A curated collection of images that didn’t have a specific home. Some may even be cell phone photos, but if I found them interesting and liked the shot, they ended up here.
It’s pretty common for visitors at the Boston Fire Museum to look at this late 18th-century fire bucket launcher and think, “What the heck is this?” It’s Boston No. 1, “The Thayer,” a 1792 hand tub. According to the museum, it was built by Ephraim Thayer—an apprentice to Paul Revere—at Revere’s brass foundry. In colonial days, every family had two fire buckets, but The Thayer was actually considered “modern” by comparison. You’d pull it to a fire, fill the bucket with water, and then a device would pump the water onto the flames. It’s considered one of Boston’s first fire engines.
The frozen waterfall of Bear Lake at Rocky Mountain National Park, considered by scientists to be the oldest lake in North America at over a million years old.
A CTA 1-50 Series rail car operates at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, MO. Despite the bitter rivalry between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, the two cities actually share a key historical companion. The St. Louis Car Company manufactured the car seen in this photo, and after it was retired from Skokie Swift service (given the trolley pole), it ended up back home where it was manufactured for future generations to enjoy.
This is an exact reproduction of Michaelangelo's Madonna Delpia, the only piece Michaelangelo himself ever signed. Chumlee made a deal for it on Season 16, Episode 11 of Pawn Stars for $24K and it was very clearly the most expensive item on display at the famous Las Vegas shop for $127K.
