Scream Master
| Scream Master | |
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| Company | Scream Master |
|---|---|
| Produced | 1950's - 1960's |
| Type | Electromechanical |
Scream Masters were a short-lived brand of sirens created by Robert J. Zievers, Inc. in La Verne, California. They were manufactured in the early 1950s as a local option for an omnidirectional air raid siren, with a rugged and low-maintenance design. Scream Masters are incredibly simple in design, with the siren's motor, rotor and stator standing underneath a large mesh and steel shroud, held up by two arms on the stator, very similar to the Federal Signal Model 5. They come with either 10HP or 15HP Square D Company motors running at 240V, and came in two different configurations: 6/8 port dual tone, and 9 port single tone. Like other sirens in California's CD systems, it came standard with a controller, maintenance basket, and large metal pole.
R. J. Zievers, Inc. was reported in a 1954 Civil Defense Administration report to have also produced a 20HP dual headed rotational siren that boasted 125db at 100ft, heavily resembling the Federal Signal 500 Series 500-DHTT. While at least a few of these were produced, and pictures exist of them, no rotating Scream Masters are known to exist today. They also produced a non-rotational variant of the siren. R.J. Zievers was also a dealer for Federal Signal's products, including mounting Federal's 500-DHTT on Scream-Master mounts. The same was also done with E. D. Bullard Co. rotational sirens.
Scream Masters were mainly sold in California, with several cities having large systems that featured these alongside the Federal Signal 500 Series 500-SHTT and Federal Signal SD-10, HOR Siro-Drone, and Biersach & Niedermeyer Co. Mobil Directo. Due to being a small company, they never got to sell far beyond California. Along with sirens, R.J. Zievers, Inc also sold wind machines and other heavy machinery. While they proved to be very reliable sirens, R.J. Zievers Inc. just didn't have the funding or resources to compete against Federal, and production of the Scream Master series of sirens ended by the late 1950s as the Federal Signal 500 Series 500-SHTT and Federal Signal SD-10 proved to be better. Zievers himself died in April 1973, spelling the end of his company.
Unfortunately, all Scream Master sirens were disconnected by the 1980s, along with the rest of California's Cold War civil defense system. While a few have been removed due to construction, many still remain on their poles, waiting for the day that they'll see action again. Evidently, a few are still connected to power and in operational condition, as a 9-port Scream Master was set off in the middle of the night by a vandal. Despite having sat inactive for over 40 years, the siren fired up with no issues, proving how reliable these are. With none in private possession, the recording of the vandalized Scream Master is the only way we know what these sound like, and that is likely to remain the case for a long time. Little else is known about them. No recordings exist of a 6/8 Scream Master, or the 20HP rotational.