Not all toys were made by large manufacturers. In some cases, firefighters and fire buffs took matters into their own hands, building scale models by hand.
Cardboard, wire, small strips of wood, and various household items would be combined with glue and paint to create amazingly detailed models. A thimble might become a hose strainer, a small bottle could become a steam boiler, or an empty spool of thread might be fashioned into a hose reel.
It takes creativity, ingenuity, and an impressive amount of patience to build many of these models, but the results are often breathtaking works of art. To the left, you can see a small sample of some of the models currently on loan to the Fire Museum from Bill Clague. Bill is a modeler with great skill, and it shows in his models.
