Last Days of Disco, or It's Lights Out for These Switches

Ted was so sweet to put this home improvement project at the top of his list, because he knew how much I hated this funky seventies style gold and ivory toggle light switch inside our front door. (Love the music of the era, hate a lot of the home style--shag rugs that you needed a rug rake for? Shudder.)

He installed a nifty retro push button switch with faux mother-of-pearl buttons and a Craftsman style switch plate, which I found at House of Antique Hardware. I know, I know; they're a bit pricey, but this is the light switch in the entryway, one of the first things people see when they walk in, and I wanted to splurge a bit on something nifty. It's based on a vintage pattern.

We were pleased to see that the wires in this wall had been updated at some point. This switch controls the nipple light in the stairwell, itself an add on of later date, so it's possible there never was a switch here prior to the installation of the light. The other two lights for the stairs are controlled by switches inside each of the units. I suspect these may be the only upgraded wires we find!

Eventually, we'll replace all the switches in our unit of The Box House with push-button ones. I love the very satisfying "click" they make when you push the little button.

Speaking of the last days of disco, does anyone remember when Chicago radio DJ Steve Dahl had his Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park? I was ten at the time, too little to realize that Kool and the Gang's "Ladies' Night" really wasn't all that cool, no matter how well I could skate to it at the local rink with my feathered roach clip in my feathered hair and my glittery unicorn t-shirt.

Here's what the Chicago Tribune had to say about it:

Dahl, who had been fired from WDAI-FM when that station switched to an all-disco format, had garnered national recognition for his crusade against what he called "Disco Dystrophy." Comiskey was filled to capacity; the official attendance was more than 59,000. An estimated 15,000 fans milled outside the park. After the first game, which the Sox lost 4-1, Dahl ceremoniously blew up a crate filled with disco records. All was orderly up to that point. But as Dahl finished, thousands of fans stormed onto the field, tearing up clumps of sod, burning signs, knocking over a batting cage and flinging records like so many Frisbees. Police arrested 37 people; by the time order was restored, the grounds were little more than a grassy moonscape. The second game was canceled and later awarded to the Tigers by forfeit.

Keep on truckin', people!