It was this week in 1852 that first alarm from a fire alarm telegraph system was received in Boston, Massachusetts.

While doing research for this post I couldn’t find two sources that agreed on the actual date, so instead of making one up, I’ll just say it was ’sometime this week’. One of the great things I love about the Internet is that anyone can write about anything that interests them and share it with the world. The down side of that is the information doesn’t have to be accurate or even true. It reminds me of a quote by the Buddha:

“Believe nothing,
no matter where you read it,
or who said it, no matter if I have said it,
unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”

The 2008 version of this quote should add “especially if it’s on the web” to the end of the second line.

If you would like more info on fire alarm boxes, the website that seemed to be the most accurate to me was, “History of the Boston Fire Alarm Telegraph System“. This page had a lot of historical dates and although they don’t credit any sources for the information the data does seem well researched. Wikipedia also has a page on fire alarm boxes.

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It was 130 years ago today that the first fire pole was installed in a Chicago firehouse.

The inspiration for this invention was credited to Chicago’s Engine Company No. 21.  This firehouse had three stories, the 1st  floor contained the the horses & firefighting equipment, the 2nd floor contained the sleeping quarters and a recreation area, and the top floor was being used for hayloft to store the winter supply of hay. The firemen kept a wooden binding pole on this floor which the they used to secure the hay to a wagon during transport. One day Firefighter George Reid slid down the pole to respond to a call for help; it was that time saving stunt which inspired Captain David Kenyon to create a permanent pole.

Would you believe that the first pole was made out of a Georgia pine beam! The shaved and sanded it until it was 3″ in diameter, then they gave the pole several coats of varnish and a coat of paraffin wax. (three floors down a wooden pole… that would be a big sliver)

The fire pole has inspired great works of art, like Gil Elvgren’s “Always Ready”, represented in this firefighter tattoo. 

If you would like more info on the history of the fire pole, check out this Wikipedia article.
To see of collection of Gil Elvgren’s pin-up work visit http://www.thepinupfiles.com/elvgrenindex.html

I’m happy to announce that the Strike the Box blog is now in full operation. I’ll use this area to keep you updated on new happenings in the firefighter tattoo community, as well as commenting on some of our tattoos that were great, but didn’t make it as our “tattoo of the week”.

This is also where I’ll let you know about new web site enhancements and upcoming changes I have planned. Enjoy the site and remember that you can always email me with any comments and suggestions you may have.

Fraternally,
Roger Hall
creator - StrikeTheBox.com