Telegraph Register
name: label: maker
content: Phelps, George M.
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: George M. Phelps at Western Union designed this telegraph register, one of many types he designed for the company. This unit recorded signals from messenger call boxes, small telegraph transmitters that office managers used to summon telegraph delivery service when needed. Telegraph registers are electrically-activated printers that receive Morse code messages. The message travels as a series of electrical pulses through a wire. The pulses energize the register’s electromagnets which move a lever-arm holding a pen or stylus. A clockwork mechanism pulls a strip of paper across the pen or stylus, recording the message. Short pulses draw or emboss a dot, slightly longer pulses a dash. The sequence of dots and dashes represent letters and numbers.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: web subject
content: Communication, telegraph
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
label: See more items in
content: Telegraph Registers
label: See more items in
content: Communications
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.331058
label: accession number
content: 294351
label: collector/donor number
content: 100-340
label: catalog number
content: 331058
objectType: label: Object Name
content: telegraph receiver
label: Object Name
content: telegraph register
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: glass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: copper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 3/4 in x 13 1/2 in x 6 1/2 in; 22.225 cm x 34.29 cm x 16.51 cm