Hope Mutual Insurance Company Fire Mark
date: label: date made
content: 1854
label: company dates
content: 1854–1860
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 Hope Mutual Insurance Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania issued this cast iron fire mark between 1854 and 1860. The oval-shaped mark has a beaded edge and a central image of a female figure standing by a rock or pedestal and placing her hand on an anchor. The female figure is intended to be an allegorical representation of Hope. The mark is made of cast iron, and has been painted black.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
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
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: 2005.0233.0439
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0439
objectType: label: Object Name
content: fire mark
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cast iron (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 10 5/8 in x 6 3/4 in; 26.9875 cm x 17.145 cm