Owning a piece of history.

• Author: Ferling, Rhona L.
• Position: Mutual Assurance Co.'s art collection - Corporate Gallery - Cover Story

Talk about staying put. The Mutual Assurance Company was founded in Philadelphia in 1784 and has done business there ever since. What better way to reflect its deep roots in the city than with an art collection that underscores its unusual role in the history of Philadelphia firefighting?

Mutual Assurance's firefighting memorabilia is closely tied to its raison d'etre. Philadelphia's only fire-insurance company before 1784 would not insure houses with trees, fearing that trees would spread fires or hamper firefighting efforts. Mutual Assurance, one of four companies now comprising the Green Tree Group, was founded for homeowners who wanted to keep their trees and their fire insurance.

From the beginning, Philadelphia was very fire-conscious. Founder William Penn had survived the Great Fire of London in 1666 and wanted to prevent a similar catastrophe. As a result, city streets were built wider than was commonplace to allow fire engines easy access. The houses were mostly brick and stone, surrounded by open spaces.

Some older Philadelphia houses still sport firemarks, a tangible symbol of this preoccupation with fire prevention. British insurance companies, which hired their own fire brigades, first developed the custom of using these plaques to mark insured houses. Their brigades quashed fires only in insured buildings. Although American insurance companies didn't have their own brigades, they upheld the tradition for the advertising appeal. Mutual Assurance's firemark was a lead tree on a wooden shield -- hence the company's nickname, the Green Tree. The firemark still serves as the company logo.

Since volunteer fire organizations were so important to the city, they became very prestigious in the 18th and 19th centuries. Each brigade had its own uniform, often elaborately decorated, that included a hat and an oil-cloth cape. Often, strong rivalries existed between the various fire companies, so the uniforms helped promote solidarity and pride, and they were key to the firefighters' flamboyant annual parades.

To fight fires, the brigades were equipped with fire engines, leather fire buckets for water, hooks, ladders and salvage bags for the homeowner's possessions. Neighbors pitched in, too, because fire engines had to be filled manually and water pressure was limited.

By the 1870s, the mystique of the volunteer fire brigade began to fade as Philadelphia instituted a paid...