Eating smoke : fire in urban America, 1800-1950 / Mark Tebeau.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tebeau, Mark.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fire extinction--United States--History.

Fire extinction.

Fire prevention--United States--History.

Fire prevention.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (440 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Baltimore, MD ; London : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003.

Summary:

By comparing the simple skills employed by firefighters--climbing ladders and manipulating hoses--with the mundane technologies--maps and accounting charts--of insurers, the author demonstrates that the daily routines of both groups were instrumental in making intense urban and industrial expansion a less precarious endeavor.

Contents:

""Cover""; ""Contents""; ""Preface and Acknowledgments""; ""Introduction: The Problem of Fire""; ""PART I. Smoke""; ""1 Workshops of Democracy: The Invention of Volunteer Firefighting""; ""2 The Business of Safety: The American Fire Insurance Industry, 1800�1850""; ""PART II. Fire""; ""3 Statistics, Maps, and Morals: Making Fire Risk Objective, 1850�1875""; ""4 Muscle and Steam: Establishing Municipal Fire Departments, 1850�1875""; ""PART III. Water""; ""5 Disciplining the City: Everyday Practice and Mapping Risk, 1875�1900""

""6 Becoming Heroes: A New Standard for Urban Fire Safety, 1875�1900""""PART IV. Paper""; ""7 Consuming Safety: Fire Prevention and Fire Risk in the Twentieth Century""; ""8 Eating Smoke: Rational Heroes in the Twentieth Century""; ""Conclusion: Fighting Fire in Postwar America""; ""Appendix 1: Firefighting by the Numbers""; ""Appendix 2: Firefighting Careers""; ""Abbreviations""; ""Notes""; ""Essay on Sources""; ""Index""; ""A""; ""B""; ""C""; ""D""; ""E""; ""F""; ""G""; ""H""; ""I""; ""J""; ""K""; ""L""; ""M""; ""N""; ""O""; ""P""; ""Q""; ""R""; ""S""; ""T""; ""U""; ""V""; ""W""; ""Y""

""Z""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-4214-1250-0

OCLC:

861693010