A building element a la Meancoast

We spent this miserably cold and wet Saturday helping our granddaughter Carrie move out of her apartment. She lives on the second floor of an old apartment building in Cleveland Heights, and several of us were lugging stuff down the stairs, out the door, and into the truck. Repeatedly opening the door was slowing us down, so someone had to be on door duty to speed up the process. While tending the door, I found myself staring at this strange object on the wall in the entry hall. We think its original purpose must have been to buzz the resident (just press the buzzer next to a name) and announce your arrival into the speaker. The speaker could apparently be lifted and lowered by the "arm" that you can see hanging to the left. An antiquated intercom/speaker system that is no longer needed. Today we just used our iphone to buzz Carrie when one of us wasn't tending the door. The blipper Meancoast has a great series of "building elements," so I dedicate this blip to Mo from whom I got the inspiration.

Weather update: Cold, wet, and currently snowing rather steadily! No inspiration to be found anywhere else, so I'm thankful I spotted this little gem of an anachronism!