PLEASE NOTE: We will be BACK IN THE OFFICE on TUESDAY 01/28 catching up from Travel and Shipping out the Mountain of Orders we received!!
We will be Listing, Packing, & SHIPPING again as of TUESDAY 01/28!!
Update 01/26/25: WE ARE still EXPERIENCING SOME TECHNICAL ISSUES WITH non-PayPal CREDIT CARD PURCHASES!!
If you would like to PAY for an Artifact with a CREDIT CARD, please email and I will get an invoice emailed to you ASAP!
We are HAPPY TO ACCEPT YOUR ORDERS during this time, and we will promptly SHIP MOST orders within ONE Business Day of Receipt of Payment!
And, as always, if you would like to fund your $100.00+ order through a Bank that offers ZELLE, ASK ABOUT our ZELLE DISCOUNT!!
That DISCOUNT also applies to PayPal GIFT (Fee-Free), Check, and Money Order payments!!
Thank you for visiting. We hope you will find some vintage artifacts here on our site to add to your collection.
We look forward to serving your collecting needs, Ron & Kanae
ARTIFACT:
Great, circa 1900 coin silver suspension badge for the Rainbow Fire Company of Reading, Pennsylvania. The badge portrays a fireman's helmet and scrolling hose and is named to "Chas. S. Bernhardt", suspended below are beautifully engraved and carved, entwined letters "R", "F", "C", and "O". An article in the Reading Eagle, dated February 6th, 1917 (link below) informs of driver raises, new appointments, and members of the company, in addition to plans for an anniversary celebration, the article also declares Charles Bernhardt as a chemical engineer for the company which by that time had grown into a department with fourteen volunteer companies.
(http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19170206&id=EZktAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wp0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3970,709208)
According to lore, the Rainbow Co. is named such because during a dispute over the new name during a meeting being held in a tavern, a rainbow was spotted after an afternoon thunderstorm. The Rainbow Fire Co. was a bucket brigade from its organization on St. Patrick's Day, 1773 until the first hand-drawn/ hand-pumped fire engine arrived for the company in 1820, by 1860 the engines were steam powered, and the company was fully motorized in 1923. I believe this badge may have belonged to the oldest fire company in the country!
(http://www.readingpa.gov/content/reading-fire-department-history)
VINTAGE:
Circa 1900
SIZE:
1-1/2" wide by 2-1/2" high.
MATERIALS / CONSTRUCTION:
Coin silver.
ATTACHMENT:
Horizontal pin with "C" catch.
MARKINGS:
None.
ITEM NOTES:
This is from a large collection, which we will be listing more of over the next few months. MEJX07 LDGEX2/15
CONDITION:
8- (Excellent - Very fine): Minor wear; slight tarnishing.
GUARANTEE: As with all my artifacts, this piece is guaranteed to be original, as described.
