Telegraph Key
date: label: date made
content: ca 1890
name: label: maker
content: J. H. Bunnell & Co.
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Telegraph keys are electrical on-off switches used to send messages in Morse code. The message travels as a series of electrical pulses through a wire. The operator pushes the key’s lever down briefly to make a short signal, a dot, or holds the lever down for a moment to make a slightly longer signal, a dash. The sequence of dots and dashes represent letters and numbers. This has been identified as an early form of the "Triumph Key" made by Bunnell in the late 1880s and intended to address a problem of uneven contact wear in existing keys.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
label: See more items in
content: Telegraph Keys
label: See more items in
content: Communications
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from J. H. Bunnell & Co.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: EM.222137
label: catalog number
content: 222137
label: accession number
content: 41950
objectType: label: Object Name
content: telegraph key
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: aluminum (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: rubber (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 5 in x 3 in x 6 in; 12.7 cm x 7.62 cm x 15.24 cm