American Insurance Company Fire Mark
date: label: date made
content: 1867
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: The American Insurance Company of Chicago, Illinois issued this tinned sheet iron fire mark in 1867. The square mark has painted text that reads “AMERICAN/CHICAGO.” The American Insurance Company operated in Freeport, Illinois from 1859 until 1867, when it moved to Chicago. The company retired in 1883.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Illinois, Chicago
topic: 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
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: 2005.0233.0534
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0534
objectType: label: Object Name
content: fire mark
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: tinned sheet iron (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 1/8 in x 6 3/4 in; 7.9375 cm x 17.145 cm