Welcome to the forums.
Packards of your era have an electromechanically complex lights switch that pretty much will never work quite right unless restored by a previous owner. I have a '55 Clipper Deluxe (the dash is basically identical) and my headlight switch won't light my license plate lights or IC at all, not sure what the issue is. Just a pervasive problem on these models due to wear and age/corrosion.
As Howard said, I highly recommend you check out the literature archive (link on the left sidebar) as many basic questions and technical data are covered in those documents. For example,
here is the owner's manual for your '55.
The wiper knob turns on by turning it to the right. The lever is for the wiping range (left-ish is full, down is reduced for higher frequency). If you have a radio, the left knob is power/volume, and the lever on it is for tone. On my Packard it was actually installed a bit wrong, with the jam nut UNDER the bezel. The bezel should be flush with the trim.
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