Started in 1888 by founder Harvey Hubbell in Bridgeport, Connecticut, many of Hubbell's first patents were for manufacturing machinery. In 1891, Hubbell had an idea to make Edison's electric illuminating bulb more useful. Fixtures for electric light were slowly replacing the gas lamps, prevalent at the time. The gas lamps were usually installed in the center of the ceiling or mounted high on a wall. In many cases, the electric lights burned continuously. With no existing wiring in the buildings, the installation of a separate circuit or switch to control the fixture was costly. Who knew, after all, whether this new electrical novelty would last long enough to justify the expense?

Hubbell wanted to design, and ultimately patent, a means to provide safe, local, and convenient control of the electric light. His answer was the "pull socket," which was patented in August of 1896. The same type of device, with its on-off pull chain, is still in use today.

Hubbell's concern with designing products to make the use of electrical service safer and more convenient spurred another design and patent. After viewing a janitor trying to clean behind some electrically-operated penny arcade games, Hubbell noted the tedious process required: that of disconnecting and reconnecting the post and wire connections in order to pull the equipment away from the wall. Hubbell's idea was to design a product with individual wires attached in the proper sequence and correct polarity, thus allowing the user to connect and disconnect to the power supply in the wall. His "separable plug and socket" design took shape and was submitted to the patent office in Washington, D.C. One of the most successful constructions of the patent is the duplex receptacle, still found everywhere that power is used.

Hubbell Incorporated Today

The Company operates through multiple manufacturing divisions and subsidiaries located in North America, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Italy, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The Company participates in a joint venture in Taiwan, and maintains sales offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea. Product research, marketing, and sales are conducted in this country and abroad. Because the Company has been an integral part of the growth of the electrical equipment industry and a pioneer in the development of new products and technologies, the Company has established a foundation of basic strengths on which to build its future growth.

Fundamentally, Hubbell Incorporated’s commitment to electrical equipment manufacture has enabled the Company to maintain its focus consistently, and to apply its energies to the technology of generating, transmitting, and utilizing electrical energy. Electricity is the most adaptable form of energy, and the one which will power the 21st century from basic industry to the most advanced electronic devices. The expertise developed during the first hundred years is an asset vital to the Company and its customers in the future.

Diversification of product and market will provide the advantage of flexibility; i.e., the benefits to the Company of counter-cyclical markets (to provide opportunity in a dynamic economy), and the benefit to customers of a single source of supply for new construction, modernization, or rehabilitation. Through internal growth and acquisition, in the future as in the past, Hubbell Incorporated’s breadth-of-line will expand the Company’s position among the industry’s leaders.

The Company’s tradition of quality, most apparent in its products but a part of its operations as well, will continue its contribution in the future. To Hubbell management, quality is an emphasis on asset deployment to provide the flexibility and resources to implement planned growth and consistent return to shareholders. To Hubbell employees, quality is the focus on each day’s work in design, engineering, testing, and production. To customers, Hubbell quality is the superior operation, reliable performance, and dependable service which distinguish Hubbell products from others.

The Company’s network of independent electrical distributors, who provide Hubbell products and their own expertise to the end-user, are a critical asset. Some of these distributors have been associated with the Company since the early years; others have joined as the industry expanded. Together, they form a partnership with Hubbell Incorporated which has played a large part in the past growth, and which will plan a larger part in the future.

The combination of these – commitment to the industry, diversification of product and market, a continuing tradition of quality, partnership with the independent electrical distributor, and the experience of accomplishment in research and development – have forged Hubbell Incorporated’s exceptional records of growth. The same comprehensive corporate capability will expand Hubbell’s growth in the commercial, telecommunications, lighting, utility, industrial, and consumer markets of the future.