Fire Engine Plate, "Valley Forge"
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 arched brass engine plate is engraved with the text “VALLEY FORGE” that is filled with black enamel. A foliate design is engraved and enameled between “Valley” and “Forge.” There are 10 holes that run along the plate’s base and sides that allowed it to be attached to the engine. This plate may have belonged to the Valley Forge Hose Company No. 46 in New York City.
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: 2005.0233.0945
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0945
objectType: label: Object Name
content: plate, fire engine
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 18 1/2 in x 2 7/8 in; 46.99 cm x 7.239 cm