BUCKET BRIGADES - THE FIRST FIREMEN

There was a time when anyone who suffered loss of house or goods from fire was dependent upon charity. If they could not recoup their losses by means of assistance from their "guild" (a class or business fraternity), they would apply to the church or the king for briefs and letters entitling them to beg. During those days, methods for controlling and extinguishing fires were so rudimentary they were of little help. "The Great Fire of London," that began in a wooden house on Pudding Lane in 1666, and burned for three days, destroying 13,200 homes, 88 churches, and hundreds of buildings including hospitals and libraries, changed all that.

As they rebuilt their destroyed city, Londoners gave thought to fire protection. 1600 leather "fire buckets" were dispensed throughout town. The three gallon buckets, made of cowhide reinforced at the brim with a wooden hoop and equipped with long handle of leather covered hemp, would be used when church bells, or a huge centrally located iron alarm ring, or twirled rattles swung by volunteer outfits called "Rattle Watchers" or "Prowlers," sounded out their alarm. In many burgs, the first to ring out a fire alarm would receive a reward. The call "throw out your buckets" would be quickly heeded by all in the community. Filled fire buckets would be passed from a water source, down the line to the fire by strong-armed men, and returned by another line made up of woman and boys. This tradition had already been established in the colonies as early 1648, referring to themselves as "bucket brigades." Each quarter of the London was ordered responsible for stocking other fire fighting tools, including "fifty assorted ladders." Parishes were asked to store "pickax-sledges," two "hand squirts of brass," and "sod shovels." British archives indicate that fire fighting organizations were established. There are references to fire commissioners, engineers, and sentinels. The first British fire indemnity system, known as the "Fire Office" was modeled after preexisting marine insurance in 1667 by Dr. Nicholas Barbon.

In 1732, Charleston, South Carolina developed the first insurance scheme in America. In 1736 young Benjamin Franklin, already one of the most influential men in Pennsylvania, began urging readers of his "Pennsylvanian Gazette" to establish fire-fighting companies. Soon, six volunteer corps were established in the City of Brotherly Love. In 1752, insurance companies in the colonies began issuing plaques, or "fire marks," to be prominently displayed on building fronts as an incentive for volunteer fire fighters to save their insured buildings. With bonuses offered as incentives, rivalries ensued between groups. Marked homes and businesses were brawled over, while residences on the same street, with no fire mark, often burned to the ground. A festive occasion for fireman was the annual town parade, where each party, dressed in colorful uniforms, would march down the main street. Here too, companies sought to outdo each other. Lavish helmets and uniforms, fancy fire axes, decorative parade torches, hand painted stovepipe-shaped "fire hats," fancy painted fire buckets, and engraved silver speaking trumpets were commissioned for these parades. The speaking trumpets were sometimes used for shouting insults at rival parties. If they had a "hand pumper," an early fire truck, it was decorated too, often by celebrated artists.

The introduction of the steam driven pump in 1853, and a new order of paid professional fire fighters, brought change to the competitive, sometimes wild world of fire fighting. Many of those wonderful tools, fire marks and parade decorations are still with us. No wonder they are coveted by collectors and folk art decorators today. We'll take a closer look at these treasured antiques in future columns.