Fire Engine Plate, "Washington"
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 shield-shaped tin engine plate has a painted red background with golden text in block font the reads “WASHINGTON/1/1793.” The reverse has penciled text that reads "Washington Co. No. 1, Frankfort (sic), Philada., Pa., 1793". The number “1” refers to the fact that it was the first engine company organized in the incorporated district of Frankford, which was consolidated into Philadelphia in 1854. Originally founded in 1793 as the Frankford Fire Company No. 1, it changed its name to the Washington Fire Company No. 1 in 1846. It operated as a hand engine fire company and acquired a steam fire engine in 1858 and served as a steam fire engine company until 1871 when Philadelphia’s paid firefighting department was established.
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: 2005.0233.0953
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0953
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