Fire Engine Plate, "Weccacoe"
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: At the core of any fire company is the apparatus used to fight fires and protect lives. This was particularly true of for the volunteer fire fighters in 19th century America. Often purchased with their own funds, their fire engines were the focus of their pride and affection, as well as their identities as fire fighters. Engine plates, often made of brass, would be prominently affixed to engines and inscribed with the company name, number, and founding date. Engine plates could pass from old engine to new, or be kept in the firehouse as a memorial to a departed apparatus.
label: Description (Brief)
content: This brass fire engine plate belonged to the Weccacoe Fire Company No. 19 of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Weccacoe was founded on May 1st, 1800, incorporated in 1833, and acquired steam fire engine in 1859, which was replaced in 1864. It operated as a steam fire engine company until Philadelphia founded its own municipal fire department in 1871. The brief-lived Weccacoe Hose Company was formed by disgruntled members of Weccacoe Fire Company in 1842, following a political split over temperance and nativist sentiments. The Hose Company was disbanded for rioting in 1854. The curved plate is engraved with the text “WECCACOE” in a fancy text script that is filled with black enamel and outlined in gold.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Fire Fighting
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Fire Fighting and Law Enforcement
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Work
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content: Firefighting Collection
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content: Fire Engine Plates
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2005.0233.0950
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0950
objectType: label: Object Name
content: plate, fire engine
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 19 1/4 in x 5 in; 48.895 cm x 12.7 cm