Firemen's Insurance Company Fire Mark
Firemen's Insurance Company Fire Mark
- Description (Brief)
- 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.
- The Firemen's Insurance Company of Baltimore, Maryland issued this fire mark in 1840. The circular cast iron mark has a raised image of a Philadelphia-style double-deck end stroke engine in the center, with a raised text below that reads “F.I. CO.” The Firemen's Insurance Company was founded in 1825, but folded in 1904 due to the losses suffered in the Great Fire of Baltimore.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- fire mark
- date made
- 1840
- maker
- unknown
- Physical Description
- cast iron (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 13 3/16 in; 33.49625 cm
- ID Number
- 2005.0233.0491
- accession number
- 2005.0233
- catalog number
- 2005.0233.0491
- Credit Line
- Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art Collection
- subject
- Fire Fighting
- Insurance
- See more items in
- Home and Community Life: Fire Fighting and Law Enforcement
- Cultures & Communities
- Advertising
- Work
- Firefighting Collection
- Fire Marks
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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