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In the key of "Boulter"

The Boulter Key

Photo courtesy of Neal McEwen

R. L. Boulter, made telegraph equipment in Los Angeles, California between 1913-1920. A "key" is the 'sending' part of a telegraph, also sometimes called a 'bug'.

According to Neal McEwen, curator of The Telegraph Office, A WWW Page for Telegraph Key Collectors and Historians,

"[The Boulter key] is a high speed sending key. R. L. Boulter of Los Angeles was issued four patents in the pre-WWI period. He made only a few keys that can be found.

"It has a maroon base with gold pin stripping, bearing the serial number of 258; hopefully other Boulter bugs remain to be discovered."

Later, Horace Martin bought the rights to the four designs in the Boulter patent (#1110373).

Boulter the Keymaker

Speaking of Keys, my great-grandfather, Chester E. Boulter, make keys at the Manchester Foundry Company in Manchester, N.H., which he founded. These weren't ordinary keys however; they were large (foot-long!) ornimental keys that the mayor would give out when he gave someone a 'key' to the city.

The Sounds of Boulter

Lucas Wade of Australia has started a band called Boulter. The name is apparently coincidental.

David Boulter plays the piano, organ and percussion in the UK-based band, Tindersticks.

A Book of Boulters

Boulters are mentioned in the popular Anne of Green Gables book series by Lucy Maud Montgomery. The main Boulter character is Milty Boulter, a mean old lady.
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