Car 54 Where are you… or where is your call box?

So, Dad had this old box with a phone mounted it in. He used it for an outside phone from the barn to the house. It got locked at some point, and key was missing. We took it to the local locksmith and left it with him. I got a call a couple days later saying it was ready. Went back to pick it up.

A bit of a surprise when he opened it up for the first time in many years.

Gamewell alarm box #424.

Wow! It was actually a bit of a mess! It was the favored dwelling for wasps, apparently over a period of years. There were huge paper wasp nests filling the inside, along with normal dirt, spiders, bugs, etc. All these pictures are after I took a power wash to it!

Some details from the front, which is the only place any writing appears. From the top is:

A patent date.

“Wacom Call”, around what I believe is an external key hole for activating an alarm. (See inside detail picture.)

“Police Telegraph”

“The Gamewell Company”

“New York”

 

The insides…..

The blue wall phone obviously a later add in.

The Alarm Key Hole has been closed off with a bolt and small rubber washer.

On the inside of the cover is this trigger device which probably would have activated the alarm.

The top of the cover has the patent info and the lightning bolt in the fist logo.

So, where was it used? Rumor is Chicago.

When was it used? When was it acquired?

What is it worth?

… and would anyone like to purchase this thing… and remember it is cast iron.. I need to put on scales but maybe 20-30 pounds?

Alarming… to say the least.

George

 

 

 

Posted in General News.

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