Object Details
- 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 Mutual Assurance Company for Insuring Houses from Loss by Fire of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania issued this fire mark for policy number 1577 in 1803. This Mutual fire mark consists of a leaden image of a tree painted red nailed to an oval-shaped wooden board. The policy “No. 1577” can be faintly seen at the trunk of the tree. The Mutual was founded in 1784 by former policyholders of the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire. The Philadelphia Contributionship decided that buildings with trees in front of them posed a fire hazard and would no longer be insured. Since trees were abundant in early Philadelphia, this decision created a rift in the Contributionship. The Mutual was founded to provide insurance to those members whose buildings had trees. The adoption of the “Green Tree” as the company’s fire mark was a nod to the dispute that led to the Mutual’s founding.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- maker
- unknown
- date made
- 1803
- Credit Line
- Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art Collection
- Physical Description
- wood (overall material)
- lead (overall material)
- Measurements
- board: 14 in x 9 1/2 in; 35.56 cm x 24.13 cm
- tree: 11 1/2 in x 8 1/2 in; 29.21 cm x 21.59 cm
- Object Name
- fire mark
