Occupational Shaving Mug: The John Bull No. 1 Steam Engine with two open coaches

John Bull Steam Engine No. 1

This rare occupational shaving mug shows a clear image of a unique and historical train engine: The Robert L. Stevens or John Bull Steam Engine.

Fig. 7 shows the celebrated John Bull, which is now in the National Museum, Washington, D. C. It was the first engine for the Camden and Amboy Railroad, now a part of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It was designed and built by Stephenson & Company, of Newcastle upon Tyne. This engine represents another step in locomotive construction, for while it somewhat resembles the De Witt Clinton, the cylinders are placed at the smoke box end of the engine, and the smoke box is of the same pattern as used to-day; both these improvements were embodied in the before mentioned Planet engine designed by Stephenson early in the year 1830. 

- From The Evolution of the American Locomotive

Close-up of the John Bull No 1 engine

Close-up of the two open coaches

The John Bull and train as it looked in 1831; drawn by Isaac Dripps in 1887.

Only a year after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&0)  tested Peter Cooper’s American  built engine in 1830, New Jersey’s fledgling Camden and Amboy Railroad ordered a locomotive for its service from Robert Stephenson and Company (C&A) in Newcastle, England, builders of the most modern and sophisticated engines in the world.  Upon completion and testing the engine was disassembled and crated up and dispatched to the States on a Trans-Atlantic Packet. 

The crates were disembarked on September 1.  The parts arrived without plans, drawings, or assembly instructions of any kind.  It was left to C&A engineer Isaac Dripps to figure out how the hell to put the damn thing together and get it to run.  He must have been pretty good because the company was able to run their tests in just two weeks.  The test proved two things—that the engine did move very well, at least over short distances, on rails, and that the boiler did not blow up. 

The company was scrambling to lay track and operating limited passenger and freight operations with horse drawn cars.  As a marketing and public relations ploy it was decided to run an excursion over the test track with the new engine on November 12.  State legislators, local dignitaries, and Napoleon’s nephew Prince Achille Murat and his American born wife, Catherine Willis Gray were among the guest passengers.  Mme. Murat was so eager to be remembered as the first woman to ride a steam-powered train in America that she jostled ahead of other ladies to step into one of the open coaches first.  And it must have worked, because here we are remembering her. 

A few weeks later, the engine finally entered revenue service.  The company designated it as No. 1 and named it Robert L. Stevens after the president of the C&A.  Railroad employees, however, were soon calling the engine Old John Bull in honor of its English origins.  That was soon shortened to John Bull.  Over time the nick name supplanted the official name.

- From John Bull Pulls his Weight

Soon after the engine arrived, the Camden and Amboy mechanics made the following changes and additions: As the railroad curves were very sharp, the coupling rods and cranks were removed and a lateral play of 1-½ in. given to the leading axle, to which a cowcatcher was connected. The wooden wheels were replaced by cast iron wheels. The dome was moved forward to the former man hole and the boiler lagged with wood. A bell was placed on the boiler and a headlight on the smoke box. A new tender was subsequently built, having a small cab on the rear for the accommodation of a brakeman, who, if anything went wrong with the cars, could signal the engine driver to stop. The engine then presented the appearance shown in Fig. 8. From a cut in the Railroad Gazette of March 9, 1877. it appears that a cab and a large wood-burning chimney were subsequently added, but both these were removed some time before the engine was placed in the United States National Museum.


As far as the writer can discover, this was the first engine equipped with a bell, headlight and cowcatcher, although bells were used on English locomotives as far back as 1827.

- From The Evolution of the American Locomotive 

The John Bull in 1877

On September 15, 1831 it ran for the first time—a test run—on this side of the Atlantic in New Jersey.  Exactly 150 years later it became the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian Institution fired it up and ran it out on September 15, 1981.

- From John Bull Pulls his Weight

The John Bull today in the National Museum, Washington, D. C

More information:

John Bull Pulls his Weight
The Evolution of the American Locomotive
The National Museum of American History
Wikipedia: John Bull Locomotive

Occupational Shaving Mug: Horse Drawn Steam Fire Engine for the New York Fire Department for George P. McKenna

Occupational Shaving Mug:
George P. McKenna N.Y.F.D.

The scene is intense and dramatic: three horses pulling a steam fire engine, a driver leaning forward holding the reins, two helmeted fireman on the back. Smoke and a hint of flame rise out of the boiler. There is a sense of dynamic action. They are on their way to a fire. The name on the mug is George P. McKenna. Beside the name are the initials,  N.Y. F. D. - the New York Fire Department.

The New York Fire Department is one of the oldest in the country, tracing its beginnings as far back as 1648. From a brief mention in the Fire Protection Service, Volume 79, 1920 , George P. McKenna worked as a Battalion Chief for the Fire Department in the 1920s. And seeing as The New York City Fire Museum states that "the last horse-drawn engine was put out of service in December of 1922," this dates the mug accurately.

It is one of the finest mugs in the collection, not only for the quality of its craftsmanship, but for its prestigious history.

Occupational Shaving Mug:
George P. McKenna N.Y.F.D.

Engine No. 8
Horse-drawn Steam Fire Engine
for the New York Fire Department

"Until the mid-19th century, most fire engines were maneuvered by men, but the introduction of horse-drawn fire engines considerably improved the response time to incidents. The first self-propelled steam-driven fire engine was built in New York in 1841. It was the target of sabotage by firefighters and its use was discontinued, and motorized fire engines did not become commonplace until the early 20th century." 

- Wikipedia: Fire Engine

source

"The 20th century saw a change in how the FDNY fought fire. When New York City was consolidated in 1898, the Department went from being led by three commissioners, to one, John J. Scannell, and the incumbent Chief of Department, Hugh Bonner. These two men took command of 989 paid firefighters from Brooklyn and Long Island City, 3,687 volunteers from Queens and Staten Island, and controlled 121 engines, forty-six trucks, a hose wagon, and a water tower. 

"With a greater number of people and square mileage to protect, the FDNY had to adapt new firefighting strategies. The Croton Aqueduct had provided New Yorkers with plenty of water for drinking and bathing, but there wasn’t enough pressure for the demands of high-rise firefighting. During the first decades of the 1900s, the city built four high-pressure pumping stations. As technology improved, these stations were replaced, during the 1950s, by apparatus that could pump 1000 gpm of water. 

"After the tragic Triangle and Equitable building fires in 1911 and 1912, the Department aggressively inspected buildings, enforced fire codes, and investigated arson through the Bureaus of Fire Prevention and Fire Investigation. This also marked the time when the FDNY recognized the equal importance of fire prevention and suppression. 

"Just as the volunteers were slow to give up their hand-drawn pumpers, the paid department was slow to make the transition from horses to the internal combustion engine. Motorization of the department began in 1911 and the last horse-drawn engine was put out of service in December of 1922. This, like many other department changes, was necessary to keep up with the demands of the growing city."

- The New York City Fire Museum

Source: Public Domain Review

Fire Protection Service, Volume 79, 1920

"RANK OF ACTING CHIEFS 

Proposed Alteration in Organization of New York Fire Department
A committee of battalion chiefs and captains of the New York Fire Department called on Commissioner Drennan recently to place before him the proposition of abolishing the Acting Chiefs Battalion, in the interests of uniformity and permanent rand and also to show Mr. Drennan how it can be done economically.  

The committee consisted of the following: Battalion Chiefs James W Hefferman, Patrick Walsh, Richard Marshall, Luke Flanagan and George McKenna, and Captains John J. T. Waldron, Edward Flaherty, Ferdinand Buetenerhorn and James Purdy. The committee was told the matter “would receive due consideration at the proper time.” 

- Fire Protection Service, Volume 79, 1920

Occupational Shaving Mug:
George P. McKenna N.Y.F.D.

Occupational Shaving Mug:
George P. McKenna N.Y.F.D.

Occupational Shaving Mug:
George P. McKenna N.Y.F.D.

Occupational Shaving Mug:
George P. McKenna N.Y.F.D.

Occupational Shaving Mug:
George P. McKenna N.Y.F.D.

Occupational Shaving Mug:
George P. McKenna N.Y.F.D.

I also discovered this for a younger McKenna, perhaps a son?

"First Grade Fireman George McKenna receives the William H. Todd memorial medial of valor from James Herbert Todd, Jr., grandson of the founder of the Todd Shipyards Corporation, for his heroism in attempting to frustrate the suicide leap of John Warde from the Hotel Gotham, Manhattan, last July. Fireman McKenna was lowered by ropes from the 18th floor in an effort to catch Warde. The presentation was one of many made at the World's Fair to members of the Police and Fire Department who performed conspicuous acts of bravery during 1938." 

- Brooklyn Eagle, June 2, 1939