Edwards "Break Glass" Fire Alarm Box

Edwards "Break Glass" Fire Alarm Box
Approximately 3 3/4" wide
Glass 3 1/4"
Hammer 3 15/16"

I love fire alarm boxes and fire collectibles. This is an Edward's fire box. There is a couple different styles of these. One style would hold a key behind the glass that could open a door..for example to a roof escape exit. The second type, when the glass broke it tripped an electrical switch that signaled an alarm. Obviously these types of boxes were not practical and were easily broke by accident, made a mess and costly to replace.

This one appears to be authentic. You can see the chain holding the hammer has each link welded(or soldered?). The hammer is marked with the Edward's logo and founding date of 1872. You can see the mounting holes inside. The inside to me looks like it could be an electrical switch vs a key holder, but I'm not sure?

WHEN IN ROME
The ancient Roman's had watch towers and people that constantly watched for fires.
"Caesar Augustus created the Corps of Vigiles in 6 AD, an organization of men tasked with patrolling the streets with buckets filled with water. He modeled this group after a fire brigade of a similar nature in Alexandria, Egypt. This approach focused on fighting fires as they broke out because there was no other fire detection or prevention method. Fires could only be detected once the building was largely consumed, and fought as they declined—essentially, after all the damage occurred."

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
For thousands of years The “fight ‘em as we see ‘em” approach was used. As urban areas became more crowded and wood was utilized as building materials, the threat of fire was increased. Early fire alert methods used local bell towers(such as a church) to alert of fires. The problem with this method was, others were alerted of a fire, but you didn't know exactly where or how close it was.

JUMP IN THE FIRE
In the early part of the 19th century several inventions changed history.
"Samuel Morse invented the telegraph in 1837, and it didn’t take long for others to take advantage of the first form of long-distance communication. In 1852, Dr. William Channing spearheaded the first city-wide fire alarm system in Boston, Massachusetts. This system took the “central bell tower” idea and turned it into a “central station.” Essentially, a notification was sent from a box in a neighborhood to a centrally-located operating center. When a fire alarm was received, the central station would ring the bell tower and give responders the specific neighborhood the signal originated from. For the first time in history, dispatch times considerably improved because of the ability to pinpoint the location of a fire."

EDWARDS
Founded in 1872 in New York City by Robert Edwards and David Rousseau. Rousseau left the company the following year. It focused on fire signaling in 1896, after previously selling burglar alarms.