History[]
Trump was a Canadian manufacturer of articulating boom devices. First opened as a machine shop in 1944 by W.E. "Ted" Thornton-Trump in Oliver, BC. After Trump had acquired the rights to produce a pneumatic pruning device he began to look for other ways to streamline the fruit growing industry. In 1951, he came up with the idea of the "Giraffe" which was a tractor-towed trailer fitted with a two boom articulating lift for fruit picking. In 1955, after a slow year in the British Columbia fruit industry, the cash strapped Trump began to expand his line of boom devices into other industries, including firefighting.
The first "Snorkel"[1] was built for Fredericton Fire Department in New Brunswick and featured a 65' two boom articulating aerial device placed on a Chevrolet 80 chassis. This truck was delivered in 1961 and was the first "Snorkel" to be placed into service in Canada. By 1963, Trump's line of Snorkel-type devices had expanded to include a two boom 85', and a 3 boom 90' model.
See also[]
Notes[]
- ↑ Snorkel is a registered trademark of the Ladder Tower Company. The term "Snorkel" being widely accepted in the fire service as representative of a wide variety of articulating boom devices from many manufacturers.
Sources[]
- McCall, Walter. “HISTORICALLY SPEAKING: CANADA’S FIRST SNORKELS.” Third Alarm, Feb. 2018.
- Patton, Kristi, and News. “South Okanagan Inventor Lifted the Fruit Industry to New Heights.” Vernon Morning Star, Vernon Morning Star, 24 Sept. 2019, https://www.vernonmorningstar.com/news/south-okanagan-inventor-lifted-the-fruit-industry-to-new-heights/.
- “Vignette: Giraffes and Girettes.” BC Fruit Growers' Association, https://www.bcfga.com/263/Struggling+Along.