~ Business card for T.E. Cornish, seller of the Holmes' Burglar Alarm Telegraph, c. 1890

The Holmes Burglar Alarm Telegraph was the first "modern" burglar alarm. Not only did a bell ring whenever a door or window was opened from the outside, but it also alerted a central security office. The first models needed specially installed telegraph wires, but eventually they could use existing telephone lines. And it had it's own cute little cabinet "house" which is very steampunk: