Speaking Tubes

[kssunflower]

I recently toured a circa 1880's mansion in Independence, Missouri, and was fascinated that this house had a speaking tube system within the walls. It enabled the occupants to communicate with the servants on various floors. I had never heard of this before. I was just curious if perhaps Maplecroft had something like this or how common these were at the time.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/historyfor ... 4405619897

[Harry]

When Kat and I were on the tour of the Breakers (the Vanderbilt mansion) in Newport I believe they did mention a system of communicating between floors. If I remember correctly it was rings. I'll check with Kat to see if she remembers.

In some of the movies I've seen they pull on a hanging sash-like thing to summon a servant.

Abby said she used a bell to summon Bridget from the kitchen. Don't know about Lizzie at Maplecroft.

Interesting question.

[Harry]

Found this on The Breakers:

"... The mansion is installed with a very sophisticated servant communication system. Initially, it consisted of a call bell system monitored from the butler’s pantry. Speaker tubes were connected to the family quarters as well. ..."

Of course compared to the Breakers, Maplecroft was a tenement.

http://www.antiquesjournal.com/pages04/ ... wport.html

I think I'll buy it. Always wanted a summer "cottage".

[kssunflower]

Thanks for the link, Harry. The Vaile mansion pales in comparison, but is still impressive. I guess these systems were mainly used in very affluent homes.