When Copper was in short supply during WWII - Beware this grounding system may have been used

When copper was in short supply during the war years 1940's  a copper ground  wire was not run with  cloth covered romex  or Knob and Tube wiring and instead a single piece of  uninsulated steel wire was run from steel  outlet  box to  steel  outlet box and then to a water pipe or the fuse panel.

 As you can see in  picture at left  upon careful examination you can see the blackened  steel wire that was utilized as ground when the knob and tube wiring was still active in this basement . which has now been pulled out and taped and replaced with new romex  About a 20# gauge diameter  very thin steel wire was used for this purpose.

But all too often these wires end up getting broken and clipped off  which can cause big problems and the potential for fire.
While steel does not have the same conductive properties as copper it was still better than no ground at all to eliminate touch potential and take away stray current.

This was not the only measure taken to reduce copper usage   as  downsized grounds where used for electric dryers and ranges as well.

Back then the importance of grounding of systems was not  as recognized  by the people who designed and installed wiring systems.  In fact in one famous letter often touted at Electrical Seminars which reveals past thinking . A letter dated in late 1800's and issued by Chief of the  New York Fire Dept. strictly prohibited and  vilified the grounding of electrical wiring because they thought it lead to fires.

Where they ever wrong today we realize  grounding does much more  to provide overall protection to structures which have electrical systems in them.
To provide not only shock protection but to keep power levels even on wiring and prevent fires from stray voltages  which happen when wiring deteriorates and makes contact with conductive surfaces,