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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]