Mutual Assurance Company Fire Mark
date: label: date made
content: 1787-1809
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: This fire mark was issued by the Mutual Assurance Company of the City of New York. The fire mark has an oval upper portion that bears the text “MUTUAL ASSURANCE” painted in gold. The lower portion is rectangular and bears the policy number “3617” painted in gold. The border of the upper oval and lower rectangle has a golden trim. The Mutual Assurance Company originally operated as a mutual insurer from 1787 to 1809 when it became a stock insurance company. It operated until 1846, when its name was changed to the Knickerbocker Fire Insurance Company.
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: 2005.0233.0542
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0542
objectType: label: Object Name
content: fire mark
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: tinned sheet iron (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 in x 8 1/4 in; 17.78 cm x 20.955 cm