a collection of late 19th century lithographed tin hotel building portable fire escapes

portable fire escapes date back to 18th century england, where in 1784, daniel maseres invented a machine simply called a "fire escape," a device fastened to the window of a building that would enable a person to descend to the street without injury. abraham wivell created an improved design, including an escape chute, after becoming superintendent of the "royal society for the protection of life from fire."  in 1898, henry vieregg of grand island, nebraska, patented the first american fire escape (u.s. patent 614,043) which was designed for traveling businessmen.

as building codes became more established at the turn of the 20th century, fire safety became an important concern for new construction. building owners were increasingly required to provide adequate escape routes, which ushered in fire escapes comprised of exterior wrought iron platforms, interconnected to stairs or ladders affixed to the facades of older and newly constructed buildings. not only could they be included in new construction at a low cost, but they could very easily be added to existing construction. as building codes evolved and more safety concerns addressed over subsequent editions, all construction above a certain number of stories was required to have a second means of egress, and external fire escapes were allowed as a retrofit option for existing buildings prior to 1945.

the gallery below represents three of my favorite "new old stock" portable fire escape devices (from my personal collection) that date to the late 19th century and early 20th century. each fire escape contains a seemingly dangerous and ineffective escape "system" involving ropes, straps, and various hooks with instructions for use. what i'm drawn to most however, are the visually striking lithographed images found on both the exteriors and interiors of each canister housing the equipment. the condition is quite remarkable, considering age. i imagine these devices were considered standard amenities used in 19th century hotels across the county.

g.i. kingsbury & co. 

the "davy" 

"the lee"