Hand-pumped fire engine, 1792
A hand-pumped fire engine made in Philadelphia in 1792. Water was stored in the copper lined wooden boxes, and two men (one pumping on each handle) forced the water up through the pipe on top, into a hose. (It can be assumed that a bucket brigade was used to keep the boxes filled.)
Caption: "This rare full size fire pumper is the work of Richard Mason, pioneering fire engine builder in America. He introduced end levers on pumpers. In 1792, the date on this machine, Mason completed his 117th of this engine type. As early as 1768, Richard Mason advertised in the PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE that he made and sold fire engines, of white oak or red cedar, with "the joints of the cistern lined with copper." He invited interested parties to see a demonstration of a machine which he had built for the Northern Liberties Company in Philadelphia."