This rectangular wooden box was an early type of foghorn used on small coastal vessels in the late 19th century. Using two leather bellows, and a metal crank handle on side to operate bellows, this style of foghorn was portable and able to operate without power, which was useful for use on the ships themselves. This particular foghorn was found in the home of Captain John J. Christopher of Hopewell Cape. 

While the first steam-powered or automatic foghorn was invented in 1859 by Robert Foulis of Saint John, New Brunswick, many manual foghorns were used up until the early 1950’s, and were kept at stations in the case of emergencies well into the 1990s. Along with the lighthouse beacon, these inventions have been credited as the greatest saver of seamen's lives and ships worldwide until the invention of radar.