Transistor radio

[guitarman314]

Wow, at least you guys had bikes. I used to actually run on foot to fire calls from E60/L17/Bn14 firehouse in the South Bronx. Many times I got into the boxes first because knew all their boxes.

 

[efd274]

memory master - yes, Tito Francona came up with the Orioles and played for several teams

 

[tl-ff]

Wow, at least you guys had bikes. I used to actually run on foot to fire calls from E60/L17/Bn14 firehouse in the South Bronx. Many times I got into the boxes first because knew all their boxes.

Horses didn't go that fast, so it was easy for you to keep up. LOL.

 

[68jk09]

Obviously you guys are right about Bobby Grimm....i guess they were still touting it a lot in '57 when i was around there because a girl i met lived next door to Grimm's bar......as far as the transistor radios...i looked thru my collection of many , many radios mostly FD from Fire Pal '61 on to Uniden bc550xlt & found i still have transistor music radios.....1 Soundesign & 1 Magnavox Spatial Sound both traditional almost pocketsize small version's as well as a slightly larger Meriton (which i still take to the beach).....as far as bicycles i remember wearing out the sidewall of the tires with the old pull chain bicycle siren.....on one bike i had one on the front fork & one on the rear frame. 

 

[grumpy grizzly]

Man did this post get interesting!!!!!!

 

[mack]

Bob Grim - (Wikipedia) He was born in New York, New York.

He was signed as an amateur free agent by the New York Yankees in 1948. His Major League debut was on April 18, 1954 for the Yankees. He wore uniform number 55 for the Yankees during his entire period on the team. He won 20 games (the first Yankee rookie to win 20 since 1910) and lost only 6 that year, with a 3.26 earned run average, and was voted American League Rookie of the Year, with 15 votes out of 24. He played in two World Series for the Yankees, in 1955 (against the Brooklyn Dodgers) and in 1957 (against the Milwaukee Braves). By 1957, because of arm troubles, he became an exclusive relief pitcher. He has been retroactively listed as leading the American League in saves in 1957 with 19 (At the time, saves were not a regularly calculated statistic). He was an All-Star in 1957.

On June 15, 1958, he was traded, along with Harry Simpson, by the New York Yankees to the Kansas City Athletics for Duke Maas and Virgil Trucks. The A's assigned him uniform number 34.

 

[efd274]

Harry Simpson's nickname was "Suitcase" because he was traded so often and reportedly always had his bags packed!!

 

[nfd2004]

as far as bicycles i remember wearing out the sidewall of the tires with the old pull chain bicycle siren.....on one bike i had one on the front fork & one on the rear frame.

Chief, I had one of those pull chain bike sirens also. When you pulled on the chain the tire spinning would cause the siren to spin too. It was actually pretty loud. I think I thought I was the third due engine coming in on the All Hands. And I had apair of boots in my basket on the back of the bike.

 

[811]

The faster you went, and the harder you pulled the chain, the louder it got.  I don't remember wearing out any tires like chief did, but one time I was "responding" down the block from the local firehouse so fast, and pulling so hard, I lost control and crashed the bike sending me skidding along the street a good distance!  Banged up the front wheel of the bike and my entire right arm had an abrasion that took off a few layers of skin (Ouch! still remember the pain).  Never told my folks the "accident"  was siren-related or else that would have come right off the bike.

Also, if you ever lost the rounded knurled piece that contacted the tire, you had to find a suitable replacment, the exposed threads were not long enough to work on their own. I must have went though at least 3 or 4 of these in those days.

 

[memory master]

And then there was the battery operated siren mounted on the handle bars of the Schwinn Jaguar. Of course one ha

 

[memory master]

As I was saying before I messed it up.......one had to save those weekly quarter allowances for the two "D" batteries it used.

 

[68jk09]

811 nice pictures......maybe you did not wear out your sidewalls cause the company you Buffed was not as "busy" or maybe your runs were not as long  .

 

[mack]

1963 (Circa) Firestone Commercial (Color)

Anyone remember this commercial from the 60s?  This is an early fire department-related TV commercial.

 

[nfd2004]

The faster you went, and the harder you pulled the chain, the louder it got.  I don't remember wearing out any tires like chief did, but one time I was "responding" down the block from the local firehouse so fast, and pulling so hard, I lost control and crashed the bike sending me skidding along the street a good distance!  Banged up the front wheel of the bike and my entire right arm had an abrasion that took off a few layers of skin (Ouch! still remember the pain).  Never told my folks the "accident"  was siren-related or else that would have come right off the bike.

Also, if you ever lost the rounded knurled piece that contacted the tire, you had to find a suitable replacment, the exposed threads were not long enough to work on their own. I must have went though at least 3 or 4 of these in those days.

  Thanks "811". Yeah, thats the bike siren. I don't know where or how you guys find this stuff.

  And "mack", I never saw that Firestone Commerical. I sure would have remembered it if I did. But I do want to tell you that when I went on the FD in 1975, we had a ladder just like that. The city bought it from someplace called New Rochelle, NY for $5,000.00. Thats right, 5 with three zeros. It came from a firehouse on Weaver St, and we called it "The Weaver Street Special".  Wow, what a Tank. It had no seat so we sat on a wooden sodabox. If OSHA only knew then. I hated that big old Monster, but you could hit it with a sledge hammer and not put a dent in it.

 

[mikeindabronx]

Bill..I thought I saw one of those mounted on your fender the last time we were at Wendy's.

 

[efd274]

Thank you all for the memories!! Sure beats video games!!

 

[raybrag]

Newport News, VA still has an open-cab ALF 500 (the TDA in the video is a 500), only it's is a pumper rather than a ladder.  The Newport News shops upholstered its seat . . . like you said, it was a wooden box.  It's been re-powered with a diesel, and is used for parades & funerals.  It's a handsome machine.  And, Willie, the rig you rode from New Rochelle had to have been more than 30 years old when your dept. got it . . . the last 500 rolled off the line in 1941.

 

[nfd2004]

Ray, that rig was. The dept had bought that rig to use as a spare. They were already using it when I went on in May, 1975. As a matter of fact, the day I went for my medical exam, there was a job just up the street. My brother was with me and that ladder was in service. My brother laughed his butt off at it. (We were both FDNY Buffs at the time). I think Norwich, Ct bought that about three years before I went on. So maybe 1972/73.
  Of course in a small dept, everybody has to drive and tiller. I would have traffic backed up for blocks as I tried to manuover that rig into the firehouse. That look nose in front, and big overhang in back, no power steering, and no automatic transmission. It reminded me of a big oversized TANK. Not really my idea of driving a fire truck. Even in the 70s.

 

[mack]

1941 ALF 500 Series:

That was a 1963 Firestone commercial and they filmed a department using a 1941 hook and ladder. No wonder Firestone had so many problems. You would think they could have filmed a more modern ladder turning out using Firestone tires.