The Ulyanovsk Regional Museum of Local Lore named after Ivan Goncharov presents a fire insurance mark. This is a metal plaque with an image of the logo of the insurance company, which was affixed to the front or placed above the door of insured buildings. The insurance plaque not only emphasized a certain social status of the owner: it was also a kind of decorative element that adorned the residence. Most of the insurance plaques were quite beautiful, and some could even be called works of art.
The tradition of using fire insurance marks dates to the end of the 17th century. After the famous Great Fire of London in 1666, when 13,000 private and public buildings were destroyed in five days, local homeowners began to establish fire insurance companies. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, institutions that provided fire insurance began to use metal logos. The signs were intended to be affixed to the front of insured buildings or above the entrance doors of insured apartments. They promoted the very idea of home fire insurance and advertised the services of insurance companies. Joint-stock companies had their boards in capital cities and their agencies in governorate centers. Oftentimes, agency employees were members of local voluntary fire societies. Thus, the companies “First Russian Insurance Company”, “Salamander”, “Anchor”, “Russian Lloyd” and others were also represented in Simbirsk.
Insurance plaques were issued to homeowners along with fire insurance policies without any additional fee. The plaques were ordered by insurance companies to be manufactured at factories. The early signs were cast from copper and cast iron; later they were stamped in plates of thin steel, coated with tin as a measure against corrosion. From the late 19th century, most signs were made from durable die-cast zinc alloy. The signs were bright and embossed. The insurance industry in the Simbirsk Governorate began to take shape in the 1860s. It was first used by the governorate zemstvo, which introduced compulsory mutual fire insurance in rural areas in 1867.
