VINTAGE FDNY WAR YEAR LIDS

Lids with interesting frontpieces. Notice first that resembles FDNY, except the numerals are raised.
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More frontpieces from Herb Eyssers collection. Note vintage Fire Patrol frontpiece with badge number. Other photo is JK frontpiece from FP with same badge number.
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Old wartime FDNY Auxiliary fronts and helmets.

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Awhile back someone on here asked a question about what the button like fasteners some of us had holding our Frontpieces on our older Helmets ....I tried to explain it back then but a picture I worth a thousand words....here is an example on eBay.... https://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Fi...IOnTopCombiner&_trksid=p2047675.c100752.m1982. you drilled a hole thru the Front of the Helmet then pushed the pins thru & spread them out on the inside & put some tape over them..... the original purpose of them was they were Uniform buttons that could be removed for cleaning & pressing of the Uniform Coat inside was a metal disc that you spread the pins out behind..... we used them on our older Cairns Helmets which only had a Leather shell & no plastic inpact liner......the rules today (osha ?) is that no holes are to be drilled through the shell that is why Helmets with an impact liner have the 2 threaded pieces sticking out to hold the Front.
 
Here are some different frontpieces: the NNMC is National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
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Here are three FDNY lids: the old style insert for lieut, circa 1960's (the Captain's was white with either black numeral for engine, red for truck, etc) and the current lieut frontpiece.
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TWO FDNY FRONTPICES, Maybe Garrett has some scoop on the 33 piece, name is in second image, and a lid from Cross Bay.
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LEATHER HELMET & CANVASS COAT & RUBBER COAT & RUBBER BOOT REPAIR BACK IN THE DAY....Sampson Zats was a classic place ...they were big in the late '70s & thru the '80s & into the early '90s ....as I lived not too far away often I would bring & pick up gear there for repair from guys in my FH who lived in the opposite direction ....I was a regular there....it was a small one sty store in Richmond Hill QNS on the West side of Lefferts Blvd a few stores North of Atlantic Ave (a block over from 270) that had been a shoe repair previously ....it was a Father & Son Team both very skilled Russian Jews....back then Annual Insp was a big deal....you had better have all your (personally owned & paid for) gear shipshape....just before Annual Insp they would have a pile of coats so high you could hardly see over them... they would do patching on canvass coats .....add pockets or new striping or add leather cuffs or clips ....they would vulcanize new rubber soles on the old rubber boots...or do rubber patches on rubber coats...their Helmet repairs were done with leather stitched or riveted on (no fiberglass or bondo) .....they could also make complete FF & Officers Frontpieces (all leather no plastic & no cardboard sandwiched in between)....as was said his front window looked almost like a museum with many repaired Helmets awaiting pickup (some from as far away as Boston)....the Father really did not speak much English ...if you brought something in & pointed to a rip or something obvious he would nod & take the item & give you a ticket otherwise if he did not readily realize what you wanted done he would use the 2 words he seemed to know in English "ASK SON".....the prices were very reasonable considering the craftsmanship involved.....they were basically put out of business in the '90s when the FDNY's Quartermaster contractor became standard giving out free gear & replacement stuff......in the '60s a forerunner of Sampson Zats was a fellow on Sutter Ave near Saratoga Ave in the heart of Brownsville BKLYN... he mostly did coat repairs & some boot work not too much Helmet stuff (back then FFs often used fiberglass & bondo especially on Helmet brims)... his business really did not have a name he was strictly referred to as "The Jew on Sutter Ave) .....the thing was when you went there it was best to have a guy or two with you as it was in a tough neighborhood & it could be assumed that if you were bringing FF gear there then you were a FF & not armed (allegedly).....
he did not have a name of himself on the bldg it just said "ZIPPER & BAG REPAIR".......all those bldgs along Sutter nr Saratoga have long since disappeared in a "Blaze Of Glory" at one time or another during the late '60s / early '70s.....they have since been replaced with LIDVILLE looking dwellings....back in the day during a hot Summer most hydrants on Saratoga Av were open.....the water would be flowing down the inclined portion of Saratoga Av running over the curbs....little kids would be practically submerged when laying flat along the curb pretending to swim....it was referred to as "Saratoga Springs".

....there was also a Haitian guy who had a short-lived repair business in Crown Heights BKLYN in the early '80s some guys tried him but it was obvious he was not quality at all...I tried him once for some leather cuffs on a canvass coat....after the first job where I got wet I looked & both my wrists were black....whatever color dye he used on the leather was not colorfast & the dye bled ....he did not last long in the FD repair business.
 
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