Newton is a Boston suburb, about 15 miles west of the city.

Boston Edison used thousands of fixtures just like this one in the communities they served up until the 1960s. They were on series street lighting circuits and all eventually were upgraded to new, modern mercury vapor brackets, lamps and fixtures.

The initials on the bracket probably stand for the Edwin Lewis Company, a prominent Boston electrical supplier. The fixtures and reflectors on these brackets were made by other companies (none are known with E.L. Co. markings on them, that is) such as General Electric, Cutter, Westinghouse, Wheeler Reflector Company, etc.