Fire Engine Plate, "Hibernia"
date: label: date made
content: mid 19th century
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 nickel-plated brass engine plate was used by the Hibernia Fire Engine Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which was established in 1752. The arching plate has the text “HIBERNIA” engraved in wide shaded calligraphic letters. The sides of the plate have holes showing where the plate would have been attached to the engine. The ends are engraved with ornamental acanthus leafs around the holes. The Hibernia Fire Engine Company operated as a hand engine company until it acquired a steam fire engine in 1858. It operated as a steam fire engine company until 1871 when Philadelphia’s paid firefighting department was established and was one of Philadelphia’s largest and oldest companies, and used several different engines and apparatus during its history.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States
topic: label: Subject
content: Fire Fighting
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Fire Fighting and Law Enforcement
label: See more items in
content: Cultures & Communities
label: See more items in
content: Work
label: See more items in
content: Firefighting Collection
label: See more items in
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: 2005.0233.0926
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0926
objectType: label: Object Name
content: plate, fire engine
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass, nickel-plated (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 in x 12 3/4 in; 2.54 cm x 32.385 cm