Trucks, 1930

This is a picture of a fire truck in the '20s.

TThe favorite fire truck of many of us was a Model-A Ford truck constructed locally, somewhat like this one, except that ours had/has a pump on the front. When I was four or five, as I recall, I went with Daddy to the site on Depot Street where a large steel tank lying on the ground was being cut up with a welding torch to provide material for the new fire truck's body. I don't remember who was doing the cutting, perhaps L. C. Jackson, perhaps Rufus Rider, perhaps Jim Wall. I remember that the tank was rusty and that it had holes in it. The truck came from the dealer with a frame, an engine, the front end, that is, the chassis. The firemen had to cut the steel, straighten out the curvature of the tank and bend the steel to form a box for carrying the hose, nozzles, and other equipment. I remember the truck being at Uncle Roch's house next door at some time during its construction. One of the distinctives of the truck was the water pump on the front end so that the truck could be started easily.

This is a 1919 American La France fire truck, very much like ours except that ours came with solid rubber tires.