Fire insurance marks are metal plaques marked with the emblem of the insurance company which were affixed to the front of insured buildings as a guide to the insurance company's fire brigade. These identification marks were used in the eighteenth and nineteenth century in the days before municipal fire services were formed.[1] The UK marks are called 'fire insurance plaques'.
The first to use the mark was the Sun Fire Office which was established in 1710.[2] Some period specimens remain on historical buildings in the older areas of Britain's and America's cities and larger towns. Cast metal plaques were made of iron, lead, or sometimes brass. Embossed sheet metal signs were also made, as well as flat enamel signs – the latter mostly in Continental Europe in the later 19th century.
Period specimens may have high value among antiques collectors, leading to illicit creation of fakes. Also, nostalgic reproductions have been made since the early 20th century for decorative purposes.
- ^ G. V. Blackstone, A history of the British Fire Service, 1957.
- ^ Rowland G. M. Baker, Fire Insurance Wall Plaques Walton & Weybridge Local History Society, Paper No 7, 1970