Automobiles and car horns are pretty much synonymous. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find any motoring vehicle that doesn’t have one. And, as you probably know, the relationship between cars and their horns goes back many years. In fact, it goes back to the very beginning of self-propelled vehicles. Here’s the story.
It didn’t start in the United States. Car horns date back to the mid-1800s in Britain where steam powered carriages were just beginning to be used. For the safety of pedestrians and animals, a law was passed that stated “…self-propelled vehicles on public roads must be preceded by a man on foot waving a red flag and blowing a horn.” Of course, it did not take long to realize that a horn mounted on the vehicle was a bit more efficient than a guy walking in front of the vehicle blowing a horn. The result was that this phase of automotive signaling lasted just a decade or so.
In the early 1900s, when automobiles started to appear in America, the car-mounted bulb horn became the attention-getting device of choice. A simple squeeze on the bulb and everyone around knew you and your car were nearby. By 1910, however, some people were calling for a more powerful warning device, one that could be heard at least an eighth of a mile ahead. Manufacturers responded with a variety of whistles, chimes, sirens, and horns. For example, the Sireno, named after Greek mythological creatures who lured mariners to destruction, was advertised as a genuine “one-mile signal”.
By the 1920s, the Klaxon horn appeared. A Klaxon horn, whose name was derived from the Greek word klaxo, meaning “to shriek,” produced its sound via an electrically-powered vibrating metal diaphragm. Arguably the most memorable Klaxon horn is the inimitable “Aoogha” horns on the Model T and Model A Fords of the 1920’s and early 1930’s. They were loud and very effective.
Since the 1930s, manufacturers have experimented with the basic Klaxon-type diaphragm and sound chamber to produce a variety of sounds. The goal generally is to produce horns that are pleasing to the ear but still able to penetrate the low frequency rumble of traffic noise. For example, up until the mid-1960’s most American car horns were tuned to the musical notes of E-flat or C. Today, because cars are soundproofed better, they are more frequently tuned to notes F-sharp and A-sharp which are a bit more penetrating.
Today the design of automobile horns has entered the digital era with some car horns being really just powerful speakers driven by electronic circuitry. However, along with such high-tech designs, the old fashioned vibrating diaphragm car horn still thrives. The reason for this is simple; it simply works well and is a good example of staying with a technology that simply does its job and does it well.
Article Courtesy of: Thompson Chrysler
