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Hose & Nozzle Magazine
Last updated January 8, 2022
Digital Issues and More
- Newsletter Issues
- Digital Issues, Pages^ (1952-1954, incomplete)
- Digital Issues, Compiled (single, searchable PDF)
- Magazine
- Covers Gallery^
- Digital Issues^ (1955-1975, incomplete, PDF) (Google Drive)
- Index of Issues (incomplete)
- Publishing and Publisher Information
Introduction
The Hose & Nozzle was a North Carolina-based fire service publication published from 1950 to circa 1980. It originated as a one-page weekly newsletter of the Troy Fire Department in Montgomery County. The editor was John C. Wallace.
The first issue--Volume 1, Number 1--was published on January 18, 1950, as Volume 1, Number 1. The content consisted of typewritten text. Over the next two and a half years, the format was occasionally updated, including the addition of colored letterhead.
The last department-only newsletter was likely Volume 3, Number 17, published on May 7, 1952. The text of that concluded with "watch for something new in the Hose & Nozzle next week."
Statewide Coverage
The first statewide issue of Hose & Nozzle was Volume 4, Number 1, published on May 30, 1952. The publication was now larger, with two folder pages creating four pages of content. And it was professionally printed by the Job Printing Department of the Montgomery Herald.
The new format permitted the addition of photographs and which were occasionally included in the issues. Most pages of most issues, however, were exclusively text plus advertisements. The new format also included a new masthead, noting that the publication served all member departments of the North Carolina Firemen's Association.
The newsletter format was used through at least September 1954. By that time, it was printed by Beasley Newspapers. The staff consisted of Editor John C. Wallace, Assistant Editor Bob Kearns, Circulation Managers A. C. Russell and Grady Wallace, and Advertising Manager Eben R. Wallace Jr. The subscription rate was $2.00 per year. And the publication was "owned and published by Troy Fire Department." The Fire Chief was H. R. Holt.
New Format
In 1955, the Hose & Nozzle changed to a glossy magazine format that was published monthly. The first magazine-format isue was number Volume 7, Number 4, with a cover date of April 1955. It had a color cover, with twenty-two pages. The issue included numerous photographs. The table of contents read:
- Guest Editorial
- Western Meeting
- Sandhills Meeting
- Mack Munday Dies of Heart Attack
- Chief A. B. Lloyd Dies
- House of Hazards
- 27th Fire College
- Questions & Answers
- Montgomery County Gets First Rural Units
- Visiting Around
- Alarms in General
- Forsyth Beauty Queens
- N.C. Needs Local Training (editorial)
- Southern Pines (feature)
- Rockingham (feature)
- Lumberton (feature)
- Jacksonville (feature)
The April 1955 issue listed the staff as Editor John C. Wallace, Associate Editor H. R. Holt, Advertising Manager Eben R. Wallace Jr., and Circulation Managers A. C. Russell and Grady Wallace. The subscription rate was $2.00 per year. And it was still based in Troy, N.C.
New Owner
In October 1957, Hose & Nozzle Editor John Wallace announced the sale of the magazine to A. L. Sonn and Associates, of Winston-Salem, to assume the duties of Publisher. He noted that Sonn had already served as the magazine's public relations director. Heading the editorial staff was Glenn Ray, a member of the Forsyth County Fire Department, and who was already magazine's Field Representative and Associate Director of Public Relations. Read more.
Official Publication
In 1961, the Hose & Nozzle magazine was adopted as an official publication of the North Carolina State Firemen's Association on a trial basis. Each member would receive the magazine without charge. The first "official" issue was May 1961.
Distribution to members was discontinued by May 1962. That month's issue included a note from Business Manager H. B. Self and Editor Glenn Ray that they would continue operating on a limited scale. They planned to send a copy to each chief and department who were members of the association.
Also circa May 1962, the magazine changed its publishing schedule from monthly to every other month.
The Hose & Nozzle was published through 1979 and into the summer of 1980. From surviving issues, it appears it was continuously published through 1979, and with one or two remaining issues in 1980.
John C. Wallace
The editor and publisher of Hose & Nozzle from its beginnings through 1957 was John C. Wallace, a member of the Troy Fire Department and served as Fire Chief for twenty years. He was a member of the North Carolina State Firemen's Association and elected Vice President in 1954 and President in 1955. By day, he worked at Bank of Montgomery for 46 years, and retired as President and CEO. Among his other accomplishments, he founded, owned, and operated WJRM radio station in Troy, was a former corner, and former Acting Sheriff of Montgomery County. In 1992, the Mayor of Troy proclaimed John Wallace Day. He died in 2001 at Duke Medical Center in Durham at age 80. He was buried at Southside Cemetery in Troy. Read his obituary.
Sources / Acknowledgements
Thanks to the Troy Fire Department for access to their Hose & Nozzle Archives, which is the primary source for information about the publication's newsletter period. Information about the magazine issues are from copies in the collection of Mike Legeros. Bound copies of magazine issues from 1955 to 1956 and 1968 to 1979 are also cataloged at Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina, in their North Carolina Collection.
Blog Posts
Based on magazine photos or stories.
|
About Hose & Nozzle |
Dec. 25, 2009 |
|
Apparatus Deliveries, 1971 |
Dec. 20, 2009 |
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Atlas Water Supply Apparatus, Vintage Ad |
Sep. 29, 2013 |
|
Back Issues Wanted |
Dec. 10, 2010 |
| Boone Fire Station Fire | Dec. 30, 2014 |
| Burlington Department Store Destroyed by Blast - July 3, 1962 (PDF) | Jan. 1, 2015 |
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Charlotte Apparatus, 1955 |
Dec. 13, 2009 |
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Charlotte Asst. Chief Dies of Heart Attack, 1955 |
Oct. 27, 2012 |
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Dec. 7, 2014 |
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Apr. 8, 2010 |
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Draper Chemical Car, 1955 |
Dec. 21, 2009 |
| Dunn Firemen Experience "Fire Water Fire" - 1969 | Dec. 30, 2014 |
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Durham Public Safety Officer Duty Death, 1978 |
Nov. 3, 2013 |
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Sep. 28, 2013 |
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Fayetteville Station 3, 1956 |
Dec. 12, 2009 |
| Firemen Confronted with Acts of Civil Disobedience - April 1968 (PDF) | Dec. 30, 2014 |
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Apr. 8, 2010 |
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Forest Hill Fire Department, 1957 |
Oct. 10, 2013 |
| Fuel Truck vs. Fire Engine in Wilmington - 1959 (PDF) | Jan. 1, 2015 |
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Gastonia Aerial Ladder, 1956 |
Jan. 18, 2010 |
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Goldsboro Rescue Squad, 1955 |
Jan. 20, 2010 |
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Greensboro Deluge Trailer / Forsyth County Air Trailer (PDF) |
Dec. 27, 2009 |
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Greensboro Salvage Truck, 1955 |
Feb. 4, 2010 |
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Dec. 25, 2009 |
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Greensboro, Seven Killed in Army Plane Crash, 1962 |
Dec. 28, 2014 |
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Greenville West End Station, 1956 |
Dec. 12, 2009 |
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Guilford College Fire Stations |
Jan. 22, 2010 |
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Dec. 14, 2009 |
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High Pressure Fog Fire Truck For Sale, 1955 |
Dec. 15, 2009 |
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History Bits |
Dec. 25, 2009 |
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Dec. 20, 2009 |
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Lenoir Tanker, 1956 (PDF) |
Dec. 13, 2009 |
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Newport Fire Department, 1956 |
Dec. 19, 2009 |
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North Wilkesboro Firefighter Killed in Wall Collapse - 1958 |
Sep. 26, 2013 |
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Pope Air Force Base Drill, 1968 |
Apr. 8, 2010 |
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Sanford Station 2, 1955 (PDF) |
Dec. 20, 2009 |
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Sharpsburg - Butch Robbins, a Unique Firefighter, 1976 (PDF) |
Dec. 28, 2014 |
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Sep. 26, 2013 |
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Spray Fire Department, 1955 |
Dec. 22, 2009 |
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Stories of Fallen Firefighters, 1976 to 1978 |
Oct. 1, 2013 |
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Surplus Equipment, 1970 |
Dec. 22, 2009 |
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Vance County Fire Train, 1970 |
Feb. 1, 2010 |
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Wake County, Five Perish in Fire, 1972 |
Dec. 7, 2014 |
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Mar. 27, 2010 |
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Wilmington Fire Boat, 1956 |
Dec. 19, 2009 |
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Mar. 8, 2010 |
Do you have back issues to contribute to this project? Contact Mike Legeros for more information.
Or send any copies to:
Mike Legeros
5404 Belsay Drive
Raleigh, NC, 27612
Thank you!
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Copyright 2023 by Michael J. Legeros