The latter were incandescent and operated via a street series circuit. In order to provide lower and safer open-circuit voltage along its route (street series loops inherently have a dangerous open circuit voltage) a small "paint can" transformer stepped down the lighting circuit voltage to a safer level. Economy of lower-voltage fixture wiring, sockets, lamps, etc., were also realized by this utility method. The latter transformer can be seen on the uppermost crossarm on the left. Most of what you see upon this pole line stood until the 1970s when 13.8kv primary was the rule along with mercury vapor street lights. A two-pin fire alarm telegraph crossarm is seen immediately beneath the utility wiring which was owned by the Brockton Edison Company at the time. Scituate, MA is a small coastal community about 20 miles southeast of Boston.