Fire Engine Plate, "Northern Liberty Fire Company"
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 metal plate was used by the Northern Liberty Fire Company No. 1 of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company was instituted on May 1st, 1756 and operated on the corner of Cable Lane and Callowhill Road. The number “1” refers to the fact that it was the first engine company organized in the incorporated district of Northern Liberties, which was consolidated into Philadelphia in 1854. The scalloped rectangular plate features the number “1” engraved in the center with a trumpet in the middle. Engraved calligraphic script at the top and bottom reads “NORTHERN LIBERTY FIRE CO. / Instituted May 1.1756 / Incorporated Mar.18.1833.”
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
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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: 2005.0233.0938
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0938
objectType: label: Object Name
content: plate, fire engine
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: silver plate (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 in x 10 1/8 in; 17.78 cm x 25.7175 cm