1908 Postcard Robertsdale Indiana Hammond Fire Department Firefighters IN for Sale

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1908 Postcard Robertsdale Indiana Hammond Fire Department Firefighters IN For Sale

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1908 Postcard Robertsdale Indiana Hammond Fire Department Firefighters IN:
$499.99

This 1908 postcard shows the winners of the World's Championship hose race: their time was 55 seconds. They were from Robertsdale, Indiana, Company #2, which is within the city of Hammond, Indiana, a nearby city to Chicago.

Approximate size: 5.5 inches x 3.5 inches

The postcard does not display a date. I did research on this particular championship and have concluded that it's from 1908, based on newspaper articles I found from the time and the look of the postcard itself.
Firematic racing (or Drill Team racing) is a name for a type of recreational competition among the firefighter teams involving timed completion of tasks related to or simulating common firefighting activities. The sport, which can be known under different names, exist in other parts of the world.
Ever since the beginning of the fire service, when ladders, hoses - and even buckets - were invented as a way to extinguish fires, there was always a spirit of competition among firefighters as to who could be the first to extinguish the fire. In these early days, a monetary reward was paid to those who were able to extinguish a fire. Out of this spirit of competition grew a unique form of racing team, which although can be found in a few different areas across the United States, has its roots with and is most widely practiced in the Long Island region of New York State.
What began long ago as simple, unsophisticated footraces have evolved into season-long competitions between numerous rival racing teams, with several different classes of competition, along with officiating and modern equipment. The sport has evolved. In mnodern times, the Joe Hunter Memorial Scoreboard is used at drills to keep the competitors and fans aware of the event standings as well as the point standings for the whole drill.
A new another new addition has been Drill Team Radio which broadcasts live on an FM signal at almost every drill. The Broadcast is also streamed live via the internet for fans living across the country and abroad to be able to listen to the drill.
The hose competitions are broken down into Old-Fashioned and Motorized groups. In the Old-Fashioned competitions, contestants will either run down the track carrying lengths of hose, or pull lengths of hose down the track on a small two-wheeled cart. At the hydrant end, one person has the job of attaching the hose to the hydrant, then waiting to open the hydrant at exactly the right time, timing it so that as the last competitor, who is at the nozzle-end of the hose, reaches the point where the hose is fully extended down the track, the water is just coming to the nozzle tip, at which point the nozzleman aims the water at a flip-up target positioned at the end of the track. As the target gets triggered, the timer stops the clock.
The modern-day motorized version of these events are very similar, except that the racing trucks begin from a starting line at the head of the track, loaded with all the racing team members. After racing down the track a specific distance, the truck either stops at the hydrant (for the Class-B event Motor Pump) to hook up and pump from the hydrant, as other team members run down the track with the nozzle, or (in the case of Class-B and Class-C racers) slows to let off team members to hook up one end of the hose to the hydrant, then races down the track, laying hose as it goes, until it reaches a point where it has to stop again to let off the nozzlemen who continue to hook up the nozzle, then wait for water so that they can hit the target.
The first reference photo is of an article printed in The Lake County times (Hammond, Ind.), July 16, 1908. This article discusses leading up to the hose race event on August 1st.
The second reference photo is of an article printed in theThe Lake County times (Hammond, Ind.), August 4, 1908. This article discusses what happened during the hose race event on August 1st.The first article reads:
"Expects to make a killing. Robertsdale Fire Department is Working Hard to Win the Honors at Firemen’s Annual Tournament Held in August.
MANY PERSONS WATCH THE LURES
Spectacular Hose Drill Hundreds to Witness Drills and Robertsdale Squad Enjoys Distinction of Having Chairmen Schauf and Simon on its Ranks.
The Robertsdale volunteer fire department expects to make a killing this year at the annual tournament of the Volunteer Firemen's association. The tournament will be held at Crown Point this year. August 1, and it is safe that in every town in the country where there is a volunteer fire department that there are feats galore and that if each department could equal some of the records that it is making during these weeks of practice every department would be entitled to the cup.
The Robertsdale department holds its practices on Lake Avenue, near the Lake Front park and every night when its ____ people intending to go to the lake stop on the road and watch these heroes in their drills.
To see this score of men in action is certainly worth while to see and it may not be many years before these drills are a thing of the past when Robertsdale will have been equipped with a regular department.
Robertsdale intends to win the cup this summer and the way the men go at it shows that they mean business. They enter into the work with an enthusiasm that is praiseworthy and while they are all able to fellows there is good discipline ____ thinking himself superior to another in the ranks. This spirit of discipline is bringing about effective work and gives much promise for the department.
Hone Drill Spectacular.Probably the most spectacular drill is that of the run with the hose cart. The twenty men make the dash like a whirlwind and woe to the man that makes a misstep. He will be dragged along in the mad whirl until he finds himself in the ditch brushing off the macadam and ____ estate that he has gathered in his fall.
Robertsdale is handicapped in making the run with the ladder wagon. The wagon that is used is only an improvised affair on four wheels but the boys hope that they will make good at Crown Point just the same when they drill with the regulation wagon.
The ladder climbing stunt was made 5t record time several time and if this can be repeated at Crown Point there is no reason why Robertsdale should not score on that point the Robertsdale volunteer fire department is made up of the cleanest and strongest men that Robertsdale has ____ show.
All Strong Men.Most of the men are young fellows just entering the prime of their lives and here and there Is none with a premature gray hair on his head, but the younger ones have nothing over the older men. In fact the whole department does good team work which is very encouraging for the tournament and which will certainly be a blessing to Robertsdale some day.
The Robertsdale fire department has also the distinction of having the two county chairmen in Its ranks. Ed Simon, the democratic county chairman, who is the founder of the association and F. Richard Schaaf, the Republican county chairman, who is a member by virtue of his residence in Robertsdale.
The men in the Robertsdale volunteer department are as follows: C. F. Elliott, chief; C. Stross. A. Stross, J. Blaul. C. A. Ashline, Ed Slmcn. J. Wickhorsf. Julius Linneman, F. Richard Schaaf. E. Freese. F. Ruehler, T. Smith, J. Smith. R. Hazelitt, T. Novak, E. C. Holmes, If. Theisen. H. Fggers. F. S. I,ingham. W. Eggers, J. A. Sharp, A. Hazelitt. T. Roland. T. Nicholson, J. Stross, D. Peterson, J. Cross and E. Peterson.
The second article says:
ROBERTSDALE.The Robertsdale Side of It.The Robertsdale Volunteer Fire Company attended the annual tournament at Crown Point Saturday, accompanied by fully 150 rooters from this place and as usual brought home a number of prizes after a very hard fight. The first prize offered was won by our boys fair and square, as Whiting had one man in their team who answered to an other man's name at roll call. Robertsdale protested.
The prize for best appearance in the parade was also captured by them, which made the boys with the $375 worth of clothes on pretty sore. When the first race was called but two teams responded. Whiting team was so sore because Robertsdale protested in their attendance, that they acted like a lot of first year school children and refused to enter any of the races. In the first race Robertsdale won the. hose race, hands down, beating Crown Point by 7 seconds. This nearly broke their hearts as they thought they had this race on ice, so they filed a protest against Robertsdale.
It seems as though they couldn't understand how they could be beaten so easily, but did our boys show a yellow streak and go howling around and telephoning their friends as home that they were being cheated and barred out of the races? No! They acted like men, and when the call came for the hook and ladder race, they were there and did their best. Crown Point winning the race by two seconds. The next race was also won by Crown Point, our boys coming in second.
The Robertsdale boys would have won this race, but the plug was set. seven feet back from the street in the alley. The boys made the run in twenty-five seconds, but not being used to run seven feet back in an alley to couple on the plug, did not have it quite tightened when time was called, the team receiving a penalty of three seconds for this, losing the race to Crown Point by one second.
Again the boys had a chance to protest, but did they do it? No, they took their medicine like men. When the executive board met in the evening Robertsdale withdrew their protest against Whiting and the prize for at tendance was equally divided between the two. After that was disposed of.
Crown Point's protest against Robertsdale was taken up, after a large number of witnesses were examined, the both threw out the protest, awarding Robertsdale the banner, which our laddies fought so hard to win and which is now on exhibition at the fire station.

Please inspect the pictures, as they give the best representation of condition.May have discoloring, edge or corner wear, marks, creases, fading, smudges, corner or edge bends, tears, or corners missing.

(C36 inventory number)