Snapshots of the Past

On duty amid the encircling gloom of a city's certain destruction – Historic Reproduction

On duty amid the encircling gloom of a city's certain destruction — historic image
On duty amid the encircling gloom of a city's certain destruction. Historic image from the Fire Engines collection.

(Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

A window into the past: On duty amid the encircling gloom of a city's certain destruction, preserved in this historic image. It is part of the Snapshots of the Past archive, gathered over 25 years of research.

The framed print arrives ready to hang; the unframed option suits custom framing. It makes a striking addition to a living room, study or office, and a thoughtful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past, founded in 2001, has served tens of thousands of customers worldwide.

On duty amid the encircling gloom of a city's certain destruction

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The title frames this scene as a fire crew at work while smoke and darkness close over a city, a dramatic image of the firefighter's role in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Steam fire engines, hand-drawn pumpers, and horse-drawn hose wagons were the tools of that era, and urban fires could spread quickly through wooden buildings packed closely together. Pictures like this often served to celebrate the men who fought those blazes, and they also recorded how dependent cities were on crews working through the night.

Original scan2,168 × 1,099 px · prints to 7 × 4 in at 300 dpi
Referencetif09839_Ondutyamidtheencirclinggloomof

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Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.

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