Several years ago, I visited a Shaker village in northern New Hampshire. I later wrote about that group's work ethic which in short was to do everything so very well that your work would not need to be repeated within your lifetime. That essay is at the following: Work ethic.
Recently, a wall switch stopped working at my son's home in Brooklyn and needed to be replaced. That switch dates, so I believe, from when the house was first electrified over a century ago. That switch got pressed "on" and "off" many thousands of times over those ten decades, a very impressive service life.
Just look at this thing! The metal work is of heavy gauge steel and there is a very strong ceramic shell around the switch mechanism itself.
This thing was probably not designed by Shakers, but it certainly met their ideals by outliving its designers and not needing replacement during their lifetime.
I was looking at wall switches in the electrical section of an Ace Hardware the other day.
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