Well, everyone that is on this forum knows about the “Rare Smoke Detectors” topic. So I am making a spinoff called “Rare Fire Alarms”. On this, You can post about rare or unusual fire alarms that you see, you have, or you find on websites such as eBay. I’ll start…
This is a Wilkinson Household Fire Alarm on eBay. This one appears to be made in the period of 1945-1970. I have never seen one…
Just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean they aren’t out there.
There are thousands of fire alarm installations in the United States. I’m sure some we haven’t covered could have these alarms, and others like them.
How about this one? The Autocall 350-SF or their version of the 4040. I assume its rare, I picked it up because I have never seen one before.
And lets face it, even though there are thousands of fire protection systems out there, some stuff is just plain rare. There are millions, if not billions of alarm systems out there and if only 1,000 of a particular type exist, its pretty uncommon.
“Odd Fire Alarms” verses “Rare Fire Alarms” topic - what would be the difference? Not trying to be difficult but both topics can seem to blend together. I guess you could define the “odd” topic as fire alarm panels/devices that are in really unusual locations, and the “rare” topic as fire alarm panels/device that may be hard to find or just old.
Also, let me add a rule - if you post something not from your own personal collection or picture you didn’t take yourself, post a link to the source. Especially an ebay listing. Maybe you don’t have a desire to purchase the item but someone else may. Or if you do want to buy it, just keep it a secret until after the listing is over!
Here’s an old pull station, found at the self-proclaimed “only granulated cork producer in the US”. There were two of these boxes in the yard, this one had an old pull station inside. The other just had a mushroom type pushbutton. Guess the old pull station broke it that one… The system is no longer operational, used to monitor the sprinkler risers and these pull stations. There’s an old alarm panel the other side of the wall but it’s gutted and not worth the pictures.
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The cover was already pulled down when I opened the box
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Fixed!
New York stripe… In Maryland?
Why?
That’s how all of those pulls were designed.
Case of “what was on the truck at the time”, probably. Maybe the tech was dispatched from New York? Crazy things happen I guess!
I once drove over 3 hours to check out a fire alarm system in Newton NJ - New York City is only 2 1/2 hours away.
That big A D T pull station couldn’t be…ahem…yanked out, could it? Did you say it was no longer in use?
Yeah, but the customer knows it there! Plus we weren’t there for the fire alarm system. But I suppose if you were to hop the fence in the middle of the night…
I’m sure they wouldn’t even notice if it was gone. 
Just close the door to the big box after.
How about these RARE Atlas Sound speaker/strobes?
Rare is right. Don’t get Firefly started! 
OH MY GOD. I want one of those so bad I can taste it!
Uhh…I mean, yeah, those are pretty cool.
I was looking through the photos I have on my computer and found a very rare device which I’m sure some people will remember seeing a few years ago: the Simplex 4048. The pictures are from an eBay auction that ended about five or six years ago.
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I also have these two pictures (both taken by me) of rather rare alarms. The first device is a Faraday strobe with a red lens (the white-lensed version of this device is already quite rare), while the second photo shows a single-stroke Edwards bell with a light. The second setup is from a hotel built in 1930 and it appears to be original, so it might be one of the very first fire alarm systems to use visual signals.
I remember the 4048…well, to be honest I forgot all about it, but that pic just refreshed my memory.
I’m disappointed by the fact that there were so many rare alarms on ebay back when I was a kid and had little money to spend. A lot of them either didn’t sell or sold cheap too. Now that I’m a full time working adult I long for the days when rare alarms were poppoing up for sale like they were going out of style. :lol:
I remember that Atlas speaker strobes and an Edwards horn-light I’m looking for were both on ebay at one time, but somehow I just missed them…never even knew they were there.
Whoops… You should have told me that BEFORE I sold mine.
Just kidding! I thought you would enjoy that for a moment.
I actually one one of these. Go figure…
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Thanks Destin!
I’ve got the Honeywell red lens strobe, the FOS one is neat. I have a thing for colored strobes I guess. 
I thought I had seen a data sheet for Wheelock that hinted at the existence of those strobes in multiple colors, like blue, green, and amber. Its possible, but I’ve never actually seen one.
I really really would love to have that bell and light. So rare! Do you remember what the other parts of the system were like [pulls, panel (if they had one), etc]?
Was there a fire extinguisher or hose cabinet below the light? Some of the older buildings use a light looking just like that to identify the locations of hose cabinets or extinguishers. They are just illuminated all the times, unless the bulb burns out.