Firemen's Insurance Company Fire Mark
date: label: date made
content: 1834
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: The Firemen's Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania issued this cast iron fire mark in 1834. This mark was taken from a building on Marbury Street (now Third Street) in Pittsburgh that was owned by James Wood. The square mark has a raised image of a Philadelphia-style pumper in the center. The Firemen’s Insurance Company operated from 1834 until 1845, when losses suffered in the Great Fire of Pittsburgh forced it to close.
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: 2005.0233.0507
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0507
objectType: label: Object Name
content: fire mark
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cast iron (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 in x 11 3/4 in; 20.32 cm x 29.845 cm