Scream Masters were a short-lived brand of sirens created by a company also known as Scream Master, in La Verne, California. They were manufactured in the early 1950s as a local option for an air raid siren, with a rugged and low-maintenance design.
Scream Masters are incredibly simple in design, with the siren's motor, rotor and stator standing underneath a large mesh and steel shroud, held up by two arms on the stator, very similar to Federal's Model 5. They are 15HP, and came in two different ports: 6/8 dual tone, and 9 port single tone.
In Long Beach, CA. There Is A Scream Master Missing Its Housing Showing Off Its 6/8 Chopper!
Scream Masters were mainly sold in California, with several cities having large systems that featured these alongside Federal's 500-SHTT and SD-10, H.O.R.'s vertical sirens, and B&N Mobil Directos. Due to being a small company, they never got to sell far beyond California.
While they proved to be very reliable sirens, Scream Master just didn't have the resources to compete against Federal, and production of these sirens ended by the late 1950s as the 500-SHTT and SD-10 proved to be better.
Unfortunately, all Scream Master sirens were disconnected in the 1980s, along with the rest of California's Cold War civil defense system. While a few have been removed due to construction, many still remain on their poles, waiting for the day that they'll see action again. Evidently, a few are still connected to power, as a 9-port Scream Master was set off in the middle of the night by a vandal. Despite having sat for over 40 years, the siren fired up with no issues, proving how reliable these are.
With none in private collection, the recording of the vandalized Scream Master is the only way we know what these sound like, and that is likely to remain the case for a long time. Little else is known about them.
A 9-port Scream Master, missing its shroud.