The life of a fireman: the ruins--take up"--"man your rope."" – Historic Reproduction
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
This rare antique lithograph captures The life of a fireman: the ruins--take up"--"man your rope."" in remarkable detail. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.
Framed, it is ready for the wall; unframed, it is ready for the frame you choose. It makes a striking addition to a living room, study or office, and a thoughtful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Since 2001, Snapshots of the Past has shipped historic prints to tens of thousands of customers around the world.
The life of a fireman: the ruins--take up"--"man your rope.""
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Here firemen labor through the wreckage of a burned building, and the title's commands, "take up" and "man your rope," point to the hauling and pulling that clearing a ruin demanded. The print is titled *The Life of a Fireman* and was issued by Currier & Ives in New York around 1854, with Louis Maurer's signature on the image. Volunteer companies of the period often fought blazes by hand, so scenes like this one show the physical danger behind the romance of the fire engine. Chromolithographs such as this were popular and affordable, bringing images of city firefighting into middle-class homes.
| Created / published | New York : Published by Currier & Ives, c1854. |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 print : chromolithograph. |
| Genre | Chromolithographs 1850-1860. |
| Notes | Artist: Louis Maurer (signature on image). Currier & Ives : a catalogue raisonné / compiled by Gale Research. Detroit, MI : Gale Research, c1983, no. 3788 Published in: Viewpoints; a selection from the pictorial collections of the Library of Congress .... Washington : Library of Congress ..., 1975, no. 105. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 1,536 × 1,108 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-175518 |
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