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“Secom”, Southwark: not impersonal but inscrutable
“Secom” burglar alarm, Southwark • I’ve never been very interested in these polite Secom alarms – both the graphics and the name are so impersonal, like something from a Swiss clinic. Even their unique...
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“Yale”, Cambridge: an Ivy League pairing
“Yale” burglar alarm, Cambridge • This Ivy League pairing of a Yale in Cambridge is the last “Modernist” alarm for now. I’d intended to write up this theme with brief musings on stylish shapes and...
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“Thorn”, East Grinstead: prim and proper
“Thorn” burglar alarm, East Grinstead • I’ve already recounted the tangled corporate history of the modernist Thorn alarms, which you’ll find here. This 1970s-designed Thorn is protruding through the...
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“Lander Alarms”, Lambeth: sepia symphony
“Lander Alarms” burglar alarm, Southwark • Depending on how you look at it, urban decay can be grotty or beautiful, and I err on the side of the latter. I got into documenting burglar alarms via...
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“Modern Alarms”, York: an ancient survival
“Modern Alarms” burglar alarm, York • Ancient and modern, in perfect harmony. The colours are as found: the once-yellow Modern box really has faded to the same sepia tones as York’s venerable bricks....
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“AFA Minerva EMI”, Lambeth: warrior woman
“AFA Minerva EMI” burglar alarm, Lambeth • This is one of only three burglar alarms I’ve found featuring women, the others being Siren and Liberty. Minerva was the multi-talented pan-Italian goddess of...
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“GCD”, Windsor: punk haircut
“GCD Security” burglar alarm, Windsor • This sounder looks like it’s got a punk haircut, and I like the way Thunderbirds-modern Eurostile font logo matches the cobalt sky. You don’t often get days like...
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“Micromark”, Herne Bay: sixties sci-fi DIY mystery
“Micromark Security Systems” burglar alarm, Herne Bay • I’ve included this splendid space-age case in the “retro-futurism” category because it’s a top piece of 1960s-style sci-fi design, and...
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“Secom”, Islington: dirty great plug
“Secom” burglar alarm, Islington • And after yesterday’s ”rebadged” Secom, here’s a very dirty example of the real thing, featuring the bland “UK plug” shape usually only seen on the Japanese...
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“Carroll Security”, East Grinstead: badly-cut wedge
“Carroll Security” burglar alarm, East Grinstead • This must be an earlier version of yesterday’s Carroll, as it looks like metal and they aren’t yet a “Group”. It’s a more geometrical version of...
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“Securicor Granley”, Hackney: tupperware box
“Securicor Granley” burglar alarm, Hackney • You only see this giant tupperware cheesebox – a shape that bears no relation to any other sounder – on old Securicor and Securicor Granley boxes. They’re...
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“Alarm Service Group”, Bristol: constructivist classic
“Alarm Service Group” burglar alarm, Bristol • As I’ve never seen it used by anyone but Alarm Service Group, I must assume that this super-smart and beautifully-designed modernist sounder is...
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“Yale”, Tower Hamlets: humdrum wedge
“Yale” burglar alarm, Tower Hamlets • Now come a few odd-shaped sounders for which I can’t find the correct geometrical terms (because there probably aren’t any). The hulking contraption above is the...
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“Thorn”, Lambeth: white spike
“Thorn” burglar alarm, Lambeth • Speaking of thorns, as I was yesterday, here’s the real thing – a red rose of a sounder sporting the modernist white spike of Thorn electronics. It’s one of several...
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“Vitesse”, Westminster: ooh la la
“Vitesse” burglar alarm, City of Westminster • Ooooh la la – this is French for “quickness”. The stylish two-tone logo looks straight out of a 1970s Gallic sci fi movie (or maybe off a 1990s Daft Punk...
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“Future”, Bath: timely
“Future Security Systems” burglar alarm, Bath • So endeth two years of burglar alarms. But blub ye not (in the unlikely event that you were), because – amazingly, heroically, certifiably – I have at...
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“Avant Garde”, Islington: advance guard
“Avant Garde” burglar alarm, Islington • Originally French for “advance guard”, these days avant garde means being somewhat ahead of the times. Generally the term refers to artists, but I don’t see...
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Wormald Security, Islington: Dickensian
“Wormald Security” burglar alarm, Islington • And when you’re fishing, you need a worm. Or a Wormald. What a wonderful Dickensian name! And a great 1970s-style modernist monogram, as well. • Spotted:...
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Modern Alarms, Camden: algae
“Modern Alarms” burglar alarm, Camden • As you can see, I’m posting a run of these clear-capped Eurobells at the moment. Not only does this have the logo both above and below the lid, there’s a...
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Shorrock, Bristol: mossy
“Shorrock” burglar alarm, Bristol • And here’s the final, rather mossy, incarnation of the “tupperware” box, as a Shorrock. You still see quite a few of these around, so I’m surprised it’s the first...
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Philips Home Security Alarm, Old Coulsdon: villa
“Philips Home Security Alarm” burglar alarm, Old Coulsdon • Funny how towns with “Old” in their name are such fertile ground for old alarms. This, situated on a typical Surrey half-timbered villa,...
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AFA Minerva EMI, Tower Hamlets, E2, 2007
“AFA Minerva EMI” burglar alarm, Tower Hamlets • I take it this is still the original deep metal drum, as it looks exactly like yesterday’s box, but now multi-branded. These Minerva ones tend to stay...
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AFA Minerva EMI, Govan, Glasgow, 2010
“AFA Minerva EMI” burglar alarm, Glasgow • Could this be the shallower “Mk 2″ metal drum, ie lighter red and fitted flush with the wall? It was found on the magnificent superannuated shipbuilding HQ at...
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AFA Minerva Thorn EMI, Bath, 2012
“AFA Minerva Thorn EMI” burglar alarm, Bath • Maximum name-ology on what I take to be a plastic drum box and therefore possibly early 1980s. An unusual find because normally the dark panel is blank....
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Thorn Security, City of London, EC2, 2011
“Thorn Security” burglar alarm, City of London • This looks like an original deep drum, but it’s branded simply Thorn Security, which suggests it was updated in the late 1980s or eatly 1990s. Look at...
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Thorn, Tower Hamlets, E1, 2010
“Thorn” burglar alarm, Tower Hamlets • Plastic box, simply branded Thorn, which RCB suggests is early 1990s. • Spotted: Goulston Street, Tower Hamlets, London, E1, England, 2010 • Politics: In the...
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Capstan Security, Barnet, N20, 2011
“Capstan Security” burglar alarm, Barnet • There’s always something rather military-looking about these Capstans, with their naval name and officer’s stripe. This is presumably from before they got...
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Modern Security Systems, Glasgow, 2012
“Modern Security Systems” burglar alarm, Glasgow • I always like a Modern alarm – and I’ve never published one in this shape before. • Spotted: Brook Street, Glasgow, G40, Scotland, 2012 • Politics: In...
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Group 4 Securitas, Lambeth, SE1, 2007
“Group 4 Securitas” burglar alarm, Lambeth • Same shape as yestarday’s, and the classic 1970s design of Securitas (a name which somehow I always found rather sinister), now bolted onto the aspiring...
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Modern Security System, Coventry, 2013
“Modern Security Systems” burglar alarm, Coventry • Bottle of grog on drunken-looking bell box. • Spotted: towpath, near Coventry Canal Basin, Coventry, Warwickshire, CV1, England, 2013 • Politics: In...
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