Snapshots of the Past

Boston firemen. Cleaning the machine, Plate No. 1 – Antique Print

Boston firemen. Cleaning the machine, Plate No. 1, c1851 May 29. — historic print
Boston firemen. Cleaning the machine, Plate No. 1, c1851 May 29.. Historic print from the Fire Engines collection.

(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

Step back in time with Boston firemen. Cleaning the machine, Plate No. 1, a historic print rich in period detail. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.

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Boston firemen. Cleaning the machine, Plate No. 1

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Boston firemen cleaning the machine shows a crew scrubbing and polishing a hand-pumped engine, a routine chore that kept the brass and wood apparatus ready for the next alarm. The record credits the lithograph to J.H. Bufford, a Boston printmaker, and lists John Prince as the person who entered it in 1851, with the date given as c1851 and marked unverified. Before Boston's fire service became professional, its companies were largely volunteer, and pictures like this one reflect the pride that crews took in their engines.

Created / publishedc1851 May 29.
Medium1 print.
NotesThis record contains unverified data from PGA shelflist and PAGA catalog cards. Entered 1851 by John Prince. J.H. Bufford, lith. MF-3A. Associated name on shelflist card: Bufford. PAGA card tracings: Fire engines; Prince, John.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,536 × 907 px · prints to 5 × 3 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-110342

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