The following Retro Pic of the Day was originally published on Jan. 4 2016. In honor of the Rumson Fire Department reorganization of the new year, we are offering a look back at the reorg of 1965:

As tradition goes in the Rumson-Fair Haven area, New Year’s Day is the day of swearing line officers in to the respective fire companies.

So, in honor of the time-honored tradition, the Retro Pic of the Day offers a glimpse back to 1965 and Rumson’s top line officers.

The photo, shared courtesy of RFH alum Jo Ann Slocum Mazzucca, is a shot of her dad, Joseph Brennan Slocum (left), chief of the Rumson Fire Department that year. He is posing with Bill Murphy (center) and Kenneth Patrick Marass (right).

Slocum Mazzucca, in her comments on the photo, takes us back a bit to the pre-plectron-in-the-house era.

She remembers a time when there was a special red phone connected to the house to give her dad the 411 intel on all fire calls when he was chief. “I used to pick up the phone and talk to the nice officer at the other end,” she said in a Facebook note. “They finally had to move the phone out of my reach.”

Anyone remember I remember the phone? How about that plectron? Beeeeep! Ludleloodle oooodle … Beeeeep! Wait. How about the fire horn?

Many thanks to Jo Ann Slocum Mazzucca for the photo and sharing her Rumson Fire Department memories with us! 

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