Telegraph Key
date: label: date made
content: 1898
name: label: inventor
content: Vail, Alfred
label: inventor
content: Morse, Samuel Finley Breese
label: maker
content: Model Shop, United States National Museum
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 is a replica of an early type of lever key used by Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: District of Columbia, Washington
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: Made in museum
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: EM.181770
label: catalog number
content: 181770
label: nonaccession number
content: 1995.3095
objectType: label: Object Name
content: key
label: Object Name
content: telegraph key
label: Other Terms
content: telegraph key; Telegraphy
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (base material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (body material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 1/8 in x 2 in x 6 3/4 in; 7.9375 cm x 5.08 cm x 17.145 cm