Late 19th Century Hotel Annunciator Switch Board From Bella Union Hotel Los Angeles

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This listing is for a late 19th century hotel annunciator/switch board.

An annunciator was an electrical device that was used … Read more This listing is for a late 19th century hotel annunciator/switch board.

An annunciator was an electrical device that was used between hotel rooms and front desks. When a button was clicked within a hotel room, an arrow associated with that room number would rise, signaling that the guest was requiring assistance.

This particular annunciator has quite a history. This very item was even featured on an episode of Pawn Stars in 2020. Rick did not buy it because he did not know what it was, but we certainly loved it and were happy to purchase it.

This particular annunciator has a lovely Eastlake design. It has the stamp of the "Southern California Electric Co (Los Angeles)" and the manufacturer's mark of the "Electric Goods Mfg Co (Boston, MA)."

What was not included in the Pawn Stars episode was the deep history behind this particular annunciator.

When we opened the annunciator to clean it, we found remnants of a note that indicated that this had been salvaged from the historic St Charles Hotel (formerly Bella Union) in Los Angeles in 1939. This matched what the previous owner had been told when he had originally purchased this.

The Bella Union Hotel was initially constructed in 1835. It is California Historical Landmark No. 656. The building itself was the last capitol of Mexican California under Governor Pio Pico, in 1845–47.

The hotel was later known as the Clarendon and then as the St. Charles before its demolition in 1940.

There's quite a bit of information about this lost historical building online for those interested in further details.

This item measures approximately 27.25 x 43.25 x 7 inches See less