sundance-communications.com Forums Member Forums Phone Booth Chrysler Air Raid Siren

My topic in the Outside Wire Construction forum (Utility Pole Woes) got me thinking about the old air raid sirens that used to be located around our town.

While looking over pictures of different pole-mouted horns, I came across pictures of the monster siren manufactured by Chrysler.

I was surprised to read that some of these sirens still exist in their original install locations. One is located atop a building in Rochester NY and is clearly visible in the Google Maps image. Two are said to be in the Seattle area with one being semi-cared for.

Does anyone remember the Chrysler and, maybe, have any experience operating it?

Did you know that those sirens were invented by Bell Labs? There's quite a bit of history at VictorySiren.com.

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Fool me once.........

Worked in an old public school building in lower Manhattan that had an air raid siren on the roof. A pair from New York Telephone terminated on a Wheelock 20 HZ, 90 volt relay. When generator was applied to this pair, the relay provided a contact closure to operate a three phase contactor that supplied the siren.
Lots of interesting stuff in the second volume of the Bell System history series. “ A History Of Science and Technology In The Bell System- National Service In War And
Peace- 1925 To 1975.” Has a story of how the sirens were developed by Bell Labs, along with many other defense projects.

The Chrysler siren, being engine driven, would lead me to suspect that it had to be operated manually. The operators must have been issued hefty muffs to protect their ears from the high db wail.