I found this antique photograph while looking for old-timey store images. I was drawn to the few clues in the scene. Two large building signs read “Quirk Brothers” and “Ye Tavern”. Men wearing bowler hats look on as a horse drawn fire truck (presumably, because of the ladder) is guided through the snow toward a building.
The image is a small 2.25 x 3.25 inches mounted on a 4 x 5 inch board. Here is a cropped version.
Additional clues about the photo came from the inscription on the back.
It reads:
Putting the big Reindeer truck back into the house after an alarm of fire during the big storm of Nov. 26 98.
My research suggests this scene is from Fall River, Massachusetts in the Winter of 1898. Here is what I know.
An initial newspaper archive search for “Quirk Brothers” produced about 1500 results. After ruling out most of them from California (because of the snow), the next most common location was Fall River.
Quirk Brothers were “fruit and commission merchants”. In 1897 they moved their operations from 122 Third Street to 42 Second Street behind City Hall in Fall River, MA. I found several other mentions of the Quirk Brothers at both of these locations before and after this time.
Next, I scoured the archives for information on “Ye Tavern”. An establishment by this name, also located behind City Hall in Fall River, was a “cool and convenient” cafe as well as, “the most comfortable hostelry in the city”. According to this 1899 advertisement: “Its Cuisine is Perfect. The Rooms are Airy and Cheerful. The Rates are Low.”
This advertisement from 1896 confirmed the Second Street address. It also identifies the proprietor as M.F. Moriarty. At the Ye Tavern you could get: “Live Broiled Lobster . . Soft Shelled Crabs” as well as “Golden Buck . . . . . . . Yorkshire Rabbit” for “Midnight Lunch”.
Tragically, in 1903 the Ye Tavern was also the location where Dwight Mahogany committed suicide by inhaling illuminating gas (read the full story here).
I wasn’t sure what “Reindeer truck” referred to, but a newspaper archive search resulted in several mentions. This 1894 article details some improvements being attempted to the truck.
This 1897 article details a new fire department building “in the rear of City Hall” where the Reindeer truck will eventually be housed. This suggests that there was a fire house just out of frame adjacent to the Quirk Brothers building.
This article, written only a few months after the photo was presumably taken, details an accident during which fireman Daniel W. Gerry was badly injured when thrown from the Reindeer truck (read the full story here). Perhaps Daniel was one of the men pictured in the photograph?
Finally, I wanted to investigate any snow storm that occurred in the area in November of 1898. Sure enough, on Saturday, November 26, 1898, there was a blizzard in and around Fall River that, according to the Monday paper, was the “Worst in Years” with “60-Mile Gale and 16 inches of Snow”. You can read a thorough account of the storm here.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this piece of historical detective work regarding this 1898 antique photograph from Fall River, Massachusetts. Check out some more Old-Timey Store photos.
This photograph shows J. Everett Baughman standing in his store, Peninsular Net & Twine Co., at 306 W. Fortune St. in Tampa, Florida.