Fires, Firefighters, and Fire Companies

A postcard showing New York City firemen with their new motorized aerial ladder truck, probably sometime in the1910s. "Battalion 2" is inscribed in the stone above the arch of the building in the background, which turns out to be a firehouse located at 92 Lafayette Street in New York City. Amazingly enough, the building is still standing one hundred years after the firemen posed with their new equipment, and you can take a look at it using Google Maps view . No longer a firehouse, the building is now home to the Downtown Community Television Center , "a community media center located in Manhattan's Chinatown on Lafayette Street."

"9704. Fire Headquarters, Creston, Ia. 1902. C.F.D."

"Liberty Steam Fire Engine & Hose Co., No. 3, 517 N. 9th St. (Liberty Square), Lebanon, Pa." Printed on the back of this postcard: "24222 - Pub. by Harpel's Art Store, Lebanon, Pa. Officers. President - James E. Fisher. Vice-Pres. - Frank W. McAdams. Secretary - Jno. H. Kochenderfer. Treas. - Jno. Werner. Chief Eng. - James Wagner. Driver - Jacob Copenhaver. Hose Chief - E. G. Meily. Organized July 1872. Equipment - 1st size Clapp & Jones Engine & Hose Wagon." According to an article that appeared in the Lebanon Daily News on April 22, 1970, p. 19, this was one of a series of fire company postcards published by Harpel's Art Store for the thirty-third annual convention of the Pennsylvania State Firemen's Association, which was held in Lebanon on September 10 to 14, 1912. Similar postcard views of other firemen posing with horse-drawn equipment in front of their stations were common in the early twentieth century. Here are some additional examples:

"Hook & Ladder No. 1, responding to an alarm, Providence, R.I."

"Reading Fire Dept., on Penn Square, Labor Day, Reading, Pa." Printed on the back of this postcard: "Pub. by W. Chas. Lewars, Reading, Pa." The Reading Fire Department, Reading, Pennsylvania, marches in a Labor Day parade with horse-drawn fire equipment in this undated postcard view.

Postcard published by Rudolph Bros., New York City, and postmarked Aug. 26, 1922. According to the Butler Volunteer Fire Department 's Web page, the Bartholdi Hose Company No. 2 was established in Butler, New Jersey, in 1908, and the postcard view of its fire engine and firehouse (above) dates to 1922 or earlier. When I checked Google Maps, I was amazed to find that the Bartholdi Hose Company , as recorded by Google in 2013 (see screen capture below), looks much the same as it did 90 years earlier!

This is a screen capture from Google Maps showing the Bartholdi Hose Company in 2013. For more information, see the postcard view of the Bartholdi Hose Company, Butler, New Jersey, ca. 1920 (below).

That's John C. Kindler, who was the fire department chief in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in the driver's seat of his 1913 Studebaker-Flanders automobile. His passenger is Edward Halbert, assistant chief. Note the fire gong and the two fire extinguishers mounted on the side of the vehicle. The setting shows Front Street in Harrisburg , with the benches and trees of Riverfront Park across the street and the faint blue of the Susquehanna River barely visible in the background.

"The Fireman. A Dealer in Chops." Axe chops, of course, not pork chops!

"Eugene O. Chase, Second Leading Hoseman, Danielsonville, Ct." For other firemen's calling cards, see Fireman Calling Card , C. H. Moscrip, H. G. Phelps Hose Company No. 1, Sidney, N.Y. , and Fireman's Card .

An unused sample calling card for a fireman. For other firemen's calling cards, see Eugene O. Chase, Second Leading Hoseman, Danielsonville, Conn. , C. H. Moscrip, H. G. Phelps Hose Company No. 1, Sidney, N.Y. , and Fireman's Card .

"C. H. Moscrip, Sidney, N.Y. H. G. Phelps Hose #1. M. W. A. - #8777." For other firemen's calling cards, see Eugene O. Chase, Second Leading Hoseman, Danielsonville, Conn. , Fireman Calling Card , and Fireman's Card .

"25 Firemans Cards, 20 cts." A card pasted in an "Agent's Sample Book" that was issued by an unidentified calling card company. For an example of another card that was in the "Agent's Sample Book," see Comic Imp Card: I Am ________, Who the Devil Are You? For other firemen's calling cards, see below for C. H. Moscrip, H. G. Phelps Hose Company No. 1, Sidney, N.Y. , Eugene O. Chase, Second Leading Hoseman, Danielsonville, Conn. , and Fireman Calling Card .

"Grand Fireman's Dress Ball, American Fire Company, No. 5, at Fulton Hall, on Friday evening, March 8th, 1872. John Snyder, president, Rob't McDonnell, sec., Sam'l H. Price, treas. Tickets one dollar, to be prepaid."

"Fifteenth Annual Ball of the Reliance Fire Co., January 1st, 1879, Lady's Invitation."

The men of the Marion Hose and Steam Fire Engine Company, No. 10, of Reading, Pennsylvania, sponsored a trip, probably as a fundraiser, to Springfield, Massachusetts, where they dined on beef and turkey at the Hotel Gilmore on October 7, 1909. This keepsake menu for the meal was printed in portrait orientation over a postcard of The Connecticut River at Springfield, Mass., Mt. Tom in the Distance, 1909 (see below for the original landscape version). Hotel Gilmore, A. E. Smith, mgr., Springfield, Mass. Marion Hose and Steam Fire Engine Co. No. 10 of Reading, Pennsylvania. Dinner. Consommé Printiniere. Baked bluefish, parsley sauce. Catsup, pickles, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish. Fillet of beef larded, mushroom sauce. Roast young turkey, giblet sauce. Lettuce-celery salad. Mashed potatoes. Mashed turnips. Green peas. Rice pudding. Pies: apple, mince, peach. Coffee, milk, tea. October 7, 1909. Allied Printing Trades Council, Union Label, Springfield.