Telegraph Key
date: label: date made
content: 1864
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. Keys can be quite simple devices. This key was hand-made by W. W. Shock, a Union operator at Point Of Rocks, MD, in 1864. Confederate troops had destroyed the regular key so Shock made this "perfectly practicable and serviceable" replacement.
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
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content: Communications
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from Charles Selden
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: EM.220375
label: catalog number
content: 220375
label: accession number
content: 41421
objectType: label: Object Name
content: telegraph key
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: rubber (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall including stand: 2 3/4 in x 3 in x 6 1/2 in; 6.985 cm x 7.62 cm x 16.51 cm
label: Measurements
content: key only: 2 in x 2 1/2 in x 6 in; 5.08 cm x 6.35 cm x 15.24 cm