H.O.R. sirens

[Fletch]

I know this has been discussed here before, but does anyone know what "H.O.R." stands for?

Did this company make more than just one model?

According to VictorySiren.com, Chicago did have a few of these in the 1950's. Madison, Wisconsin, has one.

[SirenMadness]

I think that the HOR company was an American-based version of the Hormann company, based on what I remember.
There was more than one model built by HOR - there was a single- and dual-rotor siren that I remember.

[SirenMadness]

Wait a second. I think that I remember someone posting a brochure of what was probably a hand-spun or other small siren made by HOR.

[Fletch]

I guess the main model was called the "Super Sirex"? There is a picture in the Siren Archive of a Super Sirex in Newton, MA. Looks to be of '50s vintage.

I guess it would make sense that H.O.R. was a part of Hormann.

[SirenMadness]

The Super Sirex was rated at fifty horsepower, if I remember correctly.

[Cyrun]

I believe the company was out of Staten Island, NY. My FD use to have a 5HP HOR that sounded identical to our Federal Model 5 before it was removed in 1988. The only thing that looked different compared to the FS #5 was the housing.

[Sirendipity]

Believe it or not, I have seen ads for HOR sirens, in old magazines, where the company added the words Hear Our Roar.

It could very well be HEAR OUR ROAR. It may have nothing to do with the German company.

For a GREAT photo and description of the HOR Super-Sirex, search eBay now under HOR + Siren.

There's a fantastic 1951 ad with a closeup of the siren and you can clearly see how every part is made, how many ports, and the small motor that rotated the siren.

[slant-40]

HOR did all the air-raid sirens in New York City when they had them for cold-war purposes. The very last of them was removed in 2005! There were several kinds - 3hp, 5hp and 7.5hp. The 3hp and 7.5hp were knock-offs of the Federal 2 and Federal 5 - but with slightly beefier housings. The 5hp differed. It had two vanes with a skinny bottom. NYC had hundreds of these - mounted on streetlamps, poles, schools, fire houses, elevated subway stations, tall buildings. They also had some Super Sirex that they used on top of schools and tall buildings. These were dual-head like Sterling but larger and were dual-tone like Carters UK. And they rotated. I remember hearing one test in Brooklyn on a school off of Avenue "D and East 53rd Street back in the early 1960s. They would sound them for one full minute every Saturday at 12 Noon. This was changed to once-a-month on Tuesday at 12 Noon for a 'growl test'. Then sometime in the mid-to-late 1970s it stopped altogether and they fell silent. I do not believe that there are any more left. The last one, a 5hp, on the elevated subway station at Sutter and Van Sinderen Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn, was taken down during the station's 2005 renovation.

[Daniel]

I think that H.O.R. stood for the initials of the founder. It was an American company and had nothing to do with H?rmann of Germany. The siren designs are completely different from any German manufacturer. That eBay ad shows a single-tone siren.

[OrnAlert]

I hope someone gets a recording of a dual tone H.O.R. Super Sirex. They are my favorite!