Dutchess County Insurance Company Fire Mark
date: label: date made
content: 1814
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 Dutchess County Insurance Company of Poughkeepsie, New York issued this cast iron fire mark in 1814. The circular mark has a nail hanger at the top, a raised profile image of a Native American wearing a headdress, with the raised initials “DFMLC” around the bottom. The Dutchess County Insurance Company operated from 1814 until around 1828. The initials “F M L” refer to the types of insurance written by the company, “Fire, Marine and Life.”
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: classified
content: Fire Fighting
label: Subject
content: Insurance
label: depicted; decorative motif
content: Indians
label: depicted; decorative motif
content: Native Americans
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: 2005.0233.0551
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0551
objectType: label: Object Name
content: fire mark
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cast iron (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 10 5/8 in x 11 5/8 in; 26.9875 cm x 29.5275 cm