Sonic Safety
Bell, ca. 1883
Galt Museum & Archives, P19652004000
Every day we are surrounded by sound, but we often don’t pay much attention to it. Over the years, the sounds around us have changed, influencing our behaviours in significant ways. Authority figures in particular have used many different types of sound to motivate the actions of citizens on a daily basis. One important way sound has impacted our community is in the fire department’s use of sirens and alarms for citizen safety.
One of the city’s first fire bells hung outside J. D. Higinbotham’s drug store at the corner of 5 Street and 2 Avenue South where it alerted the local fire brigade to emergencies between 1886 to 1892. It did not have much of a sonic range however, so its efficacy left a lot to be desired.
The city’s No. 1 Fire Hall was constructed on 2 Avenue South in 1891, a building that was demolished and reconstructed on the same site in 1908. However, it wasn’t until 1924 that it received a more modern (and louder) siren placed upon the rooftop. Its original function was to alert off-duty firefighters in case of multiple alarms that required extra support.
Interestingly enough, both of these sound-making devices served a second life being put to duty in service of the city’s curfew alarm. The curfew was instituted back in 1909 when the bell on Higinbotham’s store rang out at 9 pm each night to call home all children under the age of 14 years old. When the curfew by-law was revised in 1947, the siren atop the fire hall took over this duty, but with a new 9:15 pm deadline for youth to get home—otherwise their parents could face a stiff fine.
Mobile sound-makers have played an important role too. The city’s original firefighting equipment consisted of horse-drawn steam engines which also used a steam-powered whistle to alert citizens of its presence on the way to an emergency. When the fire department began upgrading from steam-powered to mechanical equipment between 1913 and 1919 their alarms changed as well.
Today most of our sonic safety signals are electronic, but their function remains the same. Learn more about the important role sound plays in society by visiting our newest temporary exhibition, The Politics of Sound, on display until May 7, 2023 at the Galt Museum & Archives.
Dr. Frank Hamilton Mewburn was a wiry and fiery surgeon, politician, army officer, and university professor who greatly contributed to the development of Lethbridge. Mewburn came from a long ling of medical professionals, graduating from McGill University in Montreal in 1881.