Groveville Fire Co. ~ 1947 Ward LaFrance

This is a photo of Groveville Fire Company’s 1947 Ward LaFrance as it appeared in the December 2007 edition of 1st Responder Newspaper.

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This photo is from a parade in 1950, I don’t recognize the men in this photo or the location of the parade, but if I had to guess I would say it’s a parade in Trenton or maybe the convention in Atlantic City and its Don Snyder, driving and Roy (Smut) Champion on the back. I do have some 1950 convention photos, this may help put a date and place on both.

This photo does not show it, but Groveville Fire Company equipment was painted Gray. As I understand it this color was adopted as the official color during the war when “Blackouts” were common. The Gray was a non reflective color; even the chrome was painted gray during the war.

This was not just any gray, this was a blend and tint of gray that was developed for Groveville Fire Company and the exact color was known as “Groveville Gray”. Hamilton and Enterprise Fire Company’s had gray equipment, but each had its own unique tint of gray.

If you want to buy a brand new 1947 Ward LaFrance here is an advertisement I have, in my collection, (I call it a collection, at home it’s referred to as “Gary’s Junk”) that appeared in Fire Engineering Magazine in 1947.