If you’ve followed this blog for a while you know I write fiction, and I iron my sheets. So that’s about all that’s really exciting in my life.
Actually, I do other stuff just like all of you. And one of things I do is hunt down antique fire equipment to oh and ah over.
Some years ago, I even wrote about those amazing machines from our past. That was the first $100 from my pen, and I would have paid the magazine to print my article I was so excited to create it. Here are the opening pages.
The images in my article were all original photos from those early days. The main page photo was of the Hunter Street Fire Station in Stockton, CA. The fire fighters were testing the Button Hand Pumper.
Below are some photos I took at the Pioneer Memorial Museum in San Francisco and at Columbia State Park in northern California. You can see how colorful these beauties were.
Protection Company Engine, 1849. One S.F.’s first fire engines. |
The Papeete cost $1800. It arrived in Columbia, CA in 1859. |
Another Protection Company Engine, 1849. |
Quote of the Week: “There is no subject so old that something new cannot be said about it.” Dostoyevsky
Have you seen a hand pumper, especially one in action? Next week I’ll show you some at a Muster.
Alexa S. Winters says
This is so cool! 😀 I feel like I'd heard before that fire engines used to be different colors, but I had no idea they were so instrumental in what went on in the early US. Can't wait to read what else you have to say about them!
Alexa
thessalexa.blogspot.com
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C. Lee McKenzie says
Thanks, Alexa. Glad it interests you.
DMS says
I have never seen one working in person or actually seen one in person either. Definitely an interesting topic to learn more about. Thanks for sharing your article with your newsletter.
~Jess
C. Lee McKenzie says
I hope you found the article interesting. And thanks for subscribing, Jess.
Heather M. Gardner says
This is really great. I had no idea you had such knowledge! 🙂
Did I ever tell you my husband sells fire apparatus?
True story.
Heather
C. Lee McKenzie says
I wonder if he's seen some of these beauties? What a contrast between what he sells today and what he would have sold in the past centuries!
Shannon Lawrence says
I'll have to remember that when I go to a local castle. They have a tiny museum in a part of this castle for the history of fire fighting in the region.
C. Lee McKenzie says
Yes do that. I never miss a chance to visit a fire museum.
Joylene Nowell Butler says
I visited the museum while I was in the UK last June and it was FABULOUS. I raised 5 sons, so firetrucks, firemen, and big honking fire hoses were a popular thing when my kids were little. Didn't take much to hook me. Then we created our own fire department at our lake and my husband was the chief. Talk about seriously wonderful times. Your photos are awesome, Lee.
C. Lee McKenzie says
I love your story about the boys and your own fire department. That does sound wonderful.
Loni Townsend says
Those are pretty cool looking. They've got so much personality. No wonder you like them. 🙂
C. Lee McKenzie says
Each on's unique and very special.
M Pax says
Cool. We could geek out together at museums. 🙂 I love history. My subject of total geekery is Sumer. I wish the fighting would stop in Iran so I could visit.
C. Lee McKenzie says
Yes! Let's geek together one day.
Crystal Collier says
I've seen those before, but the history and how it used to be a community obligation to man them rather than a city/county one, that's the aspect that fascinates me. How did people survive?
C. Lee McKenzie says
A lot of towns burned down, and if you read my article you'll find out that happened a lot because of the firemen. Sometimes those boys behaved badly.
Sherry Ellis says
I have never seen a hand pumper. Those are interesting! Thanks for sharing the photos.
C. Lee McKenzie says
You must see at least one. Bubba would love it.
klahanie says
Hey Lee,
I know, you've been wondering why I'm way down here in your comments section. Of course, what with me taking so long to get here, your vast amount of other adoring fans had already responded. So here I am, way down here.
Fascinating stuff. Great post! Thanks for sharing! Following!
Ahem, notice I wont even leave the slightest hint of an innuendo in regards to, "The Amazing Hand Pumper." Which means I wont make any mention of a hand pumper in action, or my teenage years…
As usual, your starstuckest fan,
Gary 🙂
C. Lee McKenzie says
You may be at the bottom here, but you're at the top of my list! So glad you refrained from going into your teen years though. This is a site with a g rating. I don't want to lose my license.
klahanie says
Ah yes, a "G" rating, aka "Gary" rating. Your license is safe. I'm on the blogging monitoring committee!
C. Lee McKenzie says
And why didn't I know G stood for Gary? Maybe all the Gs stand for Gary. Sounds possible to me.
Denise Covey says
I love old things too but not as much as my husband. He's an ebay demon. 🙂
C. Lee McKenzie says
Ha! Well, if he finds one of these beauties on ebay tell him to buy. 🙂
nashvillecats2 says
This was most interesting to look at and read Lee.
Yvonne.
C. Lee McKenzie says
Thanks, Yvonne. Appreciate the visit.
J.H. Moncrieff says
Wow, those are surprisingly beautiful. I have to admit I've never seen one before.
C. Lee McKenzie says
You must see one in person to appreciate the art work.
emaginette says
I've never seen one in action, but no doubt they saved lives and property. It's amazing what people have invented over the years. 🙂
Anna from elements of emaginette
C. Lee McKenzie says
Some of these machines are still working! Just not at real fires.
Nicola says
What a fascinating past time. Much better than ironing! YUK! My sheets never see an iron unless my mother comes to visit 🙂 She's also a sheet ironing person. Anything I can pull of the dryer and fold with only a few creases goes straight in the wardrobe :)Have a great week!
C. Lee McKenzie says
I stop at sheets, but your mom and I would get along.
Yvonne Ventresca says
I didn't know about this interest of yours. Fun! Love old photos.
C. Lee McKenzie says
It has be rather buried since I started writing fiction, but now it's time to return to other things I enjoy.
Beverly Stowe McClure says
Oh, goody. I'd love to read the article. My husband was a firefighter for 35 years, but I know very little about the early departments and trucks. Sounds great.
C. Lee McKenzie says
That's fantastic! I hope the article is interesting. I'm sending it out this week.
Birgit says
I am a dirty girl…that is all I have to say:) These old Fire engines are great and I love the beautiful painted detail. I watched a program last week where this place restored an old Fire truck for a museum. Very cool. Now about ironing sheets…why? Do you have some German in your or something:)?? (I can say that as my mom is German)
C. Lee McKenzie says
Not German, but Swiss–at least partly–and Irish. I think it was my Irish side that did this ironed sheet thing to me.
Jemi Fraser says
Those are awesome pics! Congrats on the article!! 🙂
C. Lee McKenzie says
I love taking pictures of these things.
Yolanda Renee says
I agree with Chrys, ironing sheets. Acutally, it was something I did as a child. That and all the laundry using a roller on the washer to wring out the water. Then hanging all the laundry on a line or several lines in the yard. In the winter it was hung in the basement. I don't iron sheets today but I do fold them as soon as they come out of the dryer. I'd love to sleep on ironed sheets, but I won't break my back to do it. 🙂
Love old things, all old things! Love the first published story!
C. Lee McKenzie says
Ah, yes. The old roller wringer. My gram had one of those. I ran my arm though it a few time. Hurt like the devil.
Kelly Hashway says
Growing up, there was a farm we'd pass an it had an old machine in one of the fields that my cousin and I called the dinosaur, because it really looked like one peeking up out of the grass. We always looked for it.
C. Lee McKenzie says
Do you think it was an old piece of fire equipment?
Chrys Fey says
I think the most shocking thing in this post is that you iron your sheets. LOL!
Those are neat contraptions.
C. Lee McKenzie says
I'm a princess when it comes to sheets. I can't stand un-ironed ones. That's my only fetish. Promise.
Medeia Sharif says
I love encountering antique and vintage items. They really make me think about how people used to live. I haven't studied any item in particular, but I'm interested in phones.
C. Lee McKenzie says
I keep an old dial phone so that when we lose electricity and my cell's dead, I can call out. Kids love to play with it. They've never seen one.
Shooting Stars Mag says
Interesting topic; thanks so much for sharing! That's exciting you were able to get paid to write about a topic you loved – that's the dream, right? haha
-Lauren
C. Lee McKenzie says
Always a good goal. Write. Get paid. Do it again.
Nick Wilford says
Wow, they really put a lot of work into crafting those! I imagine hand pumping was pretty hard work too… hmm, that might have come out slightly wrong.
C. Lee McKenzie says
What is it with the men on this blog today? You can definitely tell the difference between how guys think and how the opposite sex does. I'm going to have to be very careful about my titles from now on.
Lexa Cain says
Those pumpers were so colorful they look like circus wagons! You should totally write a historical about a fire company – I bet you'd really enjoy writing it. 🙂
(Thanks for commenting on my blog. The shiny refrigerator pic was off the net – just a stand in for my kitchen, which is much smaller. Although my fridge is only a year old, it isn't one of those stainless steel beauties. I'm normally too ashamed of my horrible tablet and phone pics to put something of mine up, but the cement disaster needed documentation 'cause who'd believe me otherwise? LOL! It's all been fixed now and they did it with relative ease. I was just shocked at the first impression.)
C. Lee McKenzie says
So glad the clean up went well. That was one super mess!
Kelly Steel says
Looks like a beautiful equipment. I wish we had these here.
C. Lee McKenzie says
They're very romantic.
DEZMOND says
I don't think I've ever seen a fire engine in my life… fire doesn't really follow me, thankfully
C. Lee McKenzie says
Really? No fire engines? Wow!
Patricia Lynne says
You would be my nephew's best friends. He loves all things firetrucks and I bet would love seeing and learning about older ones.
C. Lee McKenzie says
Hope you'll share my article with him. Let me know what he thinks.
Mark Noce says
Very cool:) My grandfather was an SF Fire captain for most of his life, and we've still plenty in the family:)
C. Lee McKenzie says
I admire the fire fighters. They really do one hard and dangerous job.
Sarah Foster says
Those hand pumpers are very cool looking. That's great that you got paid to write an article you were so excited about!
C. Lee McKenzie says
It was. And I should have just framed the check.
Pat Hatt says
The cat has a dirty mind lol great how they have been restored, looking all shiny new.
C. Lee McKenzie says
You and Alex seem to be of like mind. I knew the guys would enjoy my title,
Hilary Melton-Butcher says
Hi Lee – I love old equipment – just wish I knew how it worked … but getting swamped with cold water wouldn't impress! I've had enough of rain storms recently …
I do iron my sheets – they've been done this week! Mind you I could use one of our steamrollers the engineers bring out each August … to iron my sheets flat for a year?!
Cheers Hilary
C. Lee McKenzie says
Remember those mangles? If I had room, I'd get one of those and press everything!
Southpaw HR Sinclair says
The hand pumper is a beautiful piece of equipment.
C. Lee McKenzie says
'Tis, indeed!
TBM says
I think I remember you mentioning that you iron your sheets, but it still took me by surprise. But hey, whatever floats your boat.
How neat that was your first paying writing gig. Seems fitting considering your passion.
C. Lee McKenzie says
Maybe that supports the "Write what you love" motto!
Susan Gourley/Kelley says
I've never seen one in action but I have seen them. Modern fire equipment is so expensive it's a major fundraiser for small communities.
C. Lee McKenzie says
It's so exciting. The steamers are most impressive.
Bish Denham says
They made things look so pretty, artistic even. I'm going to look forward to reading the article!
C. Lee McKenzie says
It was great fun to write.
Heather R. Holden says
Whoa, those are really cool! I especially like the look of the Papeete…
C. Lee McKenzie says
The art work was spectacular.
Natalie Aguirre says
Awesome this was your first writing article where you got paid. Love the look of the first page.
C. Lee McKenzie says
It's always special–that first check for writing. I guess that's why I want to remember the article.
Alex J. Cavanaugh says
That's cool it was your first paying gig. Looks like people have been good about restoring those old fire pumps.
I knew what you meant by your blog post title, but my mind went elsewhere anyway…
C. Lee McKenzie says
I knew someone was going to go there!
sage says
that old equipment is interesting. Those hand pumpers could shot a stream of water 200 feet or so–quite a feat. Have you been to the fire dept museum in Virginia City? There is also a decent book on the fire department history of the town (Red Shirts and Leather Helmets: Volunteering Fire Fighting on the COmstock Lode" by Steven Frady)
C. Lee McKenzie says
I have been to the Virginia City fire dept. museum. Many years ago. It's time to go again. Thanks for the book title. I'll look it up.