Yeah, Ive seen them. Usually removing them though. replacing them with chinese crap that isnt going to last a year.

 

Was this a failed spinoff of square d?

 

I believe that was Bell wiring devices.

 

Yup, I've pulled out many myself. These are from a time when there was dozens of manufacturers of wiring devices, all of em with MADE IN USA stamped on them. What do we have today maybe 4 brands? Hubbell and Pass & Seymour barely make anything in US. The only ones still making some things here are Leviton and Cooper. Yeah I'm anal and try and use US made stuff whenever I can.

 

I've noticed that Cooper eaten is now making receptacle outlets in China.

 

I actually did a quick search on them. Started out as E.H. Freeman Company around the turn of the last century in Trenton NJ. I'm not sure when they banged up shop.

 

nice can you show the auctual device

 

I've replaced many of their snap switches and three prong grounding outlets in my teenage years. Many sub divisions in my hometown used that brand.

 

I used to install those, lots of those.

 

I think I have some new in package down in the shop somewhere. They look great with Uni-line plates.

 

i remember seeing them , but dont remember when!

 

I remember seeing Challenger-Circle F breaker panels. They looked like the generic type panels, that everyone seems to use competitive type breakers in, even though it's against the code.

 

Kind of old thread, but I installed many of those in the early 1980s. My boss must have bought a truck load. I remember the switches had a problem of the plastic cracking when I tightened the wire under the screw and I had to be more careful with them than any other brand we used.

 

When did those stop being produced btw?

 

Not soon enough. :laughing:

 

Once upon a time, New England, New York and New Jersey was the epicenter of wiring device and wire and cable manufacturers. T&B, Lightolier, Leviton, Eagle, Murray, AIW, Colt, GE, Hubbel, Bryant, P&S, and long defunct wire and cable brands were here. Some of the headquarters remain (Leviton, for instance) but the manufacturing is long gone.

 

For the record... theres nothing wrong with Hubbell.

 

Humble and Brian have always had great products, it's just unfortunate that now they're being made in China.

 

Circle F was also known as Sylvania wiring devices & later Challenger, but have no idea what happened to them.

Used to use Eagle switches, receptacles, & Sierra wall plates.

 

auld lang syne
my dad was a qc manager and engineer for them. back in the heyday, it was true: Trenton Makes, The World Takes. My dad used to say if you can't find a job in Trenton in the '60's it must be because you have two left hands/feet. Anyway, my dad went from Crane to Circle F as a line inspector, QC manager, and worked at Meade, Prince, and probably Monmouth (where the apartments are now) as iirc he roved various product lines. The company was privately owned and after some time and some lawsuits and other woes, the owners just milked it and moved along. There was a very large estate on River Road going out of Trenton toward Washington Crossing/Hopewell/ and that was one of the owner's estates. I remember hearing names like Ring, Yarmark, and others that were principals in the company, mentioned by dad. By the time Challenger got to it, some of the long timers went there but eventually it all dried up. My dad left in the early '70s. He went to a different firm in Bucks Co., PA. But to think my dad (grhs) was responsible for making sure that every one of those switches with a box around a circle and an "F" in it were according to strict standards, I think it's his way of saying he may be gone but his work ethic as an engineer lives on. He was a brilliant man and like working for anyone else, they capitalized on the talent. He could have run that company but, alas, after a while one grows weary. His secretary was Lillian. There were articles from old newspapers online years back that used to list names of the Circle F employees, some of whom I met or remembered. Not sure if they are preserved somewhere else behind google's various layers. I remember I met Lillian once when I walked over to Meade or Prince from school down the street when I missed the bus home. Some other people he knew were George P., Harry G. whose family I knew, Mike S. and Mike's dad even . . . and a guy named Butch and another, Lester, who I think moved to the new company some time later. anyway, probably by now, nobody gives a rat's patootie. (just anonymity's sake. . . . many have gone). All of Trenton is that way now. Out with the old. I remember my dad even inspected the porcelain casting lines for some of the porcelain parts as well as working with the tool room, changing procedures off the production lines, redesign and other things. Renaissance guy. You had to know a lot about manufacturing, raw materials, production, tooling, efficiency, and play nice with the workers. It was not a bad way to earn a living and provide for a family. These days, "factory" work is at Amazon, shipping a bunch'o' worthless crap that nobody needs. That's the new age of factory, I guess. My dad also used to travel to Charlotte, Charleston a few times in the late '60s for meetings with key management. Bastages were probably fixin' to sell everybody down the tubes by then. Anyway, just sharin' some of the good ole days . . . keep or toss. Thanks for reading. thanks for the topic, which I just found while surfing names of old factories in Trenton. I hope whoever has Circle F parts stockpiled makes a fortune on them some day. My dad was Jerry. I don't remember if he was there at the time Sylvania and Challenger were operating. He had probably moved for greener pastures by then. Yet another company that had similar lines . . . and games: Triboro Electric / Mohawk in Doylestown, PA. (No, I am not crazy -- not on paper. I just type a lot.) Regards,

 

Just joined and happened upon this post. A few corrections: Circle F Mfg. was private until it went public as Circle F Industries... the owners didn't milk the company. Wonderful company, great people (I worked with many of them) and products. I have many photos and newspaper clippings that my dad kept but who really cares about the history any more? Oh, and Yarmark had nothing to do with Circle F.

 

 

oh, a wiseguy, huh? we don't need no stinkin' paragraphs nyuk nyuk

 

Thanks for the read. It is a shame. There was a time when everything you touched in your daily life was made here in NJ. Like you qouted “Trenton makes - The world takes”.

 

that sign is still shamelessly on one of the bridges near trenton going across the delaware into bucks county, pa. back when it was true, Trenton was a great town.

Now, a lot of the factory areas are desolate, though they did take some of the former factory shells and turned them into housing down at the Roebling wire rope complex. And part of that also became an arena.

A few others in East Trenton are storage facilities, and even furniture warehouses (down by the old Meade/Prince plants in pottery row).

Somewhere within that same area there was a huge sportswear contractor, which is where my mother used to work sewing shoulder pads into military uniform jackets. Piece work. You made how ever many dollars that week based on the bundle tags you turned in on your timesheet. Imagine doing that on the 3rd floor of a factory where it's about 110 in the shade, no central air. Lucky if you got a breeze from the windows. The old folks surely had strong constitutions. I wuldn't be able to do that now even at half my age.

 

I put in tons of them . Back then the breakaway tabs were sooooo much easier to break away. Eagle was another brand that you don't see around now.

 

Never. Circle F was bought by GTE/Sylvania in 1978, then they changed the name. GTE/Sylvania became Challenger, which was eventually bought by Eaton and this is now the Eaton wiring device division.

Eaton wiring devices came from Cooper, who bought Eagle Electric & retired the Eagle name. Westinghouse may had the Circle F/Sylvania/Challenger wiring device line when they bought Challenger.

 

I don't know why... but it seems weird to me that Eaton would get into the wiring device business.

 

A lot of their Catalog #s & Die imprints resemble the old Standard Electric Switch Co out of Chacago.

 

Here's some info on Circle F:
Circle F Mfg Co., Trenton, NJ (Founded: 1918)

Manufacturers of light sockets, wiring devices and other electrical goods. Also made radio antenna insulators (Little Joe, Medium Joe, and Big Joe), cleats, strains, nail-knobs, and wall tubes. 1926 catalog (No. 9) indicated a second porcelain plant in New Brunswick, NJ. Company was not shown in the New Jersey list of corporations. (check later dates) or the 1921 EMF Electrical Year Book. The Circle F trademark was used by the E. H. Freeman Electric Co. In 1925, Circle F took over the Trenton Porcelain Co. and at an unknown later date purchased the adjoining property of the Fidelity Pottery Co. The 1927 Sanborn map shows the combined plant with only three kilns.

Westinghouse buys Circle F (1975)
Circle F later became Sylvania Wiring Devices

Can you tell me the different types of Circle F switches you have?

Thanks,

 

ok ok

 

I’m not an electrician, but I am an electrical engineer with 40+ years of high power RF EW circuit design. My Dad took advantage of the GI Bill after WW2 and took a job at Circle F in Trenton, NJ. I went to work with him every Saturday to open up junk mail to find exciting stuff. I learned a lot about electricity and manufacturing as a 10 year old and I was soaking everything up like a sponge. I. Don’t know how Circle F compares to Leviton or Hubbell in term of electrical properties, but it was a great learning experience for me.