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1924 Lowell Massachusetts Fire Truck Wrecked Building Collapse Glass Negative
Original, one-of-a-kind (OOAK) camera-original antique gelatin silver glass plate negative captured in April 1924: a dramatic scene of early American firefighting history: a crushed and shattered municipal aerial ladder fire truck buried underneath tons of collapsed brick masonry and splintered timbers following a catastrophic commercial building fire in downtown Lowell, Massachusetts.
Accompanied by both of its original vintage darkroom morgue filing sleeves bearing contemporary newsroom documentation:
The Outer Envelope Inscription:
Name: Lowell Fire Truck
Order: Wrecked at Fire / 1924
The Inner Card Inscription:
Lowell Fire Truck - Wrecked. April 1924.
Historical & Fire Service Significance:
During the industrial boom of the early 1920s, dense commercial architecture and timber-framed textile city centers in the Merrimack Valley faced severe conflagration risks. This remarkable on-scene press field exposure captures the danger of urban firefighting: a sudden exterior wall collapse that came crashing down directly onto an operating Lowell Fire Department aerial ladder rig, crushing its chassis and ladder under tons of debris.
Captured on location from a high angle with lens sharpness:
The Crushed Apparatus: The heavy wooden aerial ladder extends at a steep angle, surrounded by structural devastation. Below it lies the mangled fire truck undercarriage, wooden artillery-spoke carriage wheels, twisted truss framing, and tons of broken red brick and mortar.
The Fireground Action: On the left, Lowell firemen in traditional rubber turnouts, wide-brimmed leather fire helmets, and boots stand among wet cobblestones, surveying the wrecked apparatus while pressurized hose lines snake across the street. High-pressure water monitors spray streams into the smoldering brick building carcass in the background.
Tonal Fidelity: Balanced continuous-tone silver gelatin gradation separating the wet cobblestone reflections, spray vapors, brick rubble, and clothing textures.
Specifications:
Format: Heavy antique silver gelatin press glass plate negative, exposed directly in a field camera in April 1924.
Archive Ephemera Included: Accompanied by both the original outer tan kraft darkroom filing envelope and the original inner archival card.
Please Note: This listing is for the original antique glass plate negative and its period paper archive sleeves only. Any positive photographic images shown in this listing are modern inverted digital scans provided solely as a visual representation to show what finished photographs print like. No physical paper photograph, modern print, or paper product of any kind is included with this purchase.
Very Good to Excellent antique condition. The heavy glass plate is structurally sound, stable, and complete with no cracks, breaks, or chips through the glass body. The silver gelatin emulsion is remarkably clean, sharp, and tightly adhered across the entire image field, preserving fine definition across the wreckage, apparatus, and firefighters. Faint handling wear confined strictly to the extreme outer rebate borders outside the primary image area. Accompanied by both original period paper and kraft morgue filing sleeves.
The glass plate negative measures 4 x 5In.
If you collect glass negatives, please check out our collection in our store. We are currently listing thousands of original glass photo negatives from this DJD collection through the remainder of the year. Follow our store, and feel free to reach out about any questions about the negatives in this collection.
Ships with extreme care in archival materials to ensure safe transit. Feel free to reach out with any requests or questions).
Combined shipping is available (with other glass negatives)
