“Little Mack,” a vintage firetruck, is back at its Cheltenham Fire Company home, reported Ryan Genova in the Glenside Local.

Little Mack got its name from the brand that created it, Mack Trucks, Inc. The manufacturer operated out of Allentown from 1905–2009, when it relocated to Greensboro, N.C.

After trying to make a living with steam- and electric motors, the Mack brothers (John, Augustus, and William) found success with a gas-powered bus fleet in Brooklyn.

By 1901, the family was making fire trucks, a product line maintained through the move from New York to the Lehigh Valley.

Little Mack rolled off the assembly line in 1938, coming straight to Cheltenham.

During its Montgomery County term, the piece of equipment saved numerous lives and structures, and appeared in civic events like parades and borough celebrations.

In 1948, the truck was sold to the Deer Park Fire Company in Cherry Hill, N.J.

Funding its return were donations from the Cheltenham Hook & Ladder Company No. 1 community.

In bidding it farewell, the Deer Park firefighters recalled its long tenure of engagement, including with “… [n]eighbors [who] may remember seeing Santa Claus riding around in the Little Mack in recent years.”

More on Little Mack is at the Glenside Local.

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A video look at the Mack Trucks Historical Museum in Allentown.