As discussed in a previous post, day staff were expected to assist in day to day activities in 5 Alexandra, i.e. cooking and shopping. We heard that one of the Munro sisters used to have someone come in and prepare her meals while she was at work.
I had not thought much about this until a neighbour shared a pic of his annunciator or servants bell which still is connected in his home and is of course in the kitchen. Clearly, the bell was used to notify staff. What I am not clear on is what the 4 numbers mean – i.e. there are four doors to the home so does each number signify a door or were there buzzers in various rooms that the family would press to call the staff? I asked the previous owner if he knew and if he remembered anything in the wiring that would alert him but he was not sure (and if I can share the state of the electrical that the former owner had to deal with, I suspect you, like me, would appreciate that it was a fire waiting to happen and there were bigger issues to focus on). See pic below from my neighbour which I believe I am allowed to share.
As soon as I saw this annunciator I knew 5 Alexandra needed one to be returned to her. I tried to hire someone to recreate it (my husband will not let it be hooked up in the house because he fears me buzzing him all the time) but Covid made it difficult to get the person in the house and started on the work. This was a blessing in disguise because I searched eBay and voila! I bought a similar annunciator or servants below manufactured in the turn of the last century by Partrick and Wilkinson from Philadelphia.
This beauty now proudly sits in our kitchen as she would have historically been situated. She is not exactly the same as the annunciator in our neighbour’s home, but she is not a replica and she does have the 4 rooms identified.
