Difference between revisions of "Civil Defense Siren"

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(The Audile Mayor La Guardia)
(Chrysler-Bell Victory Siren)
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==Chrysler-Bell Victory Siren==
 
==Chrysler-Bell Victory Siren==
The Chrysler-Bell Victory Siren was conceived by the Chrysler Motor Company and Bell Telephone Laboratories and began being distributed in 1942.  This is an interestingly antiquated idea due to the fact that a communication company is literally collaborating with manufacturer of high power engines to create a high-reach communication system.  According to the companies own specifications the siren ways 5,543 pounds, uses a v-8 engine and cost $5,500.  According to The Washington Post the siren registered a high of 138 decibels.  200 decibels will break your eardrums.  Although during certain tests the claims that the siren could be heard up to 25 miles away fell short.  There is no doubt that this behemoth machine epitomizes the qualities and intentions of the civil defense siren.  The main objectives of the civil defense siren would be to alert and grab attention in a jarring way, to express the immediacy of danger, and to span the reach of the message as far as possible.  While the Victory Siren is quite capable of fulfilling these objectives, especially in comparison to other models, it falls short in its ability to convey its message in a truly widespread manner.  In this sense, television and radio far outdo the Victory siren.  However, an interesting observation to make is that while the government is currently able to reach every household with a television or radio using the Emergency Broadcast system, the ability to reach those not ‘tuned in’ has died along with the civil defense siren.
 
 
 
[[Image:NoiseMaking.jpg|thumb|left|Chrysler's Air-Raid Siren Hits New High In Sustained Mechanical Noise Making]]
 
[[Image:NoiseMaking.jpg|thumb|left|Chrysler's Air-Raid Siren Hits New High In Sustained Mechanical Noise Making]]
  
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The Chrysler-Bell Victory Siren was conceived by the Chrysler Motor Company and Bell Telephone Laboratories and began being distributed in 1942.  This is an interestingly antiquated idea due to the fact that a communication company is literally collaborating with manufacturer of high power engines to create a high-reach communication system.  According to the companies own specifications the siren ways 5,543 pounds, uses a v-8 engine and cost $5,500.  According to The Washington Post the siren registered a high of 138 decibels.  200 decibels will break your eardrums.  Although during certain tests the claims that the siren could be heard up to 25 miles away fell short.  There is no doubt that this behemoth machine epitomizes the qualities and intentions of the civil defense siren.  The main objectives of the civil defense siren would be to alert and grab attention in a jarring way, to express the immediacy of danger, and to span the reach of the message as far as possible.  While the Victory Siren is quite capable of fulfilling these objectives, especially in comparison to other models, it falls short in its ability to convey its message in a truly widespread manner.  In this sense, television and radio far outdo the Victory siren.  However, an interesting observation to make is that while the government is currently able to reach every household with a television or radio using the Emergency Broadcast system, the ability to reach those not ‘tuned in’ has died along with the civil defense siren.
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Video Links:
 
Video Links:
 
<br>Robbie Coltrane and Don Garlits demonstrate a Chrysler-Bell Victory Siren in their Garage; June 5, 2007
 
<br>Robbie Coltrane and Don Garlits demonstrate a Chrysler-Bell Victory Siren in their Garage; June 5, 2007

Revision as of 14:30, 31 October 2007

Chrysler-Bell Victory Siren

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Chrysler's Air-Raid Siren Hits New High In Sustained Mechanical Noise Making

The Chrysler-Bell Victory Siren was conceived by the Chrysler Motor Company and Bell Telephone Laboratories and began being distributed in 1942. This is an interestingly antiquated idea due to the fact that a communication company is literally collaborating with manufacturer of high power engines to create a high-reach communication system. According to the companies own specifications the siren ways 5,543 pounds, uses a v-8 engine and cost $5,500. According to The Washington Post the siren registered a high of 138 decibels. 200 decibels will break your eardrums. Although during certain tests the claims that the siren could be heard up to 25 miles away fell short. There is no doubt that this behemoth machine epitomizes the qualities and intentions of the civil defense siren. The main objectives of the civil defense siren would be to alert and grab attention in a jarring way, to express the immediacy of danger, and to span the reach of the message as far as possible. While the Victory Siren is quite capable of fulfilling these objectives, especially in comparison to other models, it falls short in its ability to convey its message in a truly widespread manner. In this sense, television and radio far outdo the Victory siren. However, an interesting observation to make is that while the government is currently able to reach every household with a television or radio using the Emergency Broadcast system, the ability to reach those not ‘tuned in’ has died along with the civil defense siren.
Video Links:
Robbie Coltrane and Don Garlits demonstrate a Chrysler-Bell Victory Siren in their Garage; June 5, 2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEfYnByuTQ0

From Universal Newsreel; Produced from 1929 - 1967; Presented twice a week in local movie theaters; September 23, 1956; (Civil Defense Coverage Starts at 1:17)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzHack1-ays

The Audile Mayor La Guardia

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New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia


At the beginning of his time in office it might seem ironic that Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia of New York City would become such an advocate for the use and regular testing of civil defense sirens. During 1935, his first year as mayor, LaGuardia championed the passing of a noise abatement ordinance. Not only would this ordinance prohibit unnecessary noise making between the hours of 11 P.M. and 7 A.M., according to the times he was also planning to schedule noiseless days, during which anyone created unnecessary noise would be ticketed. This seems a bit drastic but the noise that can be generated in a densely populated area can clearly become overwhelming at times. This may have especially been the case for the vast immigrant population, and new arrivals to the city, having grown up in rural environments. The fact that noise wasn’t such a part of people’s lives may have contributed to the elevated hype that surrounded civil defense sirens.

Not much later in 1941 would begin a controversy involving the installation and routine surrounding a civil defense project. Civil defense wardens were publicly defended by Mayor LaGuardia, despite the fact that according to The New York Times, night time protection caused great problems because wardens were no residing over the districts in which they lived. In the same article The Times quotes La Guardia “Modern warfare means that every man, woman and child is exposed to the attacks of the enemy in undefended cities. The growing fear of atomic attacks on the United States were undoubtedly factors on such wide spread popularity of adopting civil defense systems. New York States defense system included the employment of air raid wardens by the police department, additional fire fighters, and civilian volunteer units which were function as everything from nurses, to emergency water/gas shut off attendants, to motorcycle couriers. The call for volunteers quickly returned 60,000 applicants. These kind of numbers indicate the immediacy of the nuclear threat in the minds of the general public.

However, despite the obvious immediacy that people felt for the need of civil defense systems people would soon become annoyed by regularly held siren drills. After a friendly aircraft had been sited but could not be identified, in the early hours of the morning on September 9, 1942 the sirens were sounded, only to be cleared a minute later. According to The Washington Post, “In one apartment building where the warden went pounding on doors, crying, ‘Enemy planes overhead!’ somebody else shouted, ‘Take it easy; it’s only LaGuardia showing off again.’” This really brings to attention the actual noise that the medium creates and the annoyance it could generate in an urban setting. Especially when regular drills were held the medium lost its ability to communicate its message, which was intended to be ‘emergency’. It had to rely on radio and television stations to broadcast that the alarm was in fact, not a test. This inherent flaw in the medium is another key factors of why it is no longer in widespread use.

The Civil Defense Siren in Cold War Culture

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This Prevents This; From Federal Electric Company Brochure; 1942


http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/sounds/attkwarn.mp3

The Air Raid Siren in Contemporary Popular Music

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Still from: Beyonce - Ring The Alarm; Music Video SONY BMG Music Entertainment; Released August 16, 2006