Philadelphia Contributionship Fire Mark
date: label: date made
content: 1753
name: label: maker
content: Stow, John
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 Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire issued this fire mark for policy number 205 to Jonathan Zane of 46 Almond Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania around 1753. The fire mark consists of the company’s symbol cast in lead depicting four hands clasped at the wrist fastened to a square pine board. The Philadelphia Contributionship was established in 1752, becoming the first successful fire insurance company in America. Benjamin Franklin was one of its founding members. The Contributionship began as a mutual insurance company and this concept is represented by its “Hand in Hand” fire mark. The Philadelphia Contributionship is still in operation. This square board is only one of two known surviving marks from the original run of at least two hundred and fifty square boards. Subsequent marks were on shield-shaped boards.
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
topic: label: Subject
content: Insurance
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: Firefighting Collection
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content: Work
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content: Advertising
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content: Fire Marks
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content: Many Voices, One Nation
label: Exhibition
content: Many Voices, One Nation
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: McCosker, M.J.. The Historical Collection of the 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: 2005.0233.0016
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0016
objectType: label: Object Name
content: fire mark
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: white pine (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: lead (decoration material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 12 7/8 in x 12 1/4 in x 7/8 in; 32.7025 cm x 31.115 cm x 2.2225 cm
label: Measurements
content: decoration: 10 1/2 in x 9 1/2 in x 1 5/8 in; 26.67 cm x 24.13 cm x 4.1275 cm