Telegraph Key
date: label: date made
content: 1845
name: label: maker
content: Vail, Alfred
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 key was an early refinement on Alfred Vail's original lever key.
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 Western Union Telegraph Co.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: EM.181412
label: catalog number
content: 181412
label: accession number
content: 31652
objectType: label: Object Name
content: telegraph key
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ivory (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: on mount: 3 1/2 in x 4 1/2 in x 8 in; 8.89 cm x 11.43 cm x 20.32 cm