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Antique Servant Annunciator/Butler Call Device

$ 1319.47

Availability: 100 in stock
  • All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
  • Modified Item: No
  • Time Period Manufactured: Pre-1940
  • Solid oak construction, beautful finsih.: Installed 1900.
  • Brand: Custom made
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
  • Condition: This device is about 121 years old, but still fully functional! Hook up a drycell battery (1.5 volts) and a few simple switches and it operates just as it did when it was installed about 1900! Beautiful original finish.

    Description

    This beautiful, unique device was custom made for a very solid home in a special community in Lakewood (Cleveland), Ohio.  The face of the device has the names of ten rooms that each had a little black and white push button switch installed.   Let's say the folks in the Dining Room (Room #2 per the face of the device) wanted something. To hail the butler they would simply press the button on the little switch on the wall.  Closing the circuit for the Dining Room caused the big bell to ring and the arrow for the Dining Room to point to the name of the room.  The butler would hear the bell, go to his pantry and pull out the little switch labeled 2 near the bottom of the device.  This would silence the bell.  He would then go to the Dining Room to find out what was desired.  He would also press the little switch on the wall to open the circuit for that room.  When he got back to the annunciator he would push in the #2 switch and push the round brass button on the bottom of the device.  This action returned the little arrow(s) back to the vertical position.
    Had several switches in several rooms been closed at the same time, the butler could pull out the button labeled General to silence the bell in one movement.
    There are a couple other interesting features of this unique device.  The switch labelled Continuous Ringer could be used to cause the bell to ring until it was turned off.  It might be used to alert the household to evacuate in case of a fire.  Pressing the Battery Test button will cause the bell to ring and each of the arrows to point to the room names.  The brass button on the bottom may be needed to reset the arrows.  Finally, the Silent Test button will cause the 10 arrows to point to the room names, but the bell does not ring.
    The annunciator and its 10 circuits used a 1.5 volt battery that had 2 screw terminals on top and was about 2.5 inches in diameter and some 6 inches tall.  I am not sure that these batteries are still available, but any low voltage source could be used for testing or if you wanted to install the device for use!
    In the photo that shows just the room names, you may be able to see that there is something barely visible at the top, behind the glass.  Inside a rectangle it says, "Patrick, Carter & Wilkins Co. - Patented".
    A little history: This annunciator was custom made for the still-existing home located at 1106 Forest Road in the exclusive neighborhood known as Clifton Park.  Clifton Park was designed and developed in 1900 by successful industrialists and others who made paint (Glidden), drilled oil wells (Edson), manufactured electric cars (Baker), ran publishing companies, faught crime (Elliot Ness), owned restaurants, hotels and sold packed foods in stored (Vernon Stouffer), made ball and roller bearings (Timken) and speed-nuts (Tinnerman), and many others!  "The Park", as it is fondly called, is located at the Western-most part of Lakewood, on the Eastern bank of Rocky River and just across the river from the city of Rocky River.
    P.S. FWIW, I never met the butler, but I did get to know my late greatgrandfather's one-time chauffer.