I researched this once. I couldn't find a clear answer as to when the toggle switch came into use, but it seems to be somewhere around 1920. By 1928 I think push-button switches were outdated and your house probably originally had toggles. Brown bakelite. Our house was built in 1922, and I had the electrician replace all of our switches and outlets with new brown plastic ones for the same look. I'm sure he thought I was a fruitcake. :) Brown phone and cable can be tricky to find. We had to order them from somewhere online.

My house is just a bit older 1923 and when we bought it from my FIL in 1980 it still had some knob and tube wiring and a few push button wall switches.
We upgraded the knob and tube wiring, which was good and put in modern wall switches which was, in hindsight, a bad move. We both wish we still had them as they are just charming.
When we can, we will go back to pushbuttons, with modern safe wiring behind them. forget who sells them on line.

Believe it or not, dimmer switches were invented in 1890. They were not used in typical middle class homes until decades later but were installed in mansion homes and in theaters.

When you replace your light switches be aware that older switches often were of the type that contained a vial of mercury. Dispose of porperly.

www.classicaccents.net sells reproduction push-button styles and accompanying hardware. Personally, I couldn't justify the expense when I knew toggles were possibly original anyway, but they are very cool. I wonder if they make that satisfying loud "click" sound that the originals did.

In my 1922 house, most of the lights are still turned on by a string hanging from the ceiling fixture. Only two rooms and a hall have been converted to wall switches.

But in answer to the OP's question--yes, there is a difference in functionality. The rocker switches are considered "universal access," in that someone who is physically disabled can, depending on the disability, use the rocker switches more easily. But if that is not a concern in your family, then switching out to the toggle switches would be a good solution.

Thanks for all your responses! I personally think the rockers are too contemporary-looking for my home. Fortunately, we do not have to consider universal access, at least not for our immediate family. I think I will go with the toggles. BTW, I'd like to get toggle switches that are illuminated. The only ones I can find are illuminated around the perimeter of the toggle. My aunt and uncle's former house in upstate NY had light switches that were illuminated on the toggle itself. Anyone know a source for these? Thanks.

camlan, my last house (1910) was like that. I loved it, but I often got the impression that visitors were annoyed by it. We sold that house and turns out the buyer worked at an electrical supply place, so he put in ultra-modern everything w/respect to switches and fixtures. The house made it almost 100 years without wall switches!