Firemen's Washing Day

William P. Chappel

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The two brigades depicted here on Bowery (likely from nearby Fire Houses 1 and 2) are killing two birds with one stone. On the one hand, they are following regulations mandating the regular washing of the brightly painted manual pump engines. On the other, the fiercely competitive companies are showcasing their respective pumping prowess for an admiring public. By the early 1800s, firefighting was becoming more professionalized, and companies developed into tightly knit fraternal brigades of working-class volunteers. Each company also had a fan base, usually boys who hung around the fire houses. Chappel has included two examples of such fans at lower left.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art