Communications

WANN Microphone

Tools of communication have transformed American society time and again over the past two centuries. The Museum has preserved many instruments of these changes, from printing presses to personal digital assistants.

The collections include hundreds of artifacts from the printing trade and related fields, including papermaking equipment, wood and metal type collections, bookbinding tools, and typesetting machines. Benjamin Franklin is said to have used one of the printing presses in the collection in 1726.

More than 7,000 objects chart the evolution of electronic communications, including the original telegraph of Samuel Morse and Alexander Graham Bell's early telephones. Radios, televisions, tape recorders, and the tools of the computer age are part of the collections, along with wireless phones and a satellite tracking system.

Date: 1910s

Telegraph Key

Telegraph keys are electrical on-off switches used to send messages in Morse code. The message travels as a series of electrical pulses through a wire.
Description (Brief)
Telegraph keys are electrical on-off switches used to send messages in Morse code. The message travels as a series of electrical pulses through a wire. The operator pushes the key’s lever down briefly to make a short signal, a dot, or holds the lever down for a moment to make a slightly longer signal, a dash. The sequence of dots and dashes represent letters and numbers. This key is a very simple type known as a strap key.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1910
ID Number
EM.333359
maker number
3B
accession number
294351
catalog number
333359

Foote Pierson type 1-D combination wheatstone relay

Telegraph relays amplify an electrical signal in a telegraph line. Telegraph messages travel as a series of electrical pulses through a wire from a transmitter to a receiver.
Description
Telegraph relays amplify an electrical signal in a telegraph line. Telegraph messages travel as a series of electrical pulses through a wire from a transmitter to a receiver. The pulses fade in strength as they travel through the wire, limiting the distance a message can be sent. Relays remedy that problem by detecting a weak signal and automatically re-transmitting that signal down the line using a local power source.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1916
Maker
Western Union Corporation
maker
Foote, Pierson & Co.
ID Number
EM.332200
model number
1-D
serial number
15943
accession number
294351
catalog number
332200

Telegraph Sounder

Telegraph sounders convert electrical pulses into audible sounds and are used to receive Morse code messages. The message travels as a series of electrical pulses through a wire. Short pulses make a dot, slightly longer pulses make a dash.
Description (Brief)
Telegraph sounders convert electrical pulses into audible sounds and are used to receive Morse code messages. The message travels as a series of electrical pulses through a wire. Short pulses make a dot, slightly longer pulses make a dash. The sequence of dots and dashes represent letters and numbers. The pulses energize the sounder’s electromagnets which move a lever-arm. The arm makes a loud “click” when it strikes a crossbar and the operator translates the pattern of sounds into the original language. this sounder was made by the L. S. Brach Co., Newark, N.J., around the time of the First World War. The only Brach sounder in the collection, this unit has the electromagnets mounted horizontally instead of the more common vertical orientation. We do not know if this was simply a design feature or if the company believed the sounder worked better with the electromagnets in that configuration.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1915
maker
L. S. Brach Manufacturing Co.
ID Number
EM.332359
collector/donor number
06-11
accession number
294351
catalog number
332359

Telegraph Key

Telegraph keys are electrical on-off switches used to send messages in Morse code. The message travels as a series of electrical pulses through a wire.
Description (Brief)
Telegraph keys are electrical on-off switches used to send messages in Morse code. The message travels as a series of electrical pulses through a wire. The operator pushes the key’s lever down briefly to make a short signal, a dot, or holds the lever down for a moment to make a slightly longer signal, a dash. The sequence of dots and dashes represent letters and numbers. This key has a switch on the side called a circuit-closer that takes the key off-line when not in use.
date made
ca 1910
ID Number
2013.3040.08
nonaccession number
2013.3040
catalog number
2013.3040.08

The Etching of Figures

Single sheet, folded as one gathering, for "The Etching of Figures" by William Aspinwall Bradley. Designed and printed by Dard Hunter on laid paper made at his Marlborough-on-Hudson mill, 1915, with watermarks of his initials, DH inside a heart and CSE in a circle.
Description (Brief)
Single sheet, folded as one gathering, for "The Etching of Figures" by William Aspinwall Bradley. Designed and printed by Dard Hunter on laid paper made at his Marlborough-on-Hudson mill, 1915, with watermarks of his initials, DH inside a heart and CSE in a circle. Published by the Chicago Society of Etchers. This is the first signature of the book, including the title page, foreword (p. 2), and text pp. 7-8.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1915
maker
Hunter, Dard
ID Number
GA.12472.02
accession number
66548
catalog number
12472.02

Picture postcard, "The Broken Arch, Mission San Juan Capistrano, California"

This postcard view of Mission San Juan Capistrano was printed by the Curt Teich Company using photomechanical processes.
Description (Brief)
This postcard view of Mission San Juan Capistrano was printed by the Curt Teich Company using photomechanical processes. It was published about 1915 by Eno & Matteson in San Diego for the Panama-California Exposition.
The Curt Teich Company of Chicago printed postcards between 1898 and 1978 in association with many publishers. It used the term "Photochrom," later "Colortone," to describe its color printing processes.
Mission San Juan Capistrano, founded in 1776, is located southeast of Los Angeles. It was the seventh of twenty-one Spanish Franciscan missions built in California between 1769 and 1823 to convert American Indians of the Juaneño, or Luiseño tribe, to Catholicism.
Today the mission serves as a parish chapel and a museum.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1915
publisher
Eno & Matteson
graphic artist
Curt Teich & Co.
ID Number
1986.0639.0600
accession number
1986.0639
catalog number
1986.639.0600

Picture postcard, "Ruins of Fray Junipero Serra's Death Chamber, Carmel Mission, California. Founded 1770"

This postcard view of the "Ruins of Fray Junípero Serrá's Death Chamber" was printed by the Detroit Publishing Company in about 1910, using a copyrighted photolithographic process called "Photostint."The Detroit Publishing Company previously known as the Detroit Photographic Comp
Description (Brief)
This postcard view of the "Ruins of Fray Junípero Serrá's Death Chamber" was printed by the Detroit Publishing Company in about 1910, using a copyrighted photolithographic process called "Photostint."
The Detroit Publishing Company previously known as the Detroit Photographic Company was first listed in Detroit city directories in 1888. Its manager, William A. Livingstone, invited the famous landscape photographer William Henry Jackson to join the company as a partner in 1897. Jackson brought with him his own photographic images which would be used by the company.
Mission San Carlos Borroméo del rio Carmelo, or the Old Mission Chapel, was established in 1770 by Fr. Junípero Serra, the Spanish Franciscan who founded twenty-one missions in California between 1769 and 1823. San Carlos was the second of these missions which were established to convert American Indians of the Esselen and Ohlone, Costanoan, tribes to Catholicism. Father Serra died at the Carmel Mission on August 28, 1784, at the age of 71.
Today the mission serves as a parish church.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1910
graphic artist
Detroit Publishing Co.
ID Number
1986.0639.2016
accession number
1986.0639
catalog number
1986.639.2016

type 1-F wheatstone combination relay

Telegraph relays amplify an electrical signal in a telegraph line. Telegraph messages travel as a series of electrical pulses through a wire from a transmitter to a receiver.
Description
Telegraph relays amplify an electrical signal in a telegraph line. Telegraph messages travel as a series of electrical pulses through a wire from a transmitter to a receiver. The pulses fade in strength as they travel through the wire, limiting the distance a message can be sent. Relays remedy that problem by detecting a weak signal and automatically re-transmitting that signal down the line using a local power source.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1918
Maker
Western Union Corporation
ID Number
EM.333237
model number
1-F
accession number
294351
catalog number
333237

experimental radio wave detector

This is the main section of Edwin Howard Armstrong's first regenerative radio circuit, constructed in late 1912 while he was a student at Columbia University. On top is a vacuum tube called an "Audion" made by Lee DeForest.
Description
This is the main section of Edwin Howard Armstrong's first regenerative radio circuit, constructed in late 1912 while he was a student at Columbia University. On top is a vacuum tube called an "Audion" made by Lee DeForest. Armstrong's research into the Audion's electrical properties led him to a fundamental discovery. He could wire the tube in such a way as to feed the weak received signal back into the circuit. This "regeneration" of the signal resulted in receivers that could detect distant signals and then amplify them so that they could be heard without headphones.
The invention of radio first involved the transmission and receipt of telegraph dots and dashes rather than voice, hence the term “wireless telegraphy.” The signals tended to be weak and required the operator to wear headphones to hear the signal. Edwin H. Armstrong invented a circuit that allowed people to hear distant radio transmissions without headphones. He built this device around a commercially-available DeForest “Audion” tube in 1913, while a student at Columbia University. The circuit also increased the sensitivity of the receiver and Armstrong received signals from Clifden, Ireland, San Francisco and Hawaii.
Date made
1912
associated date
1912
associated user
unknown
associated person
Armstrong, Edwin Howard
maker
Armstrong, Edwin Howard
ID Number
EM.314503.07
catalog number
314503.07
accession number
202631

Picture postcard, "La Purísima Concepcíon Mission, California. Founded December 8, 1787"

This postcard view of Mission La Purísima Concepcíon was printed by the Detroit Publishing Company in about 1910, using a copyrighted photolithographic process called "Photostint."The Detroit Publishing Company (previously known as the Detroit Photographic Company) was first list
Description (Brief)
This postcard view of Mission La Purísima Concepcíon was printed by the Detroit Publishing Company in about 1910, using a copyrighted photolithographic process called "Photostint."
The Detroit Publishing Company (previously known as the Detroit Photographic Company) was first listed in Detroit city directories in 1888. Its manager, William A. Livingstone, invited famous landscape photographer William Henry Jackson to join the company as a partner in 1897. Jackson brought with him his own photographic images, which would be used by the company.
Mission La Purísima Concepcíon is located northwest of Santa Barbara in the city of Lompoc. It was the eleventh of twenty-one Spanish Franciscan missions founded in California between 1769 and 1823, and was established to convert American Indians of the Chumash tribe to Catholicism.
Today the mission is one of two missions managed by the California State Park system. The other is the Mission San Francisco de Solano in Sonoma.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1910
graphic artist
Detroit Publishing Co.
ID Number
1986.0639.2040
accession number
1986.0639
catalog number
1986.639.2040

Picture postcard, "Mission San Juan Capistrano - 1776. Midway Between San Diego and Los Angeles, California"

This postcard view of San Juan Capistrano was printed by the Curt Teich Company of Chicago using photomechanical processes. It was published about 1914 by the I. L.
Description (Brief)
This postcard view of San Juan Capistrano was printed by the Curt Teich Company of Chicago using photomechanical processes. It was published about 1914 by the I. L. Eno company in San Diego, Calif.
The Curt Teich Company manufactured postcards between 1898 and 1978 in association with several publishers. The firm used the term "photochrom," later "colortone," to describe its color printing processes.
Mission San Juan Capistrano is located in the town of the same name. It was the seventh of twenty-one Spanish Franciscan missions established in California between 1769 and 1823, and was founded for the conversion to Catholicism of American Indians of the Luisen, or Juaneno, tribe.
Today the mission compound includes a parish chapel and a museum.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1914
graphic artist
Eno, I. L.
ID Number
1986.0639.0332
accession number
1986.0639
catalog number
1986.0639.0332

photograph

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1910
ID Number
2012.0093.16
accession number
2012.0093
catalog number
2012.0093.16

Carpathia Switch Lever

This switch lever was part of RMS Carpathia's wireless radio apparatus; most likely it was a manual breaker for the antenna connection to the radio. It would have been opened in storms to prevent lightning from striking the radio itself.
Description
This switch lever was part of RMS Carpathia's wireless radio apparatus; most likely it was a manual breaker for the antenna connection to the radio. It would have been opened in storms to prevent lightning from striking the radio itself. It was damaged during the rescue of Titanic's passengers, and the next time the ship was in Boston, Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company employee Harry Cheetham went aboard Carpathia to service the wireless. At the time, shipboard radios belonged to the radio company, not the shipping lines.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1911
maker
Marconi
Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. Ltd.
ID Number
EM.309910
catalog number
309910
accession number
110988

Chicago press

This lever press was made by John Sigwalt of Chicago in about 1910.
Description (Brief)
This lever press was made by John Sigwalt of Chicago in about 1910. The press has a length of 15 inches a height of 9.5 inches and a width of 6.5 inches; its chase measures 3.75 inches by 2.5 inches.
John Sigwalt (1836-1924) started his working life in the sewing machine business, then became a dealer in ticket stamps and seals. In 1899 he began producing small printing presses, copies of various popular models. His Chicago-produced copy of Dorman’s Baltimorean was on the market by 1910.
Donated by Elizabeth Harris, 1973.
Citation: Elizabeth Harris, "Printing Presses in the Graphic Arts Collection," 1996.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
circa 1910
date made
ca 1910
maker
Sigwalt, John
ID Number
1992.0016.01
catalog number
1992.0016.01
accession number
1992.0016

Vibroplex Telegraph Key

Telegraph keys are electrical on-off switches used to send messages in Morse code. A semi-automatic telegraph key like this one allows an operator to send land-line and wireless (radio) telegraph messages at a much faster rate than with an ordinary key.
Description (Brief)
Telegraph keys are electrical on-off switches used to send messages in Morse code. A semi-automatic telegraph key like this one allows an operator to send land-line and wireless (radio) telegraph messages at a much faster rate than with an ordinary key. The key automatically produces rapid morse code dots by using a weighted pendulum to quickly make and break contact in the electrical circuit. The operator still makes the dashes manually.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1919
maker
Martin, Horace G.
ID Number
EM.325443
catalog number
325443
accession number
252994

Cross Arm with two Brooks Ramshorn Insulators

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1864
associated date
1915
ID Number
EM.313685
catalog number
313685
accession number
191610

Picture postcard, "Mission San Juan Capistrano, California"

This postcard view of Mission San Juan Capistrano was printed by the Curt Teich Company using photomechanical processes.
Description (Brief)
This postcard view of Mission San Juan Capistrano was printed by the Curt Teich Company using photomechanical processes. It was published about 1915 by Eno & Matteson in San Diego to coincide with the Panama-California Exposition.
The Chicago-based Curt Teich Company printed picture postcards between 1898 and 1978 along with many publishers. The firm used the term "Photochrom," later "Colortone," to describe its color printing processes.
Mission San Juan Capistrano, founded in 1776, is located southeast of Los Angeles. The seventh of twenty-one Spanish Franciscan missions built in California between 1769 and 1823, its purpose was to convert American Indians of the Luiseño tribe to Catholicism.
Today the mission serves as a parish chapel and a museum.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1915
publisher
Eno & Matteson
graphic artist
Curt Teich & Co.
ID Number
1986.0639.0610
accession number
1986.0639
catalog number
1986.639.0610

Picture postcard, "San Diego Mission Palm, Serra Monument in background, Old Town, San Diego, Cal."

This postcard view of the San Diego Mission Palm and the Serra Monument was printed in about 1915 by the H. L. Christiance company in San Diego, Calif. using photomechanical processes.H. L. Christiance was an expert photographer working for the Edward H.
Description (Brief)
This postcard view of the San Diego Mission Palm and the Serra Monument was printed in about 1915 by the H. L. Christiance company in San Diego, Calif. using photomechanical processes.
H. L. Christiance was an expert photographer working for the Edward H. Mitchell Company in San Francisco before publishing his own postcards in San Diego.
The postcard image shows one of the four palm trees planted around the time of the founding of the mission in 1769. Two of the four were displayed at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1892 as part of the Horticulture Gardens exhibit.
Mission San Diego de Alcalá, situated in what is now called Mission Valley, was the first mission founded by Fr. Junípero Serra in 1769. It was the the first of twenty-one Spanish Franciscan missions built in California between 1769 and 1823, and was founded to convert American Indians of the Kumeyaay tribe to Catholicism.
Today the mission buildings include a parish church.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1915
graphic artist
H. L. Christiance Company
ID Number
1986.0639.0672
accession number
1986.0639
catalog number
1986.639.0672

Picture postcard, "San Carlos Mission, Monterey, California. Founded 1770"

This postcard view of Mission San Carlos was printed by the Detroit Publishing Company in about 1910, using a copyrighted photolithographic process called "Photostint."The company, previously known as the Detroit Photographic Company, was first listed in Detroit city directories
Description (Brief)
This postcard view of Mission San Carlos was printed by the Detroit Publishing Company in about 1910, using a copyrighted photolithographic process called "Photostint."
The company, previously known as the Detroit Photographic Company, was first listed in Detroit city directories in 1888. Its manager, William A. Livingstone, invited famous landscape photographer William Henry Jackson to join the company as a partner in 1897. Jackson brought with him his own photographic images, which would be used by the company.
Mission San Carlos Borroméo del rio Carmelo is located near the town of Monterey, the original capital of Spanish and later Mexican California. Mission San Carlos was the second of twenty-one Spanish Franciscan missions established in California between 1769 and 1823, and was built to convert American Indians of the Esselen and Ohlone, or Costanoan, tribes to Catholicism.
Today the mission serves as a parish church.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1910
graphic artist
Detroit Publishing Co.
ID Number
1986.0639.2053
accession number
1986.0639
catalog number
1986.639.2053

Picture postcard, "Mission Santa Inés, California - 1804"

This postcard view of Mission Santa Inés was printed by the Curt Teich Company using photomechanical processes. The card was published in about 1914 by the I. L.
Description (Brief)
This postcard view of Mission Santa Inés was printed by the Curt Teich Company using photomechanical processes. The card was published in about 1914 by the I. L. Eno Company in San Diego.
The Chicago-based Curt Teich Company manufactured postcards between 1898 and 1978 in association with several publishers. The company used the term "Photochrom" and later "Colortone" to describe its color printing processes.
Mission Santa Inés (also Ynez) was dedicated in 1804, and is situated north of Santa Barbara. It was the nineteenth of twenty-one Spanish Franciscan missions to be built in California between 1769 and 1823. The mission was founded to convert American Indians of the Chumash tribe to Catholicism.
Today the mission serves as a parish church and a museum.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1914
graphic artist
Eno, I. L.
ID Number
1986.0639.0321
accession number
1986.0639
catalog number
1986.639.0321

De Forest "Audion" tube

date made
ca 1918
ca 1912
maker
De Forest Radio Telephone & Telegraph Co.
ID Number
EM.320363
catalog number
320363
accession number
242270

Picture postcard, "San Diego Mission, Calif. Founded 1769"

This postcard view of San Diego Mission was printed by the Detroit Publishing Company in about 1910, using a copyrighted photolithographic process called "Photostint."The Detroit Publishing Company (previously known as the Detroit Photographic Company) was first listed in Detroit
Description (Brief)
This postcard view of San Diego Mission was printed by the Detroit Publishing Company in about 1910, using a copyrighted photolithographic process called "Photostint."
The Detroit Publishing Company (previously known as the Detroit Photographic Company) was first listed in Detroit city directories in 1888. Its manager, William A. Livingstone, invited the famous landscape photographer William Henry Jackson to join the company as a partner in 1897. Jackson brought with him his own photographic images, which would be used by the company.
Mission San Diego de Alcalá, situated in what is now called Mission Valley, was the first mission established by Fr. Junípero Serra in 1769, and was the first of twenty-one Spanish Franciscan missions founded in California between 1769 and 1823. This mission was built to support the conversion of American Indians of the Kumeyaay tribe to Catholicism.
Today the mission buildings include a parish church.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1910
graphic artist
Detroit Publishing Co.
ID Number
1986.0639.2015
accession number
1986.0639
catalog number
1986.639.2015

Flame-proof Telegraph Key

Telegraph keys are electrical on-off switches used to send messages in Morse code. They can spark when the circuit opens. Flame-proof telegraph keys, like this one made by Connecticut Telephone & Electric, were designed to contain the spark within a sealed chamber.
Description (Brief)
Telegraph keys are electrical on-off switches used to send messages in Morse code. They can spark when the circuit opens. Flame-proof telegraph keys, like this one made by Connecticut Telephone & Electric, 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.
Molded on cover: "Signal Corps U.S. Army / Flame Proof Key / Type J. 5. / Date Mar.18.1918. Order 41973 / Connecticut Tele & Elec. Co." A small World War I type wireless key with knob and grip. The flange is to protect the operator from electrical shocks caused by the high current draw of early wireless transmitters. Unit includes an adjusting tension screw and single lever action.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1918
associated date
1918
maker
Connecticut Telephone & Electric Company
ID Number
EM.321623
catalog number
321623
accession number
241556

Morkrum type 1-A combination wheatstone relay

Telegraph relays amplify an electrical signal in a telegraph line. Telegraph messages travel as a series of electrical pulses through a wire from a transmitter to a receiver.
Description
Telegraph relays amplify an electrical signal in a telegraph line. Telegraph messages travel as a series of electrical pulses through a wire from a transmitter to a receiver. The pulses fade in strength as they travel through the wire, limiting the distance a message can be sent. Relays remedy that problem by detecting a weak signal and automatically re-transmitting that signal down the line using a local power source.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1917
Maker
Western Union Corporation
maker
Morkrum Teletype Co.
ID Number
EM.332194
serial number
3679
model number
1-A
accession number
294351
catalog number
332194

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