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Posted 2 years ago
oldie
(33 items)
Fire alarm box made by Gamewell. Boxes were mounted on telephone poles in Philadelphia, Pa. If you saw a fire you would pull down handle. Each box would have a number assigned to it and by pulling down the handle inside the box would send a moorse code to the dispatch location. The code was translated to the number on the box and the dispatcher had a map of the box numbers and the locations. Then they would dispatch a fire truck. It was your responsibility to stay at the box to give the exact location of the fire. They had alot of false alarms set off by kids as a prank, not realizing putting people in harms way. Technology has change this system along with so many more. Thank God for 911. Where these used through out the states?
FirefightingFirefighters save lives with the help of countless tools—fire extinguishers…
hello i came a cross an old looking pipe piece with a game cover on the side. it is all brass and has piece inside that spins. it has the well known coils under the cover where gamewell is still clearely molded do you have any i dea what it might be sorry for no picture
sorry gamewell cover
Vol.Firefighter, I don't know but if type FIREFIGHTING in the search box in this web site you might see a pivture or some else more knowledgable could help you. Thanks for looking. Mike
Gamewell 1951 style box (started manufacturing this type of box in 1951) This style is still made today. And Yes, they did have municipal fire alarm telegraph throughout the United States. Yes, many of these are still in actual use around the country, especially in the northeastern US as that is where the municipal fire alarm telegraph was first implemented successfully (Boston, 1852) These do not use morse code, however. Each box has a code wheel which corresponds to the box number, when the box is pulled it transmits that box number over the telegraph wires by opening or closing the circuit to indicate the number, much like morse code but there is no "long/short" in fire alarm telegraph. FA telegraph use a normally closed circuit, which opens whenever the code wheel forces the contacts open inside the mechanism.
Paulbalentine, thanks for the information. Mike
My Dad had the box, with the guts removed. We had it on our wall in the kitchen, when you opened it , the phone was inside! LOL