Firefighting on Parade

Parades were a popular form of public entertainment and, beginning with the July 4th celebration of 1824, volunteer firemen's anticipation became particularly prominent. Each volunteer fire company took great pride in the festive appearance of its banners, machines and uniforms. This exhibit features four apparatus in parade formation and the beautifully decked out Steinway hose carriage. The elegant machines are surrounded by celebratory artifacts, including a Brooklyn volunteer fire department banner, paintings on wood panels that once adorned pumpers, decorative plaques used to embellish apparatus on parade, lanterns and torches that lit up parades, and ribbons, festive belts, hats and helmets worn by the marchers.

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Veteran Pumper

This double decker hand pulled pumper was originally built for an engine company in Philadelphia. It was purchased and redecorated for the Veteran Firemen's Association of New York City to be used as a parade apparatus.

Object ID: 00.1338
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Parade Ribbons

These intricately decorated ribbons were given to firefighters when they participated in special events, such as parades, musters, or conventions. The ribbons were typically worn during the event and then proudly displayed afterwards as a souvenir.
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Steinway Hose Carriage

This hose carriage was used by the volunteer firemen of Steinway Hose Company 7, in an area now part of Astoria, Queens. The apparatus plates, plumes of feathers, and ornate lanterns elegantly outfit this apparatus for a parade.

Object ID: 10.197
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Phoenix 4

This piano style hand pumper, so called because the body was thought to resemble a piano, is pictured in parade formation with other lavishly decorated hand drawn apparatus.

Object ID: 00.1340
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Parade Hats

For parades firemen dressed up along with their apparatus. Their costume included special attire reserved for the occasion, including hats similar to the ones pictured here. The names of the fire companies and special insignia were often painted on the fronts of these stovepipe style leather hats.
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Parade Belts

Belts were another special part of parade attire and were decorated with the name of the fire company. Other elements of a parade costume might include a cape, torch, or ceremonial speaking trumpet.
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Apparatus Plates

Parades were special occasions and fire companies often tried to outdo others in terms of personal dress and apparatus decorations. These plates adorned the sides of apparatus and identified a company's "masheen".

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Our Permanent Exhibitions

One of the most interesting stories, not told elsewhere in the City, is that of the early days of fire fighting in New York. The museum is privileged to house much of the City's collection of historic firefighting artifacts, memorabilia and equipment dating from as early as the 1650s. Together our collection of documents, firefighting apparatus, fire marks, buckets, trumpets, helmets, rattles, lanterns, uniforms and other artifacts tell a powerful story of early New York, the challenges faced by our ancestors and their ingenuity and skill in preventing and controlling fires in a setting and conditions difficult to imagine today.