"Absolute protection from the rascals with the dark lanterns and jimmies."
New York Times, March 8, 1890
On March 8, 1890, the New York Times published an article about two rival security companies. One, the Holmes Electric Protective Company, had been selling alarms for more than thirty years. The other had been doing so for just eighteen months. Now the presidents of the two companies were at war.
The president of the Electric Protective Company was Edwin Holmes, who regarded himself as having pioneered the electric burglar alarm. He had enjoyed a monopoly over the home security market for many years and viewed his opponents at the Metropolitan Burglar-Alarm Company as thieves who had stolen his invention. In fact, he had bought the patent for the burglar alarm from Augustus R. Pope in 1857. Pope's original patent document of 1853 shows a simple system of magnetic contacts and switches attached to doors and windows. These were linked to a bell in the homeowner's bedroom that would ring if any of the switches were closed. Holmes took Pope's basic design, improved upon it, and then marketed it to New York's elite. His customers included banks, jewelers, and many expensive stores.
W. R. Alling's Metropolitan Company entered the marketplace in 1880, after an earlier skirmish with Holmes over patent infringement. The going rate for monthly security services swiftly plummeted from between $15 and $30 to less than $10.
