135 results for: Government and Public Services
Dietz lantern for fire engine pumper American LaFrance, ca. 1907
The LaFrance Fire Engine Company was established in the 1830s in Elmira, New York, and manufactured fire engines, ladder trucks, ambulances, and rescue vehicles. The company opened a Canadian plant in Toronto, Ontario, and eventually moved headquarters to South Carolina, before ceasing operations in 2014. This lantern comes from a LaFrance engine pumper that was used by the Seattle Fire…
ID Number:1964.3281.1a
Date:Circa 1907
Foghorn from fireboat, "Snoqualmie," 1890
The "Snoqualmie" was Seattle's first fireboat, launched in 1891. The steam-powered vessel was docked on the waterfront at the foot of Madison Street where Seattle Fire Department Station No. 5 was located. "Snoqualmie" worked the frontlines of waterfront firefighting until she was replaced by the gas-powered "Alki" in 1927, and ultimately retired from service in 1932. This "Hansen" foghorn was…
ID Number:1964.3281.3
Date:1890
Stainless steel Lungmotor, used by the fire department, ca. 1915
The lungmotor was invented in 1913 and these devices were used widely by fire departments, hospitals, and mining companies. This hand-operated respiration machine worked by pushing the handle down to force air and/or oxygen into the patient's lungs, and raising the handle to suction out the air. This particular device was used by the Seattle Fire Department in the early…
ID Number:1964.3411.1
Date:Circa 1915
Fire alarm telegraph, ca. 1890
The Great Seattle Fire in 1889 cleared the way to build a new city and prompted the need for a professional fire department with new technology. A fire alarm telegraph, like this one, would reach five stations at once.
ID Number:1965.3520.14
Date:Circa 1890
Fireman's hat, ca. 1880s
This Foreman's hat from the Seattle Fire Department is dated to the time of the Great Seattle Fire.
ID Number:1965.3520.15
Date:Circa 1880
Fireman's speaking trumpet, ca. 1900
The Great Seattle Fire in 1889 cleared the way to build a new city and prompted the need for a professional fire department with new technology. This brass fireman's speaking trumpet was used by the Seattle Fire Department.
ID Number:1965.3520.16
Date:Circa 1900
Full model of ferry boat Kalakala made by Mr. Lou Proctor, ca. 1930s
The builder's model was made by Lou Proctor in 1933 while temporarily laid off from the Boeing Company's model shop. This model was used in lieu of drawings; lines were lifted directly from the model for construction of the stylish streamlined superstructure. The Kalakala, in operation on Puget Sound from 1935-1967, was designed and built to be fast, to look…
ID Number:1965.3540.8
Date:Circa 1930-1940
Chief Battalion 7 fireman's helmet presented to Olympic Hotel manager Frank Hull, 1936
This fireman's helmet was presented to "Honorary Battalion Chief, Frank Hull" by the Seattle Fire Department in 1936. Mr. Hull was manager of the Olympic Hotel in Seattle.
ID Number:1966.3963.1
Date:Circa 1936
Desk of Arthur Denny, ca. 1850-1860
Arthur Denny used this, his personal desk, as the mail distribution desk when he was appointed Seattle's first postmaster on August 27, 1853.
ID Number:1968.4366.2
Date:1850-1860
Telephone handset made by Universal High Power Telephone Co., 1917-1933
The "Wonderphone" featured a large transmitter assembly designed to overcome losses in early telephone lines. The Universal High-Powered Telephone Company was located at Carleton and Eddy Streets in Seattle.
ID Number:1968.4479.4
Date:1917-1933