E.D Bullard Co.

**Products** | Industrial safety equipment

Air raid/Police sirens (formerly)

The **E.D. Bullard Company**, or **Bullard**, is a San Francisco, CA-based manufacturer of personal protective equipment, industrial safety equipment, and during WWII, a variety or air raid and police sirens, some of which still survive to this day.

## History

E.D. Bullard Co. was formed in 1898, and was named after its founder, Edward Dickinson Bullard. The company originally out manufacturing gold and silver mine safety equipment and is credited with the invention of the hard hat in 1919. As early as 1934, Bullard purchased siren designs from the Siracode Signal Corporation, which was going under, which would be sold as the Navy Type Q. These sirens had a distinctive conical rotor and stator, which would form the basis for Bullard's later sirens. In late 1939, as WWII begun, the War Production Board contracted the company to create outdoor warning sirens to warn the public of incoming Axis air raids.

The company created a variety of different sirens, including a 12-port chain-driven rotational siren made with parts from an R.J. Zievers "Frost Master" wind machine (see below), a dual rotor 6-port siren that had optional coding capabilities, small vertical sirens, as well as a variety of police and emergency vehicle sirens. Bullard even created a large gasoline powered siren in partnership with Chrysler around 1941 and was the earliest iteration of what would later become the Chrysler Air Raid Siren. This 12-port gasoline siren was Bullard's very first attempt to meet the War Production board's requirements and was deemed a failure and scrapped.

E.D. Bullard also created coded variants of their sirens, including a dual rotor siren that uses a rotating stator ring that when powered, covers all of the ports and nearly silencing the siren instantly, similar to a Fedelcode Model 2 or Yamaha Music Siren. This allows the siren to produce coded pulse signals. These units were 6/6-port single tone. These were mainly meant for use in fire stations.

After the war ended, sales of Bullard's sirens slowed as companies such as Federal Electric were proving dominant in the siren market across the United States. The company was never able to outcompete the many other siren manufacturers at the time, both locally and abroad, leading to the company ending production of their sirens sometime during or after 1945, but their sirens continued to be used during the Cold War, supplemented with other sirens of various makes and models. This would not be the end of the company, as Bullard would continue to enjoy relative success in the industrial safety equipment market, where it stands today.

## Products

Bullard's sirens can be told apart from every other siren manufacturer by their distinct conical rotors and stators. This design helped project sound forwards or downwards, depending on the configuration of the siren. The vast majority of Bullard's sirens are 12-port single tone, but some came in 6-port and 9-port single tone as well. No dual tone Bullards are known to exist. Bullard also made small sirens, such as indoor fire alarm sirens, short range industrial sirens, and even belt-driven friction sirens with no electric motor, which were designed for vehicular or manual use, as was common at the time.

### Stationary Electric Sirens

#### Rotational siren\*

Bullard created a rotational siren specifically for civil defense purposes sometime in the 1930s or 1940s, using cobbled together parts from several sources. The official name of these sirens is currently unknown, with the only remaining unit's tag being largely blank. The siren makes use of a conical 12-port rotor and stator, driven by a single sided AC motor mounted to the top of the rotator. The motor is entirely exposed to the elements, with no motor cover. A conical intake is attached to the front of the stator, which serves to both intake air and project the sound from the rotor outwards, and a conical projector with a cylindrical backside serves to project the rest of the siren's output forwards.

Bullard lacked a rotation mechanism of their own and decided against designing one, instead borrowing the large, rounded chain-driven rotation mechanism from an R.J. Zievers "Frost Master" wind machine, which were common in California at the time of the siren's production. It is unknown whether Bullard simply sourced the parts from Zievers, or had a partnership with the company to jointly produce the siren, as several of these rotational sirens were mounted on top of Scream Master poles and mounts. The rotation mechanism is teardrop-shaped and is largely hollow. The mechanism wraps around the pole it is mounted to, which helps protect the internal rotation mechanism. Two eyebolts are fixed to the rotator, allowing the siren to be lifted and mounted easily.

The single known surviving example (if more than one were built) currently sits on top of the California Fruit Building in Sacramento, and is still in fully operational condition. Unfortunately, it remains inactive to this day.

\**While not explicitly confirmed, it is currently speculated that the 12-port rotational siren is not a Bullard product, but instead made by R.J. Zievers, Inc. The rotor and stator are from Bullard, but the rotation mechanism, poles, and platforms are all built by Zievers, with the rotator being from the Frost Master wind machine and the poles and platforms being used on their Scream Masters. The intake and projector are also made of folded sheet metal instead of pressed metal, which is something Bullard was never known to do with their sirens.*

#### Model 3H "Weltex"

    E.D. Bullard also manufactured a siren without a conical rotor and stator, the **Model 3H**. These are more commonly known by siren enthusiasts as "*Weltex*" sirens (it is unknown where this name originated, but it is a misnomer), and are largely exclusive to the U.S. state of Oregon. It is widely theorized that these sirens were originally produced for civil defense purposes, before being given away to various fire departments and towns once they were decommissioned for that purpose. These small omnidirectional sirens came in 9-port and 12-port single tone and are very small motor-over-rotor vertical sirens with the motor on top and the rotor on the bottom. A cylindrical motor cover resembling a tin can protects the motor and is typically the same width as the stator.

These sirens were available with a skirt to help project the sound outwards as well as a cylindrical mesh intake and are suspended from below by a pair of metal supports on one side of the siren. The motor horsepower and decibel rating of these sirens are currently unknown, but they are confirmed to run on three-phase power. It is unknown when these were produced or for how long, or what their original intended purpose was, as records have been lost.

### Industrial Sirens

#### Type S (Type A)

The **Type S** (**Type A** on earlier models) is a small siren series that was produced by E.D. Bullard. Utilizing the company's distinctive conical rotor and stator, the siren makes use of either a 5-port or 10-port single tone rotor and stator, driven by a high-speed AC/DC universal motor at either 6,000 or 13,000RPM. The siren runs on single phase power at 110/120VAC, or on 120VDC. The siren is extremely high pitch and was likely designed for indoor use or short-range outdoor use as the siren would have poor range. The motor horsepower for all of these sirens is currently unknown, as well as its decibel rating. The siren itself is very basic, being little more than the rotor/stator, motor, and motor cover that also serves as the mount for the siren, with three mounting legs. A large rectangular piece attached to the motor cover has the siren's tag attached to it and is where the siren's wiring terminals are located. The siren intakes from the top, and "EDB" is spelled out on a logo over the intake, like many of Bullard's small sirens. Due to the siren's small size, finger guards are included on each stator port to prevent user injury.

There are 4 models in the Type S series, likely differentiated by horsepower: The Type S-1, S-2, S-3, and S-4. The exact difference between these models is currently unknown. Earlier models with casted-on tags referred to these sirens as the "Type A", and it appears the siren was renamed later in production when the newer tags were introduced. The earlier "Type A" models also have fewer screw holes on the bottom of the stator. Each model was available with a variety of different projectors, including an exponentially curved intake horn (similar to those used on Sterling Type Fs and the Federal Model D), a conical projector attached to the bottom of the stator, a larger, flared projector, or any combination of the three. It is unknown how many units survive with their horns and projectors. At least one operational Type S unit remains in private possession.

#### Navy Type Q

The **Navy Type Q** was a small siren produced by E.D. Bullard and was a rebrand of one of Siracode's small omnidirectional sirens originally created in 1926. The Type Q was introduced in 1934 and was made after Siracode went under and sold their designs to Bullard. The Type Q was meant for naval use and is more shielded from the elements than its Siracode predecessor, with metal guards placed around the stator and a larger, smooth cylindrical motor cover with four mounting legs on the bottom that also serve as a stand. The siren uses a conical 8-port rotor and stator, driven by a high-speed universal 1/8HP AC/DC electric motor, running at 8,000RPM. Finger guards are included on the stator ports due to the small size of the siren, and "EDB" is embroidered on the siren's intake. It was likely produced until Bullard pulled out of the siren market in the 1940s. The Navy Type Q was rated at 91 dB at 18ft.

### Vehicular Electric Sirens

#### Model ¼HA

The **Model ¼HA** was a vehicular 8 port 6 volt siren produced by E.D. Bullard. A relatively simple siren in design, the Model ¼HA consists of an 8-port rotor and stator, driven by a 1/4HP motor inside a rounded cylindrical housing with the siren's tag on top. The siren is held up by a small stand. The siren seems to have 2 variants, with one having a non-cylindrical rotor and stator, an a simple, slightly flared intake, while the other variant has a horn and intake similar to the Type A's, a conical rotor and stator that appears to be 6 ports instead of 8, and an altered mount. It is likely that the variant without the conical rotor and stator is a rebrand of an already existing siren, as it is reminiscent of several vehicular sirens manufactured during its production.