Flame-proof Telegraph Key
date: label: date made
content: 1918
name: label: maker
content: L. S. Brach Manufacturing Co.
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Telegraph keys are electrical on-off switches used to send messages in Morse code and can spark when the circuit opens. Flame-proof telegraph keys, like this one made by L. S. Brach Company, were designed to contain the spark within a sealed chamber. These keys were necessary on early aircraft and in confined spaces such as aboard ships and submarines where the spark might ignite flammable gasses.
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 the United States Bureau of Standards, Dept. of Commerce
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: EM.313585
label: catalog number
content: 313585
label: accession number
content: 188571
label: collector/donor number
content: R-2505
objectType: label: Object Name
content: telegraph key
label: Other Terms
content: telegraph key; Radio
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: black (base color)
label: Physical Description
content: bakelite (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: rubber (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 1/2 in x 3 3/4 in x 7 1/2 in; 6.35 cm x 9.525 cm x 19.05 cm