My "early" garden was a bust, even with shadecloth on parts of it, though I may have waited too long before shading. I grew 4 kinds of corn, all supposed to be heat & drought tolerant & got nary an ear, but it bloomed. On the other hand, my fall garden did well & I managed to get at least some tomatoes. My winter garden is peculiar--lettuce & some greens bolting, broccoli making loose heads, etc. In January. Just enough cold weather for my cabbage to start heading finally. I have planted a couple of cool weather tomatoes in hopes they will survive, but the others stay in for now. Most of the black tomatoes will continue to produce in heat & a few others. I find myself freezing more now so I know I will have it. Last year was a sure cure for complacency!

I'm not sure about the WWII copper shortage. That's just the "story" I heard. Doesn't change the safety issue. Here's an excerpt from a website that attributes the 3 wire "legalization" to the post war housing boom. A little dubious because 1947 seems to fast after WWII for a housing boom. http://www.dli.mn.gov/ccld/PDF/eli_GFCI_history.pdf Circuit grounding was one of the more hotly contested topics in the early history of electrification. In the early 1890Âs, the New York Board of Fire Underwriters had condemned the practice of grounding the neutral as a dangerous practice, especially in a 3-wire Edison (120/240 Volt) system. The Edison utility companies, on the other hand, found just cause to ground their supply systems, even as others thought the utilities were doing this to just save copper and money at the cost of an increased fire risk. The great debate continued for over a decade, but in 1903 the Code was revised to recommend that these circuits be grounded, and finally in the 1913 Code a mandatory circuit grounding requirement was included for circuits like the popular residential Edison 3-wire system. The permission for neutral grounding, the practice of using the neutral conductor as an equipment grounding conductor, was first permitted in the 1947 Code for electric ranges. At around that time many electric utilities were promoting the use of residential 240 V cooking for the post WWII housing boom, and many were even offering to install an upgraded service to older homes at no charge. However, there were no NM cables available at the time with conductors of sufficient ampacity to handle these higher amperage branch circuits. There were, though, service entrance cables of sufficient size, but they had a bare neutral conductor. This special Code permission allowed the frames of these large appliances to be grounded through the uninsulated grounded neutral conductor of the Type SE service entrance cable used to supply the branch circuit. The use of neutral grounding was also extended to electric clothes dryers in 1953. However, almost 50 years later, this special permission for neutral grounding was taken away in the 1996 Code for all but existing branch circuit installations.

"And it would use a red and a black." Unfortunately wire colors mean approximately nothing. Green or green/yellow or bare is typically ground, and white is typically neutral, but beyond that you're on your own-- ie you need to check what's going on-- and you should check your neutrals and grounds as well to ensure that's really what they are. I think the rule for hot conductors is only that they should be something other than white or green. When wiring 240 v circuits with two conductor NM cable you typically mark each end of the white wire with black or red to indicate that is is not neutral. Just last night I was working on a motor where the power cable had wires that were green, yellow, blue, and brown; no red or black to be seen. A shielded SO-like power cable I just bought has three numbered blacks and a yellow/green stripe.

Glad it worked out for you! You also asked about grounding. In an early 1960s house, most of your original-construction receptacles and boxes won't be grounded at all. IIRC, at that time equipment ground was required only on bathroom and outdoor receptacles, and possibly also on kitchen and cellar receptacles. (I'll try to look this up later, or maybe someone else remembers exactly.) To test your receptacles and boxes for grounds, even when they have only 2 slots and the usual 3-pin receptacle tester won't fit, you can use a neon light electrical tester. Holding only the insulated parts of the probes, carefully insert one probe in each slot of the receptacle, and note how bright the light is. Now remove the receptacle cover plate (usually 1 screw). Touch one probe to the yoke of the receptacle or the screw holding it to the box, and insert the other probe in the hot side slot (narrower slot). If the tester lights up as brightly as before, your box is grounded. If it stays dark or glows only dimly, the box is not grounded. Links are for illustration only, and aren't meant as endorsements of the products or vendors.