Fire Salvage
Infernos and Ephemera
By the late nineteenth century there were Fire Salvage Teams in some British cities. These crews would attempt to salvage materials and goods from blazes, and to protect stock from water damage from Fire Brigade hoses. In the days and weeks following fires, some businesses opted to sell fire-damaged stock. Below you can find two pieces of ephemera, one from 1911 and one from the 1930s: both are interesting items of dual use.
This postcard reveals the damage to Denniss Paine & Co, Maidstone in Kent on 17 December 1910. The fire started in the drapery department of Paine’s, the ‘Universal Provider’, and took the life of an errand boy, Oliver Hammond. Staff and customers were on the premises, and some escaped by jumping from windows. Damage was estimated at between £60,000 - £70,000. The exact cause of the conflagration was put down to a Christmas display called ‘Fairyland’, which featured dolls dressed as fairies. Suspicion fell on ‘glow lamps’ hanging from electric wires suspended from the ceiling (see ‘Inquest on the errand boy’, Kent & Sussex Courier, 23 December 1910, p. 4). The card serves two purposes: it presents a newsworthy image on one side, and the other side is used to advertise a sale of stock salvaged from the premises, set for 19 January 1911.
Advert for Denniss Paine & Co, Pawnbroker, from 1909 (Kent & Sussex Courier, 13 August 1909, p. 5) draws attention to the ‘Two large Fireproof Strong Rooms’. Their department store was located elsewhere, on the High Street.
A decade previously Denniss Paine & Co had secured salvaged stock from the premises of Messrs Richardson, Tee & Rycroft, Portland Street in Manchester – which must have been worth their while, considering the expense of transporting the stock to Kent. Linen and cotton sheets, tea towels and fabrics of all kinds were for sale, and ‘a large portion’ was described as being ‘damaged by waster only’. (‘Great fire at Manchester’, Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser, 18 July 1901, p. 5).
This flyer from the 1930s drew attention to regular sales of ‘Fire Salvage, Railway Lost Property, Manufacturer’s Job Stock and Bankrupt Stock’, arranged by F.W. Trevett, on Fridays and Saturdays in Poole in Dorset. Here, 5,000 ‘Lovely Soft Yellow Dusters’ might be got at a knock-down price, and other stock on sale included blankets, sheets, pillow cases, towels, tablecloths, rugs, clothes (including vests, knickers and stockings), as well as ‘other items too numerous to mention’. The auctioneer suggests that ‘Boarding House Proprietors’ and landladies might be especially interested in these sales. What makes this piece of paper ephemera particularly delightful is the second and third uses to which it was put. Simple calculations are made on the front of the advert, across the top. Turning it over, someone has done calculations on the reverse in a neat and tidy hand.