The Siren Board

Over the years, a bunch of vertical mystery sirens have been found in California - primarily in the cities of Sacramento, San Jose, and San Diego. For the longest time it was assumed they were made by a myriad of firms including Decot Engineering Works, H.O.R. Company Inc., and Federal Enterprises. At long last, the mystery is revealed. Information was hard to find as this was a fairly short-lived brand without much surviving material.

These sirens were actually called the Scream-Master and were manufactured in La Verne, California under this brand during the 1950s. They were simple vertical sirens, not unlike the Federal Enterprises Model 5. A louvered shroud protected the siren's chopper and motor from weather. The siren was then mounted on a pole shaped tower, supplied by Scream-Master themselves, with a maintenance basket usually stuck on the side to make periodic maintenance easier. Finally, the control boxes were signed "Scream-Master".

Many of these Scream-Master sirens were installed across California. They saw good sales in the early years and were praised for their simple but effective sirens. Unfortunately Scream-Master did not find much success out of California despite this strong beginning. They were another small company that couldn't keep up with the growing Federal Sign & Signal emporium - there is no reference to Scream-Master beyond the 1950s.

One of these sirens is supposed to be on display at the Wende Museum in Culver City, CA.

Here are a mass of photos, largely sourced from Google although I'm open to replacing these with more detailed photographs. I just found out about the Scream-Master brand this morning. Also attached is a scarce news headline detailing the Scream-Master's early success. I am open to any more material regarding this company and its sirens.

With such a detailed list of locations... maybe those are good spots to start virtual siren hunting for more of these awesome sirens!

Wish there was some media of these in action. ;(

OK, 6 sounds right for San Jose.

1. San Jose Airport-Removed in the 1990's.

2. Santa Clara St. between 7th & 8th Street-Removed.

3. Lowell Elementary-See picture above.

4. Willow St. between Lincoln Ave. & Bird St.-Removed.

(Edited)
5. Race St. & Park Ave., still there

I always appreciate SuperBanshee's historical posts. That was what this board is all about. When I saw the title, I expected a "Thundercane-" style hybrid parody with a name like Scream Master. I believe these are single-tone, 10 port sirens.

I had actually forgotten until now that last October when I learned of this sirens removal that I contacted the Wende Museum for some photos and further identification of the siren. In the second photo, you can see the single rotor design SuperBanshee was talking about. There was a news article complete with a video that had one of these sirens sounding on the board back in 06-07. I can't seem to find it, but I'm going to keep looking.

2014_440_001_A by Luke Thomas, on Flickr

2014_440_001_B by Luke Thomas, on Flickr

2014_440_001_C by Luke Thomas, on Flickr

If that siren in La Verne is a Scream Master, they appear to have 16 ports.

I remember that news article mentioned above, and I recall it having a high pitched sound, like 16 ports mentioned above.

Hacksaw, thanks for the San Jose siren locations and Jmarcoz archive photo. I'll save that photo for my Scream-Master folder.

Crazywarriorman, thanks for the photos of the Wende Museum's siren. Likewise, these go into the folder - I keep large folders of all the material I can find regarding sirens. Makes organizing much easier.
This Scream-Master siren appears to have fewer ports compared to other Scream-Masters, suggesting there was more than just one type of siren offered. The A-frame that holds up the shroud is very similar to a Federal Model 5.

Stevan, I remember the news video but had presumed they just dubbed a generic 9 port siren audio over video footage. Unfortunately the original video was removed years ago but here is a screen shot from it. Daniel, thanks for the feedback. I always enjoy studying these old sirens and coming across new material.
The Scream-Masters are interesting sirens, especially considering how long they've gone unidentified. When I first came across the name in an old forum post I had presumed it was a mistake. It was a big surprise to come across old archive listings that presented Scream-Master as an actual siren.

And finally - a little ornament to commemorate this discovery. I took a shot in the dark regarding its exact profile but the overall shape is a worthy match. The discs are just over an inch in diameter.

I wonder if the motor was 3,450 RPM or 1,880, in which case it would sound like a Sentry.