Telegraph Call Box and Sounder
name: label: maker
content: J. H. Bunnell & Co.
label: maker
content: Viaduct Company
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Telegraph sounders convert electrical pulses into audible sounds and are used to receive Morse code messages. The message travels as a series of electrical pulses through a wire. Short pulses make a dot, slightly longer pulses make a dash. The sequence of dots and dashes represent letters and numbers. The pulses energize the sounder’s electromagnets which move a lever-arm. The arm makes a loud “click” when it strikes a crossbar and the operator translates the pattern of sounds into the original language.
label: Description (Brief)
content: This sounder is mounted on a board along with a call box from the Postal Telegraph Company. Call boxes placed in business offices allowed quick service for those who often sent telegrams. Activating the call box would alert Postal that one of their customers needed to send a telegram. Each box sent a specific number so the company could quickly dispatch a messenger to the correct address. The messenger retrieved the message and brought it back to the Postal office for transmission.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
label: See more items in
content: Communications
label: See more items in
content: Telegraph Sounders
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from Western Union Corporation
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: EM.331356
label: collector/donor number
content: 10-40
label: accession number
content: 294351
label: catalog number
content: 331356
objectType: label: Object Name
content: telegraph receiver
label: Object Name
content: call box
label: Object Name
content: telegraph sounder
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: rubber (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ceramic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 in x 15 1/4 in x 12 in; 10.16 cm x 38.735 cm x 30.48 cm
label: Measurements
content: sounder: 3 1/4 in x 5 1/2 in x 3 1/4 in; 8.255 cm x 13.97 cm x 8.255 cm