United Firemen's Insurance Company Fire Mark
date: label: date made
content: 1878
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 United Firemen’s Insurance Company issued this fire mark in 1878. The oval cast iron mark features a central image of a steam-powered fire engine in relief, with an raised header text that reads “UNITED FIREMEN’S INS. CO.” It appears as if the engine and text were originally painted gold, which has subsequently worn off. A policy number can be seen at the bottom of the mark, but it is illegible. The United Firemen's Insurance Company was incorporated in 1860 by a group of 28 engine and hose companies that were not part of the Fire Association of Philadelphia. Since the Fire Association did not pay dividends to companies that were not members, these twenty-eight companies formed the new United Firemen's Insurance Company of Philadelphia to profit from the insurance business. Steam fire engines were a new technology in 1860, and the UFI's use of a steamer on its fire mark shows a desire to be associated with the latest innovations in firefighting and prevention.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
topic: label: Subject
content: Insurance
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: Advertising
label: See more items in
content: Work
label: See more items in
content: Firefighting Collection
label: See more items in
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: 2005.0233.0454
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0454
objectType: label: Object Name
content: fire mark
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cast iron (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 9 1/8 in x 11 1/8 in; 23.1775 cm x 28.2575 cm