History of Fire Companies Recalled by Notice in Baker Library---Mayor and Council Went to Fire in Full Regalia

The above notice, the original of which has recently been presented to the Baker Library of the Business School dates from the very early days when fire fighting, instead of being a purely personal matter, began to be conducted by an organized group. The first volunteer fire company was started in Philadelphia about 1740 by Benjamin Franklin and the system soon spread to the rest of the colonies. Before the introduction of these companies every respectable house holder kept a pair of leathern buckets in his room. When a fire occurred the townspeople pulled out the fire engine, a crude, hand-worked pump which they kept filled by means of bucket chains extending to the nearest lake or river. One of these engines is shown in the accompanying picture with a fireman on top directing the liquid stream.

The fire companies more or less organized this system, providing an engine house for the pump, and delegating only a certain proportion of the population to the duty of fire fighting. At every outbreak, the firemen of different ranks were there in full regalla, distingulshed by white leather painted caps with gilded fronts, ornamented by the insignia of the engineers, fire wardens, or ordinary firemen. The mayor, recorder, and aldermen were also supposed to be present, although their value as fire-fighters was problematical, and could be known by their white wands with a gilded flame at the top. Perhaps it was from this arrangement, which glorified the American love of uniform and title, perhaps from the fact that the fire-house provided a comfortable meeting place, that the fire companies soon became social as well as utilitarian organizations. They were the forerunners of the future mushroom growth of fraternities and orders in the United States, and with their regalias, officiaidoms, and regular meetings furnished the model for subsequent convivial groups.