<I>The Darktown Fire Brigade - Hook and Ladder Gymnastics: Brace her up dar! and cotch her on de fly!</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1887-1912
name: label: Illustrated by
content: Currier and Ives, American, 1834 - 1907
label: Published by
content: Joseph Koehler, American, 1893 - 1912
notes: label: Description
content: A lithographic print titled, The Darktown Fire Brigade - Hook and Ladder Gymnastics: Brace her up dar! and cotch her on de fly!, from the "Darktown Comics" series by Currier & Ives. The color lithograph is printed on cream colored paper and depicts a caricatured fire brigade attempting to save burning house and its inhabitants. The nine (9) firemen are all wearing similar uniforms: black firemen's hats, red shirts, blue pants, and brown boots. On the left is a burning white, clapboard house. A woman wearing a white cap and white nightgown is standing behind a second-story window, leaning out with her arms extended upwards. She is looking toward a man in a nightgown, depicted in the top center of the image, clinging to the top of a ladder that is falling away from the burning building. A black cat is mid-air, appearing to have jumped from the window. A fireman is just inside the first-floor doorway. Most of the firemen are illustrated in the foreground, engaged in a variety of activities. Two (2) firemen struggle with the ladder holding the man in the white nightgown. Another fireman stands behind the ladder, with his proper left arm raised towards the falling man. On the right, a fireman stands atop a ladder on a wheeled cart. He holds a lance in his hands, pointed at the backside of the man on the falling ladder. Two (2) firemen depicted in front of the cart are holding spraying hoses. The hoses have holes in them and are leaking as the water coming from the nozzles arcs over the wagon, missing the house. Two firemen with horns are depicted in the background on the far right. Small black printed text under the image reads [CURRIER & IVES SERIES. No. 10 COPYRIGHT 1887 BY CURRIER & IVES. NEW YORK. JOSEPH KOEHLER, PUBLISHER, NEW YORK, U.S.A.]. Printed below is the title of the piece printed in large black text that reads [THE DARKTOWN FIRE BRIGADE - HOOK AND LADDER GYMNASTICS. / Brace her up ar! and cotch her on de fly!]. The back of the print is plain.
label: Statement
content: Objects depicting racist and/or stereotypical imagery or language may be offensive and disturbing, but the NMAAHC aims to include them in the Collection to present and preserve the historical context in which they were created and used. Objects of this type provide an important historical record from which to study and evaluate racism.
place: label: Place printed
content: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Caricature and cartoons
label: Topic
content: Stereotypes
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Racist and Stereotypical Objects
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Collection of James M. Caselli and Jonathan Mark Scharer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2007.7.371
objectType: label: Type
content: lithographs
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Public domain
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: lithographic ink , paper (fiber product) , wood and glass
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 11 15/16 × 17 11/16 × 1/16 in. (30.4 × 45 × 0.1 cm)