Primarily used in the late nineteenth century, this half-pint glass fire extinguisher grenade contains a salt water solution. It was designed to be thrown at the base of the fire where it would shatter on contact and its liquid would vaporize into a fire-extinguishing gas. Following its invention during the American Civil War, the first patent for the fire grenade was awarded in 1863. Manufacturers rushed to fill this new niche, relying on elaborate print advertisements to convey the effectiveness of their product, while the grenades themselves featured elaborate designs and patterns to appeal to the era’s Victorian styles.

Though early grenades often contained a salt-based solution, beginning in the 1910s, manufacturers began filling fire grenades with carbon tetrachloride, or CTC. Although CTC remains a liquid at room temperature, when it vaporizes, its density is higher than air, so it sinks and smothers the flame. However, later studies found that carbon tetrachloride increases the risk of liver cancer and reacts with water at high temperatures to form highly toxic phosphene gas. By 1954, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) had declared the fire grenade unsafe for use due to the hazards surrounding carbon tetrachloride. Throughout the course of the twentieth century, however, glass extinguishers had already been falling out of use as the larger, gallon-sized capacities of brass and copper extinguishers provided more effective protection.