Fire Bucket, "Goodyear / 13"
date: label: date made
content: late 19th to early 20th century
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: While leather buckets were generally quite durable, they were still susceptible to rot. After Charles Goodyear discovered the rubber vulcanizing process in 1839, many firefighting companies switched from leather to rubber buckets. While natural rubber deforms when warm and turns brittle when cold, vulcanized rubber (which has been cured using high heat and the addition of sulfur) is durable, smooth, and resistant to chemical attack. Vulcanization technology made rubber a practical and widely usable material. The turn of the century, when rubber buckets were in greatest use, was a transitional period between the old leather buckets and twentieth-century metal buckets. This bucket, made of rubberized canvas and manufactured by the Goodyear Rubber Company of New York, is an example of a bucket from this period.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: classified
content: Fire Fighting
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Fire Fighting and Law Enforcement
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2005.0233.0255
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0255
objectType: label: Object Name
content: bucket, fire
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: canvas (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: rubber (outside material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 12 in x 8 in; 30.48 cm x 20.32 cm