The "The Scribbler Replies!" Story

Original photo I sent to "The Scribbler"

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting in my lounge chair reading the morning paper.  Reached the editorial pages and started reading one of my favorite columns written by "The Scribbler."  Jack Brubaker, aka The Scribbler, writes a column a few days each week which deals with the history and unusual things of Lancaster County, PA.  I'm sure he has a big readership since he seems to know just about everything about Lancaster and it's surrounding communities.  

Top part of "The Scribbler's" Column

I have sent him a few emails over the last couple of years trying to pick his brain for information for some of my stories.  Most times he responds with the info by email, but a few weeks ago he actually called LDub to tell me about one of the questions I asked him.  I sent him a photo of a few plaques that I saw on homes in downtown Lancaster.  It looked like a large tree, some painted and some unpainted.  He told me that what I was looking at was actually a rose bush, since Lancaster is the Red Rose city.

 

Another house with the same Firemark.

I asked him if he is sure, since it sure looked like a tree to me.  Well, seems he couldn't open my photo I sent and was just guessing, so I sent the photo to my wife who in turn sent it to him. (I have an Apple system and I thought it may have been the problem)  He finally got the photo and agreed with me.  Told me he would find out and use my question in one of his columns.  So, today was the day.  Title of the column today was: Firemarks on downtown houses.  Started his column with ….. Dear Dr. Scribbler-tree:  Any idea what the tree logo may represent that I see on many of the houses in downtown Lancaster?  Larry Woods - Manheim Township.  Finally found out that the green tree logo, which I suspect was a cast iron metal oval plaque, was the mark of Mutual Insurance  company which was founded in 1784.  

And, one final home with the Firemark. 

Residents of the homes that featured the plaque were insured for fire damage.  Seems the plaque is the most common of the fire plaques in the city.  42 homes have them somewhere on the front of them.  The column said that most of the fire marks, as they are called, are probably reproductions of the original which were issued in the 18th and early 19th century.  The insurance companies would collect your money and send a donation to your local fire company and tell them who had insurance.  If your house was on fire they would hustle to your house to put out the fire.  If you called in a fire and it was known that you didn't have insurance or you had not given a donation, they may not have made it to your house in time.  After the Civil War most fire companies changed from being volunteer to paid and it wasn't as important to have a plaque displayed on your house. Well "The Scribbler" was finally able to answer my question that I posed to him and we both agree that it is not an emblem of a rose.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.