FIREMEN’S QUARTERS FULL OF ACTION

Thank you for all who turned out for my book signing at the Farmers Market last Saturday. Please spread the word to your relatives and classmates about my new book “Albion in Review.” If your high school class is having a reunion, how about having my books at your event? Feel free to contact me at: Albionfp@hotmail.com. Information about the book itself is found on the www.albionmich.com website, including a full index prepared by Robin James.

Our new fire station is sure rapidly taking shape. This is the fourth fire station Albion has had since it became a city. Earlier this year we pictured the fire station on W. Cass St. that used to sit where parking lot now is just east of Hungry Howies pizza. What was life like for a fireman in that building?

Back then, firemen on shift slept in quarters located on the second floor of the fire station. They didn’t go home at night. When the alarm rang, they would spring out of bed, dress, run to the pole, slide down the pole, mount the fire trucks, and speed off to the fire in classic firemen fashion. There exists a series of staged “action” shots from ca. 1910, showing the Albion Fire Department demonstrating this process.

The first photo shows the firemen snoozing soundly in their spring beds with casters. The second photo shows them springing out of bed (a little pun on words there). The third shows them dressing themselves, and the last photo has them running to the pole and sliding down. From our Historical Notebook this week we present the third photo, entitled “Getting Ready.” It features our Albion firemen racing against the clock in order to dress themselves. In a look around the room, the fire pole is in the center by the radiator. On the far right on the wall is a crank telephone where you had to speak to the operator. I do not see any coffeemakers present in this photo. How many of our readers remember ever sliding down a fire pole? Note: We’ll put all four photos on the www.albionmich.com website when this article is posted there.

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
	Michigan Prints by Maggie LaNoue Michigan Prints offers limited-edition archival Giclée prints, miniprints, notecards and boxed sets featuring Michigan landmarks, nature, resorts and nostalgia. Each print and card includes a legend on the back with stories about Michigan history. Albion scenes include the Kalamazoo River waterfall and the Blizzard of 1978. Find Michigan Prints online and at local shops. Michigan Prints \| Albion Scenes \| Custom Cards \| Zazzle Gifts
	AlbionMich.net — General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net is a hub for community life in the greater Albion area, featuring current news, city council updates, river restoration stories, parks and trails. See Albion's beautiful Kalamazoo River waterfall as it looks today — and follow the story of its future restoration. Includes news from The Recorder and stories about Albion's 17 parks. AlbionMich.net \| Albion Blog \| Frank Passic on AlbionMich.net
	General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net offers two General Guides to the Albion area — one covering community life including city council, veterans, history, youth and wellness resources, and one covering the outdoors including roads, rivers, parks, trails and downtown. Both guides feature stories by local writers including contributors to The Recorder, sorted by topic for easy reference. General Guide — Community \| General Guide — Outdoors
	Robin James — Indices Unlimited Robin James is the editor of the Albion Historical Notebook and has kept Frank Passic's thousands of articles organized and searchable for decades. A trained librarian and archivist, Robin specializes in back-of-book and online indexing, multimedia collection management, and corporate information distribution. He also enjoys strange music and is a contributing editor for Igloo electronic music magazine. For more about his indexing services, visit Indices Unlimited.
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