Fire company certificate containing five vignettes bordered by patriotic and firefighting iconography. Vignettes depict the Fairmount Waterworks, including boys fishing on the canal lock; a circular industrial building, possibly the Spring Garden Water Works; company volunteers rushing hand pumps through Fairmount past Reservoir Hill; the station dog sleeping near the company steam engine in front of the firehouse on the 2200 block of Wood Street; and volunteers, surrounded by a crowd of spectators, fighting the fire at a large city building. Iconography includes helmets with the company number "25," fire hoses, trumpets, and belts as well as the American eagle holding the U.S. shield and flanked by flags over the company motto "Our Motto is Our Name, Always Ready for Public Good." Also contains the company institution and incorporation dates (1834 and 1851, respectively)., Signed Quintin Todd, Secy., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 320, Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Certificates - Fire Companies - Good Will Hose and Steam, P.S. Duval & Son was a core partnership between Peter S. Duval and his son Stephen that operated under various names and incarnations between 1857-1869. The firm name P.S. Duval, Son & Co. was cited in city directories 1868-1869.
Creator
Bosch, A. H., artist
Date
[ca. 1868]
Location
Historical Society of Pennsylvania HSP Certificates - Fire Companies - Good Will Hose and Steam
