Fire Engine Plate, "Columbia"
date: label: date made
content: 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 metal plate was used by the Columbia Hose Company No. 8 of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in1806, the company operated until 1871 when Philadelphia’s paid firefighting department was established. This rectangular plate with scalloped corners bears the text “COLUMBIA” in black block shadowed letters. The initials “R A” are inscribed in script below “Columbia.” The sides of the plate have holes with bolts in them, showing where the plate would be attached to the engine.
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: 2005.0233.0919
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0919
objectType: label: Object Name
content: plate, fire engine
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 1/4 in x 8 in; 5.715 cm x 20.32 cm