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Antique Questions Forum / Re: Baldwin,s Patent Mar 16, 1869 (I am stumped)

« on: October 26, 2009, 08:00:01 am »

Pushing it to the top to see if anyone else knows what this is...

Thanks to everyone that has helped so far.

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Antique Questions Forum / Re: Baldwin,s Patent Mar 16, 1869 (I am stumped)

« on: October 25, 2009, 06:14:32 pm »

Another possible one might be a fire-station signal box , connected to fire call-box units around a city (these operated on a simple electrical system , much like telegraph) .

Solenoids would activte either bells or levers to indicate which fire-box was calling , generally only operated by police patrolmen/security patrols .
Fire brigades would then suit up & go to the area of the call box .

I'll do some more research on your item during this week , since I'm not too sure exactly what you've got .

Let's see what other members come up with !

Thanks for the replies and the help. Was it common for the crude construction on the bottom of the box? It looks as though a circular saw cut the two long sides (with the long cuts that extend past the opening) and then maybe a chisel to cut the short sides.

Could this have been a one of a kind prototype that Mr. Baldwin was trying to patent? Who was Mr. Baldwin? (the same that made the pianos?) Please excuse my naivety as I am not really an antique collector, just someone that at a young age was playing in an old abandoned house and found some stuff in the attic.

When I was a kid we used to find whole ghost towns of the old coal mines in western PA. It was wierd and spooky at the same time. Almost like someone just came in and said 'everybody out!!!' Some left clothes, furniture, dishes... Never really understood how a whole small town could just pull up diggs and just leave... everything.

Again thanks so much for the help. BTW if you need more pictures I can post them.

John

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Antique Questions Forum / Re: Baldwin,s Patent Mar 16, 1869 (I am stumped)

« on: October 25, 2009, 08:24:04 am »

Thanks for posting this interesting item , Johnny V .

My first guess would sorta depend on the answer to the question : Does the bell 'toll' a different number of times , dependant upon which lever is 'activated' ?

If so , perhaps it's an old apartment building doorbell/signal bell .

No it does not just one ding per pull. As the middle flapper comes forward it re-engages with the striker. It seems pretty advanced for the date on the front of it.

As for the other question posted how it goes together the inner flapper is a simple two prong hinge.

I don't think the date printed on it is actually the date that it was made. Because of the spring and the use of screws to mount the metal box to the wood frame. I am also confused about the comma instead of an apostrophe for Baldwin,s. I would bet I would end up on the camera table at antiques roadshow.

It was found in the attic of a very upscale abandoned house in Western PA (2 Floors on the river). Was lived in by the owner of a whiskey distillery that was next to the house (circa early 1900's). The house was burned down a few years after this item was found probably by squatters or kids. Very sad it was a beautiful home.

John

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Antique Questions Forum / Baldwin,s Patent Mar 16, 1869 (I am stumped)

« on: October 24, 2009, 09:32:52 pm »

I have what looks to be  a doorbell that is marked "Baldwin,s Patent" (no the comma is not a mistake) then underneath is Marked "Mar 16, 1869". It is a 4 inch by 4 inch by 3 inch metal box that has a inner flapper. It has 5 levers that push against the flapper that protrude from the bottom board. When the levers are pulled it pushes the inner flapper it in turn pushes a spring loaded lever that once the flapper gets past the lever strikes a 4 inch in diameter bell. It looks to be mounted on walnut or other type of hardwood. It looks like it may have been in a box of some sort but I only have the bottom and the back of it. On the ends it has dove tails in the wood showing that it had sides but those were not with it when I found it.

I have searched all over the internet and have not found any info on these style of bells. If you have any information on what it really is and its value I would appreciate it.

Thanks in advance

JV