Ah, memories of "making a pull".

1955.

Quite a while ago. While mulling over whether to join the Air Force or Army, a telegram arrived at the folks home for me. From the City of Detroit. "Thank you for your interest in the Detroit Police Cadet program. You have achieved passing scores and background checks. Please report to work on Monday, August 1, 1955, at the Detroit Police Academy at 555 Clinton."

Wow. I had promised the Army recruiter I'd show up for him that Monday. But this looked like something more exciting and promising for the long-term. So I showed up at 555 Clinton that Monday.

Three days of orientation, then out to the 14th Precinct station at Schaefer and Grand River to learn how to run the call box switchboard and a lot of other lesser things. It was a private telephone system, not connected to Bell in any way. All the police call boxes in each precinct were connected to a switchboard at the local precinct. All officers were required to "make a pull" and check in each hour on designated quarters. The 'pull' in the callbox set off a clockwork telegraph mechanism, and the number of the box was recorded on paper tape at the precinct.

Well, I did that for four years. Then, in 1959, after a 2-year period where the City hired no new police officers, I was accepted into the Police Academy as a sworn police officer. I graduated #1 in my class of 58. Assignment? Second Precinct, Vernor and 20th.

For most of the first three years there, I walked a beat. Michigan, Grand River, Bagley, West Grand Boulevard, Myrtle, Buchanan.....you name it, I was there. And every hour I went to my assigned call box and "made my pull".

They were fond memories. Now zip ahead into nearly thirty years of retirement, and I'm sitting here in Henderson, Nevada, a couple years short of my eighth decade. And I see on a web site where a retired copper in Detroit has an old call box for sale for $400. Shit, I jump at it! He delivers it to an old partner of mine in Farmington, and I tell partner I'll be back this summer to pick it up.

In the meantime, the shit hits the fan, I lose my healthcare from the City due to the bankruptcy, and a hunk of the pension is in doubt. So I arrange to have it FedEx'ed to me at a cost of sixty bucks.

It arrived last week, badly beaten and weathered looking. But being a retired old fart with nothing else to do, I went to work on restoring it. And here's the result, and once again this old guy can "make a pull". First shot is the before/after. Uh....yes....the phone works.

When I was in college 1957-1961, the "campus security" consisted of a night watchman and fire guard. He carried a leather covered octagonal shaped clock on a cross shoulder strap. In each building on every floor was a little [[maybe 2" X 4") metal box with a certain shaped "key" on a chain inside it. He would put that into a hole on the clock and twist it. At the end of his shift, there was a "timecard" type strip which the clock printed mechanically and which showed the times he visited each of the numbered stations during his shift.

Well that is a cool call box! It looks like you have a more modern handset inside
there though. Which is fine.
I was rather expecting something like the [[nearly indestructible) black rotary dial
phone with the curly cord that was in my parents' house in the early sixties.
Those who attended Royal Oak Dondero High School will remember one room phone
on a classroom wall that had its transmitter on the wall and its receiver looked like a
black dixie cup with string that you held to your ear...it was maybe bought used when
the school was built in the mid twenties because these phones were made in about 1917...there was not a scrapping soul in all my years at Dondero to take that phone
away, but someone would make a prank phone call during Spanish class every day and
our short Spanish teacher would run over and answer this phone on tiptoe so as to
talk into the transmitter, and then be upset each time when no one was there.

Ray, gosh that call box is fantastic. I love the renovation. Is that spray paint you used, or did you wheel it out and then had it powder coated ? How ever you did it, it looks amazing. The modern handset is perfect too.

from gazing at Ray HQ, I notice your flag collection is still looking well organized. Is your brick collection inside the house or on the other side of the garage?

Someday a wild girl in glasses and driving a Volvo may bring you some more bricks for your collection. Just a warning.

Honky, I was a security guard for a bit and one job had me guarding an abandoned flophouse/hotel. The place was 10 stories, it had its power yanked, and the only light came from an extension cord hooked into a building next door. Since I worked the night shift I had the freaky job of walking through the completely dark hallways to the security stations. At each station I had to stick in one of those keys into that leather wrapped clock with the paper tape.

This hotel was once a pretty fashionable joint, but it fell into the flophouse category once bathrooms-down-the-hall fell out of fashion. However each room did come with a sink, which the residents used as urinals; hence the place reeked to high heaven. Old mousy mattresses were piled up along with broken bottles of anything cheap and buzzworthy. My job required me to go to each security box on each of the 10 floors. I was so scared of the place I sprinted the entire way.

but the real treat was the "office" with the extension cord light. In the office was a backolounger with a missing arm, a cubic yard of crusty porn magazines and a copy of The Book of Mormon.

i read the Mormon Book twice and was convinced it was more corrupting than all that old black and white porn.

Scarred me forever. To this day, whenever those earnest young Mormon missionaries come knocking I always surprise them with knowing about their whackyass storybook.

Heh, heh, heh! You just solved a mystery for me, Gnome, on a bit of locker room wall that sits on my desk! Anyway.......

I thought of having it sand blasted and powder coated, but I already had so much money into it I thought I'd better not aggravate friend wife further. So I got a can of paint stripper and went to work. Between the stripper, some flexible putty knives, and, eventually, singlel-edge razor blades, I got it pretty much down to bare metal. The inside guts got a coat of bright aluminum spray paint, and I used Rustoleum Blue Metallic paint for the outside. I pretty much stripped all the interior wiring, leaving only the telegraph unit in place. Anyway, I'm happy with the results.

Brick collection of six bricks has been imbedded into the front driveway, edging the corners. I tip my hat to them each afternoon as I wander down the street to the mailbox.

Nice job, Ray!! Even better at telling a good story!! Thanks!!

Stromberg2

ray was 3657 your badge? That should be a brass plate. I may have an extra one if you are not picky about the number.

Wonderful story Ray, thank youl

Love this stuff. I hope if I make it to your age I can still be doing projects like that. Nice work and a great preservation project.

That's a beauty Ray. I remember those boxes, and it set off a little wave of nostalgia to see one again. Thanks for the great background story. Despite having DPD cops in my family and as close friends, I never knew exactly how those boxes were used.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aerojoe

ray was 3657 your badge? That should be a brass plate. I may have an extra one if you are not picky about the number.

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Joe, 3657 was my po badge number. I was going to just put 57 on it, since the telegraph unit is geared as box 57. But, what the heck, 57 is the back end of my badge number, so I'll go with the whole thing. Thanks for the offer, but I'll just stay with what I have. The brass plate is worth a few bucks on ebay, so don't throw it away whatever you do! Again....appreciated.