Fire Bucket, "White Angel"
date: label: date made
content: mid 19th century
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: This hand-sewn leather bucket from 1795 is marked “White Angel.” This is an example of one of a number of poetic mottos—others include “Heart in Hand” and “Always Ready”—that were featured on buckets. These bold sayings “bring immediate visions of fighting the flames with leather.” Buckets such as this one sang the praises of their owners, and would have been used and paraded proudly. Such descriptive imagery continued to be used by firefighters long after the days of the bucket brigade were over: in 1883, the American Fire Engine Company of Seneca Falls, New York built the “White Angel” engine for use at parades and competitions.
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: 2005.0233.0264
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0264
objectType: label: Object Name
content: bucket, fire
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: leather (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 13 in x 8 1/4 in; 33.02 cm x 20.955 cm