Philadelphia Insurance Company Fire Mark
date: label: date made
content: 1804
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 Philadelphia Insurance Company issued this fire mark for policy number 9 to a building on 29-31 Saint Mary’s Street (now Rodman Street, near Sixth Street) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1804. The mark consists of the image of a dove with an olive branch in its beak alighting upon a hand. This hollow-backed lead image is attached to a wooden shield-shaped board. This mark is the only Philadelphia Insurance Company fire mark known to be in existence. The Philadelphia Insurance Company was founded in 1804 and disbanded in 1844.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
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
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: 2005.0233.0435
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0435
objectType: label: Object Name
content: fire mark
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: lead (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: shield: 16 1/4 in x 11 5/8 in; 41.275 cm x 29.5275 cm
label: Measurements
content: eagle: 9 3/4 in x 8 in x 1 in; 24.765 cm x 20.32 cm x 2.54 cm