Old Willard primitive Glass 4 Cell Battery?

[Ric Dean]

Old Willard primitive Glass Tubes 4 Cell Battery?

… Can anybody help me out here, is this for Automotive use?

It came from an old Auto Service Garage that closed in 1936, check out the 1936 Will Rogers Calendar that was still hanging on the wall.

Thanks, Ric

[Larry Schramm]

Being glass I would guess that they were originally used for home generation systems like the Delco Light Plants.  Just a different supplier.

 

[trimacar]

My grandparents house in Mansura, Louisiana ( a small map dot ) had a system like this in a small side building next to the house.  As can be assumed from the name, it was only for lighting in the house.  I remember as a very young kid seeing the two wires (uninsulated if I remember correctly) coming down the wall to a switch in each room, for turning on/off the overhead lights.  My grandfather was, relatively speaking for this small town, fairly well off to afford such a luxury....I was a late child, he was born in the 1880's and died in 1948, before I was born...my grandmother lived until 1960, so it was only she living there that I remember....

[Pete Phillips]

The wires coming out of it don't look thick enough to be battery cables for an automobile, so I concur with Larry.  My grandfather was from Cincinnati and sold those Delco Light plants for Charles Kettering in the 1920s.

Pete Phillips

Leonard, Texas

[TheMoneyPit]

37 minutes ago, Pete Phillips said:

The wires coming out of it don't look thick enough to be battery cables for an automobile, so I concur with Larry.  My grandfather was from Cincinnati and sold those Delco Light plants for Charles Kettering in the 1920s.

Pete Phillips

Leonard, Texas

 

While I agree that the glass would be fragile for use in a car, I disagree with Pete. The earlier cars were all hand cranked and a battery was only used to excite the coils long enough for the switch to be moved from it to a magneto and would not have needed a large cable. For a long time I used a large flashlight dry cell to start a 15 Ford I had many years ago.

[Ric Dean]

30 minutes ago, TheMoneyPit said:

 

While I agree that the glass would be fragile for use in a car, I disagree with Pete. The earlier cars were all hand cranked and a battery was only used to excite the coils long enough for the switch to be moved from it to a magneto and would not have needed a large cable. For a long time I used a large flashlight dry cell to start a 15 Ford I had many years ago.

... Thanks for your input, also there must have been a container to hold these glass tubes because they do wobble. The overall length of this Willard Batt is only 7.25'' with 6 cloth covered wires. Ric