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A bell hanger is a skilled tradesperson who installs bells in turrets and towers, or mechanical or electronic bell systems in buildings or on ships.
The job of bell hanging was often partnered with that of bellfounding. In the late 18th century, George Hedderly of Nottingham advertised that he “casts and hangs all sorts of Church bells and Turret bells… and executes all the various branches in the bell-founding and bell-hanging business expeditiously.” [1] Bell hangers installed and maintained burglar alarms in private homes. In addition to guaranteeing his work for a year, Edinburgh bell hanger George Tough advised that “To prevent robbery both in town and country houses he hangs Alarm Bells at doors and windows, if required, so that it will be impossible for the most alert robber to break into a house without ringing a bell in a most furious manner, the whole family thereby instantly alarmed, and persons and properties preserved.” [2] A call bell to ring inside the house when pulled outside required the bell hanger to drill through brick or mortar. [3]
Inside houses, the installation of mechanized call bells for servants required new skills in the bell hanger's trade. Each bell was operated by a cord or lever connected to a series of copper wires strung over and through walls and floors to a bell board in the servants’ quarters. In old British houses, the addition of a bell system could cause considerable damage to plasterwork and finished wood. [4]
A more discreet method developed by 1844 involved sending all the wires through metal tubes embedded in plaster up to the space below the roof, where they met and went down in another tube to the ground level bell board. No wires were visible. [5]
A bell hanger was of necessity skilled in a variety of trades. By the time North Americans were building hotels, offices and upscale homes, most advertisements involving bell hangers had them either teamed up with locksmiths, founders and cutlers, or performing those trades themselves. In 1835, N. Constable offered “his services to the citizens of Buffalo, and the public in general, in the capacity of Bell Hanger, Lock Maker, Cutler, Brass Founder and White Smith.” [6]
Hardware suppliers advertised to “Carpenters, Masons, Bell Hangers and Cabinet Makers.” [7]
In 1849 lock manufacturer Edward Bristol offered his hardware and the services of his staff of locksmiths, bell hangers and silver platers to “Contractors and Builders of Steam Boats, Hotels, Stores and Houses.” [8] Increasingly, bell hangers worked at the construction stage of a building – or ship – though by the second half of the 19th century their names were found in the classified listings of city directories for the convenience of private citizens.
Bell hanging was the subject of United States patents as early as 1858.
Increasingly, bell hangers worked at the construction stage of a building though by the second half of the 19th century their names were found in the classified listings of city directories for the convenience of private citizens. The San Francisco business directory listed only two bell hangers in 1858. [9] In 1868 there were ten, [10] and ten years later there were twenty-seven. In 1878 one company, Will & Finck, advertised itself as “Electric & Mechanical Bell Hangers.” [11] The transition away from mechanical bell systems had begun.
For decades, the trade of bell hanging was associated with other workers in metal. Because of the similarities in their work using files, bell hangers in Great Britain were affiliated with the Amalgamated Society of Whitesmiths, Locksmiths, Bell-hangers, Domestic Engineers, Art Metal Workers and General Iron Fitters after 1891. [12] As new technologies were developed and used in construction, bell hangers began to classify themselves with the latest trades. In Canada, Ottawa tradesman J.P. Murphy advertised his services as “Practical Plumber, Gas & Steam Fitter, Bell Hanger, &c.” [13] in 1879, and in 1895 Montreal's G.R. Woodburn & Co. were “Practical Sanitarians, Plumbers, Gas and Steamfitters, Electric and Mechanical Bell Hangers, Etc.” [14]
Besides the damage and mess of installing wires for systems of mechanical bells, there were maintenance problems with them. They would break, stretch or corrode over time. Electric bell wires could go around corners and even double on themselves. In 1895 John Trowbridge wrote, “No modern house is now provided with the mechanical bell attachments which were universal forty years ago.” [15]
In his 1889 The Bell Hangers’ Handbook, F. B. Badt considers the transition from mechanical to electric to be complete; the book is essentially a primer for electricians. Badt lists the tools that should be in every bell hanger’s kit, starting with “Insulating tape for insulating wire joints” and “Tags for numbering wires at the battery and switchboard.” [16]
News articles in 1925 noted the loss of the traditional profession with headlines like “Bell Hanger is Man Minus Job in the Age of Electricity” [17] and “Electric Doorbells And Telephones Pressing On A Vanishing Trade.” [18]
The Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company officially founded in 1869. A subsidiary of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company for most of its lifespan, it served as the primary equipment manufacturer, supplier, and purchasing agent for the Bell System from 1881 until 1984, when the system was dismantled. The company was responsible for many technological innovations, as well as developments in industrial management.
A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, and for sewage and drainage in plumbing systems.
Granville Tailer Woods was an American inventor who held more than 50 patents in the United States. He was the first African American mechanical and electrical engineer after the Civil War. Self-taught, he concentrated most of his work on trains and streetcars. One of his notable inventions was a device he called the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph, a variation of induction telegraph which relied on ambient static electricity from existing telegraph lines to send messages between train stations and moving trains.
The yellow pages are telephone directories of businesses, organized by category rather than alphabetically by business name, in which advertising is sold. The directories were originally printed on yellow paper, as opposed to white pages for non-commercial listings. The traditional term "yellow pages" is now also applied to online directories of businesses.
Vulcan Iron Works was the name of several iron foundries in both England and the United States during the Industrial Revolution and, in one case, lasting until the mid-20th century. Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and smithery, was a popular namesake for these foundries.
A security alarm is a system designed to detect intrusions, such as unauthorized entry, into a building or other areas, such as a home or school. Security alarms protect against burglary (theft) or property damage, as well as against intruders. Examples include personal systems, neighborhood security alerts, car alarms, and prisons.
An electric bell is a mechanical or electronic bell that functions by means of an electromagnet. When an electric current is applied, it produces a repetitive buzzing, clanging or ringing sound. Electromechanical bells have been widely used at railroad crossings, in telephones, fire and burglar alarms, as school bells, doorbells, and alarms in industrial plants, since the late 1800s, but they are now being widely replaced with electronic sounders. An electric bell consists of one or more electromagnets, made of a coil of insulated wire around an iron bar, which attract an iron strip armature with a clapper.
A whitesmith is a metalworker who does finishing work on iron and steel such as filing, lathing, burnishing or polishing. The term also refers to a person who works with "white" or light-coloured metals, and is sometimes used as a synonym for tinsmith.
A party line is a local loop telephone circuit that is shared by multiple telephone service subscribers.
This history of the telephone chronicles the development of the electrical telephone, and includes a brief overview of its predecessors. The first telephone patent was granted to Alexander Graham Bell in 1876.
Industrial training institutes (ITI) and industrial training centers (ITC) is a qualification and are post-secondary schools in India constituted under the Directorate General of Training (DGT), Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Union Government, to provide training in various trades.
Miller Reese Hutchison was an American electrical engineer and inventor. He developed some of the first portable electric devices, such as a vehicle horn and a hearing aid. His father was William Hutchison and mother born Tracie Elizabeth Magruder. He attended Marion Military Institute from 1889 through 1891, Spring Hill College 1891 through 1892, the University of Mobile Military Institute from 1892 through 1895, and graduated from Auburn University in 1897. While still in school he invented and patented a lightning arrester for telegraph lines in 1895. At the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in 1898, he volunteered and was appointed engineer for the United States Lighthouse Board, laying cables and mines to protect harbors in the Gulf of Mexico.
Ordway Hall (est.1852) was a theatre in Boston, Massachusetts located off Washington Street in the former Province House. John P. Ordway established and managed the hall, which specialized in "negro minstrelsy," particularly the Ordway Aeolians, his own troupe.
Frederick Alonzo Bee (傅列秘) was an early opponent of Anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States. He was a California Gold Rush pioneer, miner, merchant, manager of the Pony Express, builder of the telegraph over the Sierras, developer of Sausalito, California, lobbyist for the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, official at the Chinese Consulate, and vineyardist near Martinez, California. Bee Street in Sausalito was named after him. Bee was appointed as Consul by the Chinese government after he effectively represented the interests of the Chinese community in front of a Congressional committee and settled disputes in Chinatown. Bee acted in an official capacity to represent the interests of Chinese immigrants, and appeared in federal court cases; his efforts to preserve harmony were recognized by the Emperor of China. October, 2015 Sierra Heritage magazine featured Frederick Bee in a 4-page article written by Lj Bottjer. Sherri Bergmann wrote an article for the January 22, 2018, Mountain Democrat.
Carl Albert Unbehaun was an electrical engineer in South Australia.
Sidney Howe Short was an electrical engineer, inventor, physicist, professor and businessman. He is known for the development of electric motors and electric railway equipment. His inventions were so successful that even his competitors dubbed him "The Trolley King". He also developed telephone equipment much like that of Alexander Graham Bell. As a businessman he was president, key engineer, or advisor of different companies related to electrical equipment. It is claimed that he had nearly as many electrical innovations as Thomas Edison.
The locksmith scam is a scam involving fake business listings for cheap locksmith services that, once called out, overcharge the customer. The scam targets people who call a locksmith out of desperation, usually because of being locked out of their car or premises. Locksmith scams have been reported in the U.S., the U.K., and New Zealand.
The 2023 NFL Draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 season. The draft was held outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, from April 27–29, 2023.
Will & Finck was a San Francisco company established in 1864 as cutlers, surgical instrument makers, locksmiths and bell hangers. The company closed in 1932.
