Washington Mutual Insurance Company Fire Mark
date: label: date made
content: 1844
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Beginning in the 1750s, some American insurance companies issued metal fire marks to policyholders to signify that their property was insured against fire damage. The fire marks bore the name and/or symbol of the insurer, and some included the customer’s policy number. The company or agent would then affix the mark to the policyholder’s home or business. For owners the mark served as proof of insurance and a deterrent against arson. For insurance companies the mark served as a form of advertising, and alerted volunteer firefighters that the property was insured.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The Washington Mutual Insurance Company of Boston, Massachusetts issued this brass fire mark in 1844. The rectangular mark has a raised border with raised text in the center that reads “WASHINGTON/MUTUAL.” The Washington Mutual Insurance Company never commenced business.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: classified
content: Fire Fighting
label: Subject
content: Insurance
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: Advertising
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content: Work
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content: Firefighting Collection
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content: Fire Marks
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: McCosker, M.J.. The Historical Collection of Insurance Company of North America
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: 2005.0233.0538
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0538
objectType: label: Object Name
content: fire mark
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 in x 8 3/8 in; 10.16 cm x 21.2725 cm