics. You can even find those "turn" switches occasionally on there as well (not the surface mount type, but the type that goes in a standard device box in the wall and has a brass plate with one hole for the knob); those are quite interesting if you can get a hold of one--though they command rather high prices of $35 or more usually.