Every day, Lester the NYPD police horse worked with his two-legged partner on Fifth Avenue near 35th Street. And every day at 5 p.m., he would visit the Mother Goose Tea Room at 13 East 35th Street. He would stick his nose over the hedge and wait for a few lumps of sugar.
Archive for the ‘FDNY Horses/Mascots’ Category
1910: Lester, the Police Horse Who Patronized the Mother Goose Tea Room
Posted: 16th March 2024 by The Hatching Cat in FDNY Horses/MascotsTags: 13 East 35th Street, Clementine V. Lasar Studwell, George Stuart Studwell, Mother Goose Tea Room
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1899: Bang Go, the Wired-Up Mascot of FDNY Engine 56
Posted: 14th February 2024 by The Hatching Cat in Dog Mascots, FDNY Horses/MascotsTags: Dogs of Old New York, Engine Company 56, Engine Company 74, FDNY history, fire dogs
My latest story is one of my favorites from my upcoming book, The Bravest Pets of Gotham: Tales of Four-Legged Firefighters of Old New York (September 2024). I laugh every time I think about this crazy little dog of FDNY Engine 56. Enjoy.
1947: Butch, the WWII Canine Mascot of the Fort Hamilton Fire Department
Posted: 18th February 2023 by The Hatching Cat in Dog Mascots, Dog Tails, FDNY Horses/MascotsTags: Army Garrison, Bronx cheer, FDNY history, Fort Hamilton, Gustav R. Moje, Rodman gun
During World War II, the United States Army Garrison at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn was an important staging area for the New York Port of Embarkation. The Fort Hamilton Fire Department, installed in December 1941, was one of many military installations within New York City that had a paid civilian fire department and fire apparatus during and after the war. The department had 27 enlisted men and a toothless mascot named Butch.
1895: Jack, the Fire Dog of FDNY Ladder 9 Who Dined With Teddy Roosevelt
Posted: 17th January 2023 by The Hatching Cat in Dog Heroes, FDNY Horses/MascotsTags: 209 Elizabeth Street, FDNY history, Ladder Company 9, Michael F. Lyons, Military Hall
Jack was a bona fide fire dog of Old New York, but the 10-year-old Dalmatian was also called a professional tramp. That’s because in his early days, before he became a hero, Jack was not completely loyal to his official company, Ladder 9 on Elizabeth Street. He enjoyed spending time at other firehouses and hobnobbing with Police Commissioner Teddy Roosevelt at his favorite Bowery restaurant.
1879: Jim, the FDNY Fire Horse of Engine 33 Who Earned His Pension
Posted: 29th December 2022 by The Hatching Cat in FDNY Horses/Mascots, Horse TalesTags: Chief Hugh Bonner, Engine Company 33, Engine Company 52, FDNY history, William H. Nash
Under the 19th-century rules of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), when horses were no longer fit for the hard service of pulling engines, hose reels, or ladder trucks, the department would sell them at auction to any huckster that needed an old horse to pull his cart or do his dirty work. But no such fate was to come to Jim—at least not if Chief Hugh Bonner or Engine 33 Captain William H. Nash had any say in the matter.
