It may not count as a museum, but... When the volunteer fire companies were replaced by a paid department in Philadelphia, PA (1870), some of the volunteers formed a Veteran Firefighters Association. Among their activities were the preservation of the uniforms, equipment, and vehicles that had belonged to the volunteers. They moved to a new hall in 1897, where these things were displayed. I'm not sure if they were displayed elsewhere before that. A large part of the collection went to the Bucks County Historical Society in Doylestown, PA around 1916. BCHS has done a lot to document and preserve this collection. Mary Catherine Bluder, Curator America On Wheels P. O. Box 950 Allentown, PA 18105-0950 [log in to unmask] On Mon, 16 May 2005 15:59:01 -0500, Hugh Genoways <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> Dear David: >> The current fire museums in New York and Boston both claim very recent >> founding dates in the AAM Directory: >> >> New York City Fire Museum--1987 >> >> Boston Fire Museum--1983 >> >> The two that you mention may have been in operation and then >> dissolved. These are hard to track, but would be interesting. >> >> Sincerely, >> Hugh >Hugh H. Genoways >Professor >W436 Nebraska Hall >University of Nebraska-Lincoln >Lincoln, NE 68588-0514 > > >On May 5, 2005, at 10:20 AM, David Lewias wrote: > >> Interesting topic!! >> >> You asked about "specialty" musuems -- firefighting museums have as >> their origins the volunteer fire companies of the 19th century. When >> not busy fighting fires, they organized balls, competitions, and >> grand excursions to visit other fire companies. All these activities >> were accompanied with gifts -- certificates of appreciation, >> presentation items, photographs, and trophies of every sort. Naturaly >> "relic rooms" were created to house this collection -- and the rest >> (as they say) is history..... >> >> I have two short news clippings that talk about early fire museums. >> The first, ("Fireman's Journal" Nov. 6 1886), describes a "firemen's >> museum" in Boston. The second ("National Fireman's Journal, Jan. 12 >> 1874) mentions a New York City firemen's "relic room." >> >> The oldest fire company in *continued* existance (thought this too is >> contested) is the Rainbow Fire Co. of Reading PA (1773). The Liberty >> Fire Co. (also of Reading) is now home to the fledgling "Reading Area >> Firefighters Museum" which provides a fantastic peek into the fire >> museums of the past! It'll make most museum professionals cringe -- >> everything is as it was displayed 100years ago, the upulstered >> furniature is still used by the membership, they have 18ft tall >> windows on most walls (with minimal shading), and there's no labels or >> interpertation! -- but despite this all it's a neat place, and like >> most small museums, they're trying to do the imposible on a shoestring >> budget. >> >> Reading Area FireFighters Museum >> http://www.readingpafire.com/museum/museum.htm >> >> >> ----------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> - David - >> David Lewis, Curator >> Aurora Regional Fire Museum >> and webguy for the Fire Museum Network >> >> >> ========================================================= Important ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).