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Title: Old shagrag
Description: Glass negative showing Germantown's first fire engine, the Shag Rag, standing in a garden. The wooden machine consists of four wheels, a lever system mounted on a platform and a bucket hanging off the back. The Shag Rag was the oldest fire engine in America. Built by Newsham & Rag in England, it was brought to the United States in 1764 for the Middle Ward Fire Company of Germantown. The engine worked to both suck up water from wells and propel water onto fires. It was in use up until 1822, when the Fellowship Fire Company deemed it too antiquated for use. In 1871, it was sold to William H. Emhardt, the president of the Germantown Mutual Fire Insurance Company., Digitization and cataloging has been made possible through the generosity of David Marriott Morris, Eleanor Rhoads Morris Cox, and William Perot Morris in memory of Marriott Canby Morris and his children: Elliston Perot Morris, Marriott Canby Morris Jr., and Janet Morris and in acknowledgment of his grandchildren: William Perot Morris, Eleanor Rhoads Morris Cox, Jonathan White Morris, and David Marriott Morris., Edited.
Creator: Morris, Marriott Canby, 1863-1948, photographer
Date: 1901
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Marriott C. Morris Collection [*P.9895.7.14]

Title: [225th aniversary of Germantown parade, Germantown, Pa.]
Description: Film negative showing a group of boys walking in front of a float down Germantown Avenue in the parade for the 225th anniversary of the founding of Germantown. The float carries a man and the Shag Rag, Germantown's first fire engine. A sign on the side of the float reads "The Oldest Fire Engine And The Oldest Fireman." Spectators line both sides of the road. Patriotic bunting hangs from a building in the background. The original Bicentennial anniversary parade celebrated the first German immigrants to America and the first thirteen Quaker families who founded Germantown. A smaller annual holiday, German Day, began to be held in subsequent years in German-American communities. The Shag Rag was the oldest fire engine in America. Built by Newsham & Rag in England, it was brought to the United States in 1764 for the Middle Ward Fire Company of Germantown. The engine worked by both gathering water from wells and propeling water onto fires. It was in use up until 1822, when the Fellowship Fire Company deemed it too antiquated for use. In 1871, it was sold to William H. Emhardt, the president of the Germantown Mutual Fire Insurance Company., Title supplied by cataloger., Manuscript note on original envelope: 10-6-1908. Historical parade, being 225th aniv of Germantown Friends Meeting. On Germantown Ave., Gift of David M. Morris., Digitization and cataloging has been made possible through the generosity of David Marriott Morris, Eleanor Rhoads Morris Cox, and William Perot Morris in memory of Marriott Canby Morris and his children: Elliston Perot Morris, Marriott Canby Morris Jr., and Janet Morris and in acknowledgment of his grandchildren: William Perot Morris, Eleanor Rhoads Morris Cox, Jonathan White Morris, and David Marriott Morris., Edited.
Creator: Morris, Marriott Canby, 1863-1948, photographer
Date: October 6, 1908
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Marriott C. Morris Collection [P.2017.38.9]

Title: No. 1 The Empire Hook & Ladder polka
Description: Sheet music cover showing two fire fighters with the company hook and ladder truck in front of the Empire Fire House at Franklin Street above Wood Street in Kensington. The volunteers, attired in uniforms, stand near the rear of the vehicle on which at the harness end of the truck two trumpets hang. The volunteer fire company was instituted February 6, 1851., Copyrighted by A. Fiot., Not in Wainwright., pdcp00021, Manuscript note on recto: Philada Franklin above Wood, Price printed on recto: 37 1/2 Cts net., Dedication: Dedicated with esteem to Wm F. Smith esq. President. By his friend Ozeas H. Ramborger., Philadelphia on Stone, Free Library of Philadelphia: Philadelphiana - Fire Companies
Date: c1852
Location: Free Library of Philadelphia. | Print and Photograph Collection. FLP Philadelphiana - Fire Companies

Title: The White Turtle & the Red Crab of Philadelphia
Description: Showing the Northern Liberties Hose Company (White Turtle) and the Lafayette Hose Company (Red Crab) racing to a bonfire near Eastern State Penitentiary on July 25, 1852 during a weekend of fires throughout the city. Men from each company run side-by-side and pull the ropes hooked to their companies' hose carriages. One man from each company stands at the front of their crew and plays a bugle or yells at the team to push forward. Dogs and pigs run beside the companies, flee the scene, and get caught under the wheel of the hose carriage. Includes a view of the buildings along the street, showing people running in the distance and a sign reading "coal." The "winning" Northern Liberties Hose Company (White Turtle) had a fire house at New Market Street above Coates Street, just a few blocks from the "losing" Lafayette Hose Company (Red Crab) at Fourth Street above Brown Street. The hose companies often fought each other including at this "race" where a Northern Liberties member was stabbed., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Not in Wainwright., "Jonas" and "Priff" are pseudonyms., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 836
Date: [ca. 1852]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *BW – Fires & Firefighting [P.2008.34.17]

Title: Firemen's Department
Description: Unmounted stereograph shows firefighting memorabilia in the Firemen's Department. Identifiable items include portraits, helmets, a fire horn and a churn collected and displayed in a booth. The Great Central or Sanitary Fair held June 7-28, 1864 on Logan Circle was one of several national fairs that displayed art, craft, and historical exhibits to benefit the U.S. Sanitary Commission, a soldier relief organization., Title from manuscript note on mount., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Creator: Watson, A., photographer
Date: [ca. 1864]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - Watson - Fairs [5781.F.166d]

Title: The United States Polka
Description: Sheet music cover containing two views related to the United States Fire Company, the volunteer fire company instituted in 1811. Upper view shows the company fire station at Wood Street above Fourth. Two men stand in front of the firehouse and neighboring buildings are visible. Lower view shows volunteer firefighters, most in uniform, including an African American man, standing around their Philadelphia-style hand-pumper engine. The men wear capelets and hats. Two hold horns and another two rest their hands on the harness of the engine. Also contains a border containing ivy, ribbon, and fire fighting iconography including ladders, hydrants, hoses, and bells., Not in Wainwright., pdcp00020, Philadelphia on Stone, Free Library of Philadelphia: Philadelphiana - Fire Companies
Date: [ca. 1865]
Location: Free Library of Philadelphia. | Print and Photograph Collection. FLP Philadelphiana - Fire Companies

Title: Fairmount Fire Engine Co. No. 32, of Philadelphia [membership certificate]
Description: Honorary membership certificate containing firefighting vignettes, scenes, and pictorial elements. Shows the company horse-drawn steam engine, manned by two volunteers, racing down a street; several firefighters drawing the hose carriage while a man runs in the street beside them; and an exterior view of the station house at Ridge Avenue above Wood Street in Spring Garden. The company engine is parked in front. Also contains, at the top of the certificate, a bust portrait of the “Chief Engineer D.M.L” attired in his fire fighter’s hat and coat. Pictorial elements depict bundles of fire fighting equipment, including hats, horns, ladders, and a rope designed as side borders; eagles holding the American flag in their beaks, and swans gliding on water. Fairmount Company, organized in 1823 and incorporated in 1850, was established after the dissolution of the Whale Fire Company. Butchers comprised much of the early membership., pdcp00030, Not in Wainwright., Manuscript note on recto: Presented by Joseph W. Montgomery 529 York Ave., Issued to William McCormick on March 29, 1852. Signed Joseph S. Baker, President and Henry F. Dibbs, Secretary., Philadelphia on Stone, Free Library of Philadelphia: Philadelphiana - Fire Companies
Creator: Kurtz, Henry, ca. 1822, artist
Date: [ca. 1850]
Location: Free Library of Philadelphia. | Print and Photograph Collection. FLP Philadelphiana - Fire Companies

Title: Certificate of Honorary Membership of the Weccacoe Fire Company. Philadelphia
Description: Honorary membership certificate containing vignettes of Weccacoe Fire Company engine houses and firefighting equipment between 1840 and 1860 within a decorative border adorned with filigree, bugles, and axes. American flags, laurel wreaths, and an eagle with a shield surmounts the text in the central portion of the certificate, below which is an 1860 view of the fire company’s engine house on the 100 block of Queen Street in Southwark. Fire fighters and wagons loaded with equipment congest the street in the foreground. A large American flag flies atop the roof of the engine house. Left and right panels contain smaller views of the 1840 firehouse and its hand-pumper fire engine and the three-story, enlarged engine house and a steam fire engine from 1850. All scenes include fire fighters dressed in the red and blue Weccacoe uniform., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 98, Library of Congress: PGA - Duval - - Certificate of honorary membership (C size), Atwater Kent Museum: 88.98.685. AKM copy issued to William Schlag. Signed by the [illegible] president and Wm. B. Landon, Secretary.
Creator: Queen, James Fuller, 1820 or 21-1886, artist
Date: [ca. 1860]
Location: Library of Congress | Prints and Photographs Division PGA - Duval - - Certificate of honorary membership (C size)

Title: Illustrations of Philadelphia. Vol. X
Description: Scrapbook containing newspaper clippings and prints predominately dated 1858 and pertaining to the built environment, and social, cultural, economic, and political climate of Philadelphia. Majority of the contents are articles about city businesses, industries, and municipal services; public interest stories; editorials relating to public concerns and social mores; and reports, lists, and statistics. Subjects include the operation of the fire department, including the introduction and trials of steam fire engines, the discontinuation of fire bells, and the yearly report of the “Fire Detective”; the City Passenger Railroad, including its commencement, progress and improvements to the city, and the auction of former omnibus horses at Herkness’s Auction House; balls, parades, lectures, and other forms of entertainment, including the questionable protocols of the minor theatres, horse racing in Chestnut Hill, and the opera season at the Academy of Music; fashion, including histories of the red petticoat and crinolines, hoop skirts, and satires about style and cost; the prison system, including Eastern State Penitentiary and corruption; the Great Comet and Blizzard of 1858; the removal of the market sheds and increasing the value of properties on Market Street; the inauguration of the Schuylkill Navy; and the economic state of shad fishing and fisheries, the oyster trade, dairy owners, ice dealers, paper manufacturers, and dentists., Several articles also report about city construction, improvements, and renovations. Sites referenced include businesses on downtown Chestnut Street and in South and North Philadelphia (Bailey & Co., silverware; Levy & Cox, retail dry goods store; Caldwell & Co., jewelry; the Butler House Hotel; John McClure, stationery store; John Fuss, lager beer); Church of the Incarnation, and Pine Street Presbyterian and Tabernacle Methodist Episcopal churches; Hunting Park; and the new market house (Sixteenth and Market). Editorials address the institution of a city ordinance against public smoking; the daily inhabitants of the State House Square and Custom House steps; the plight and nuisances of city street beggars, fortune tellers, gamblers, and organ grinders; and the heavy use of opium by Americans. Additional articles discuss Christmas, including retail store windows adorned for the holiday; events and activities of local organizations, including the Washington Monument Association, American Systematic Beneficence Society, American Veterinary Association, and the Newsboys’ Aid Society; auctions by M. Thomas & Sons, including the Howard Tilden estate, the wine cellar of the late Joseph Gratz, and oil paintings sold below market value; the closing of the Jones Hotel; proposal by city commissioner James M. Leidy for the creation of ward maps to aid city development; histories of the 12 1/2 Society and Hurst Mansion; the exercise mania; lost and found advertisements; the “fogyism” and “favoritisim” of the Franklin Institution mechanical exhibitions; and views of historic landmarks and the Hope Hose Company by photographers James McClees (p. 57) and Walter Dinsmore (p. 102)., Reports, lists and statistics detail mortality and crime rates; the domestic, flour, produce, hay, cattle, and pork markets; the weather for the week, season, and year; real estate and stock sales; churches in the city; taxes; the public schools; fire companies; current town topics; and “Local” and “Noteworthy” events, fires, and railroad and steamboat accidents for the year. Also contains the “Annual Message of the Mayor” reporting on the state of the city and classifieds for patent medicines and entertainments, including fortune tellers, the National Circus, and balls and parties attended, according to Poulson, by “firemen, apprentices boys, new boys, gamblers and fancymen" who are the " ‘efficient beaus’ " of the factory girls, milliners, shop girls etc."… on the occasions.” Ephemera includes a “Ticket of Admission to ‘Franklin Hall’ " for the Heenan & Jones Sparring Exhibition., Scrapbook also contains graphics including an albumen print, engravings, wood engravings, trade cards and cameo stamps. Comic and advertising vignettes, caricatures, and advertisements predominate as genres. Comic vignettes include many satirizing the fashion of large hoop skirts. Other vignettes satirize the new police uniform, gentlemen’s collars, the Irish, and African Americans ("Baker-street beauties"). Non-satiric vignettes show predominately home furnishings and wares, including silver utensils and serving ware, boxes for papers and deeds, a wire dish cover, coffee pots and kettles, pudding moulds, perforated nursery lamps, serving platter, and a double oven cooking stove. Caricatures (some hand-colored) depict burglars (annotated by Poulson as “ ‘fair hits’ at…the inconsiderable folly of the ‘compassionate’”); "The City Inspector," i.e., a street rag picker; the crude manner of men “on the balconies in front of the ‘gentleman saloons’”; a ‘Schuylkill Ranger’ and “chocker’ gang member; “A Juvenile Party” annotated as "A fair hit at precosity [sic]"; Kris Kringle; and comparisons of country and city doctors, store-keepers, and belles., Advertisements include views of " 'Sharpless’ new store on the N.W. cor. of Chestnut and Eighth Street (Butler property)' "; Crystal Building, F.H. Smith, forte monnaie, pocket book, & dressing case manufacturer (Fourth and Chestnut); Barnes cough syrup establishment (333 Chestnut); Giovanni & Oliver, wholesale fruit store (248 Market); Bailey & Co., British sterling silver ware (819 Chestnut); Perry & Erety, booksellers, binders & stationers (Fourth and Race); Warnick & Leibrandt, Philadelphia Stove Works & Hollow-Ware Foundry (First Wharf above Noble Street); Girard House ( 800 block Chestnut); Henry O.B. Banks, paint and glass store (400 block Callowhill) French, Richards & Co., wholesale, drug, paint & glass warehouse (1000 block Market); M’Daniels & Fort, saddlery, hardware & coach trimmings (101 N. Third); Wright, Hunter & Co., plumbers and gas fitters (900 Walnut); Moore’s Porter & Ale Brewery (1300 block Fitzwater); Anspach, Jacoby & Co., dry goods (Third and Cherry); J. Thornley’s India Rubber Emporium (311 Chestnut); John C. Keller, stove manufacturer (Ridge Avenue and Willow Street); St. Lawrence Hotel (1000 block Chestnut); Merchant’s Hotel (000 block N. Fourth Street); Mansion House (1000 Market); and Weymer & Brothers, dealers in warm air furnaces, stoves, and ranges & c. (1000 block Coates). Graphics also depict a photographic reproduction of a daguerreotype of the moon, a hand-colored illustration showing lady’s "Winter Fashions," and an illustration of "Lalla Rookh, The Tight Rope Elephant" annotated “exhibited at ‘Dan Rice’s great show’ … 29th of March 1858.” Many of the advertisements include street and pedestrian traffic and merchandise displays., Majority of contents annotated by Poulson with dates and manuscript notes, particularly social commentaries., Title page illustrated with a ca. 1856 lithographer's advertisement issued by Wagner & McGuigan after the work of lithographer Maurice Traubel and artist William Croome. Depicts an allegorical, patriotic scene with the figure of Columbia, attired in a toga, American flag, and laurel wreath, and with a broken shackle under her foot as she stands on a pedestal., Front free end paper contains Poulson inscription: "The "Articles" in the book are taken from fugitive sources only; and the dates affixed to each are those of the newspapers &c from which they were procured CAP." Inscription framed with cut out containing filigree and an eagle. Clipped vignette of a pointed finger also pasted on page., "Index to set in back part of vol. XI.", Artists, engravers, printers, and publishers include Calvert & McClaine, Robert Crump, M’laughlin Bros, J.B. Neagle, E. Rogers, J. Spitall, and J.W. Steel., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Creator: Poulson, Charles A. (Charles Augustus), 1789-1866, compiler
Date: 1857-1858
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Poulson scrapbooks - vol. 10 [(10)2526.F]

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