Fire Helmet, "Hook & Ladder No. 15"

unknown · 1800 or earlier

This high-crowned, leather work helmet dates from around 1790 to 1810 and lacks the thicker, elongated brims and detachable shields of later-nineteenth-century work hats. The text “Hook & Ladder No. 15” is painted in black directly on the hat’s front. This hat is one of the earlier examples in the firefighting collection, and its four combs distinguish it from simpler eighteenth-century “stove-top” style hats which were made from a single piece of leather.