ca. 1929
The late industrial age factories were very hazardous places as a result both of their dangerous machines and their endless fire hazards. As a result, some factory owners decided to invest in these hand-drawn carts as a form of fire safety. These carts did not use water to fight the fires but instead used a chemical called Foamite which is very similar to the chemical used in modern day fire extinguishers. Foamite worked by cutting the oxygen supply to the fire, thus smothering it.
The Foamite cart was a short-term, small scale solution for the problem of fire control. Other means of firefighting included larger fire wagons or trucks drawn by horse. The fire wagons would use water to fight a fire and were often associated with local volunteer fire departments with little funding from the government.
The Sterquell Collection currently has two of these hand drawn fire fighting carts. The one on display was made by American La France & Foamite Corporation of Elmira, New York. The hose on the cart is dated 1929 to help identify its useful life. This cart is likely older than 1929 but, there are no other means to tell the true age of the cart. It was acquired in 1976 in a private sale handled by Park Central Antiques of Dallas, Texas. For the restoration, Mr. Sterquell repainted and repaired the various parts of the cart. The members of the Amarillo Fire Department then generously bleached the hose to make it ready for display.