Object Details
- Description (Brief)
- 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.
- 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.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- maker
- unknown
- date made
- 1838
- Credit Line
- Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art Collection
- Physical Description
- wood (overall material)
- brass (part material)
- Measurements
- part: plate: 4 1/2 in x 7 1/2 in; 11.43 cm x 19.05 cm
- part: board: 6 in x 8 1/2 in; 15.24 cm x 21.59 cm
- Object Name
- plate, fire engine
