Wednesday 28th September 1988

The Ahrens Fox Model AC fire engine had its 15 minutes of fame when the U.S. Postal Service featured the 1913 fire engine as part of its transportation series. The Ahrens-Fox Company was one of the most successful fire engine manufacturers in the country, thriving on the competition between volunteer fire companies that developed in the early twentieth century. These rivalries spurred ingenuity and innovation, as well as sales of fancy new fire-fighting equipment. The Model AC depicted on the stamp was bought by the town of San Angelo, Texas, for its fire department and featured new technology like the steam pump and chemical tank.