Fire Engine Plate, "Stephen Thayer"
date: label: date made
content: 1838
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: At the core of any fire company is the apparatus used to fight fires and protect lives. This was particularly true of for the volunteer fire fighters in 19th century America. Often purchased with their own funds, their fire engines were the focus of their pride and affection, as well as their identities as fire fighters. Engine plates, often made of brass, would be prominently affixed to engines and inscribed with the company name, number, and founding date. Engine plates could pass from old engine to new, or be kept in the firehouse as a memorial to a departed apparatus.
label: Description (Brief)
content: This brass engine plate was attached to a fire engine made by Stephen Thayer from Boston, Massachusetts. Thayer operated his business from 1811 to 1861 producing a variety of fire engines and other machine parts. The brass plate is engraved with the text “Stephen Thayer/Maker/Boston, Mass./1838.” The plate has been mounted on a rectangular wooden board with four screws in the plate’s scalloped corners.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States
topic: label: Subject
content: Fire Fighting
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Fire Fighting and Law Enforcement
label: See more items in
content: Cultures & Communities
label: See more items in
content: Work
label: See more items in
content: Firefighting Collection
label: See more items in
content: Fire Engine Plates
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: 2005.0233.0957
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0957
objectType: label: Object Name
content: plate, fire engine
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (part material)
label: Measurements
content: part: plate: 4 1/2 in x 7 1/2 in; 11.43 cm x 19.05 cm
label: Measurements
content: part: board: 6 in x 8 1/2 in; 15.24 cm x 21.59 cm