Weird question for my #gurps game: When did electricians first need licences, specifically in Washington State, but I'll take any answers I can get. Game is set in 1925, trying to figure out if I'd need to spend point to be a licensed trades person.
@Canageek if all else fails, /r/askhistorians?
@nev Good idea
@Canageek another thought: have you tried searching by specific city? This might be in municipal level regulations as well
@nev Have not, adding location terms just increased the number of hits to hire electricians
@Canageek This is about engineers, but seems reasonable that licensing for engineers and electricians could have similar timelines. https://www.nspe.org/resources/press-room/resources/100-years-engineering-licensure
@jessmahler Might be, but that doesn't help as 1925 is in the middle of the passed some places period. :S Thanks though.
@Canageek You're welcome?
Good luck
@Canageek this is the wrong state, but for minnesota it was 1937 http://www.dli.mn.gov/CCLD/ElectricalHistory.asp (or maybe you already found that :/ ). i can't seem to find an equivalent history page on washington state's licensing site though :(
@Canageek oh i was skimming too fast. as early as 1899 it was required for counties of 125000+ people
@bunnyhero @allan found the answer for Washington! Thanks
http://ethw.org/Oral-History:Margaret_Kipilo
Do a word search on the page for "License". At the first hit (about 2/3 down the page), she talks about the licensing requirement in Pennsylvania starting in the 1950's. Licensing in the USA is done state by state, so the history of it in Washington will be different. Still and all, based on this, I seriously doubt there was a requirement for it in the 1920's anywhere in the USA.
You think this would be easy to find, either a government history site talking about how they made houses safer, or a union boasting about getting laws passed, but all I get are lots of how to become one, or how to hire one sites.