When bicycles first appeared upon the streets of the United States and Europe, they were required, by law, to have a bell . Many ingenious bicycle bells or "alarms" as they were called made it to the market. One such bell was Hill & Tolman's Automatic Alarm. This bell was mounted upon the upper stem of the brake spoon of an Ordinary or high wheel bicycle just in front of the head and above the tire of the front wheel. Pushing the thumb lever forward caused a wheel on the underside of the bell to engage the front tire. This in turn rotated a striker that rung the bell. The sound is reminiscent of an old fashioned telephone or alarm clock.
