overall: 6 3/4 in x 12 in x 4 7/8 in; 17.145 cm x 30.48 cm x 12.3825 cm
Object Name:
telegraph receiver
telegraph register
Date made:
ca 1865
Description (Brief):
L. G. Tillotson and Company of New York made this telegraph register about the time of the U. S. Civil War. It is stamped with serial number 1479. Telegraph registers are electrically-activated printers that receive Morse code messages. The message travels as a series of electrical pulses through a wire. The pulses energize the register’s electromagnets which move a lever-arm holding a pen or stylus. A clockwork mechanism pulls a strip of paper across the pen or stylus, recording the message. Short pulses draw or emboss a dot, slightly longer pulses a dash. The sequence of dots and dashes represent letters and numbers.
