On a June day a hundred years ago, a florid-faced, mustached man named Walter Hawxhurst panted slowly up the creaking stairs to the second floor of the Government House, Sansome and Washington Streets, San Francisco, and wondered if he were doing the right thing. Owning a half interest in a thousand five-gallon kegs of Boston syrup stored nearby, he now wanted fire insurance on it for a year—$1,200 worth of insurance. But was he headed for a dependable insurance company? He didn’t know.

The company, occupying rooms 1, 2 and 3 of Government House, had been founded only six weeks before, with a capital of $200,000. Would such a newcomer to insurance be safe? Would it be trustworthy? He shrugged.

Mr. Hawxhurst was twisting his mustache and scowling as he entered the insurance office. An anxious clerk stumbled over himself in haste to reach the man.

The caller opened the interview by announcing, in effect, that he owned "quite a batch of syrup. Quite a batch, sir."

The transaction cost him an even $12.

What happened to Mr. Hawxhurst after that? No one knows for sure, but one notation reads that he was "satisfied with the company’s rates and treatment." He never made a claim, but unwittingly he did make an indelible imprint on corporate history, for he was the very first customer of Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company. The year was 1863.

In the century since then millions and millions of customers in all parts of the country have trod the path to agents of Fireman’s Fund, whose Home Office remains in San Francisco to this day. In contrast to insurance on those first kegs of Boston syrup, Fireman’s Fund writes a multitude of different coverages on far-flung multimillion dollar projects, as well as on the property of Mr. and Mrs. Average Citizen everywhere. Operations are worldwide.

Truly, Mr. Hawxhurst started something!

Do we still insure syrup? Of course. And lakes of molasses. We even insure the mills that grind the meal that makes the pancakes that the sweetening goes on—together with insuring almost every other conceivable thing on earth. Million-dollar "things," and "things" of only sentimental value. Dams and bridges, tunnels and homes. Monkeys, kissing fish and crocodiles. Paintings and poems. Reliability of actors. Honesty of bankers. Courtesy of clerks. Health. Shoes and ships and sealing wax, literally, and, before blast-off time, even that remarkable contraption that was to become the world’s first communications satellite, the now famous Telstar. "Insurance by Fireman’s Fund" distinguishes them all. Name it and you’ll find it noted in the bulging files of this progressive and versatile firm, one of the largest property-casualty insurance companies in America.

But again, please serve the syrup. Swamp it on.

Contrast that first sweet bit of business with some of the present-day accounts involving syrup or molasses. Could anything more graphically demonstrate hand-in-hand growth?

For instance, on the books of Fireman’s Fund is a molasses client with offices in Boston. Boston, a familiar echo! That is the easternmost such account of Fireman’s Fund. The westernmost, American Factors, Ltd., is in Hawaii.

Under an Inland Marine policy for American Factors—a Molasses Floater—Fireman’s Fund covers "all risks" on molasses of the insured for which he is liable, insurance that has been in force since mid-1945. The policy covers the molasses from the time it gurgles into giant storage tanks at the area mills on various islands of the Hawaii group and thereafter until delivered on board overseas vessels. On molasses that is sold within the State of Hawaii, the policy covers until the product is delivered to the buyer’s premises or until loaded on the buyer’s land conveyances, whichever occurs first. The molasses goes into stock feed, an ingredient that is palatable and puts on pounds.

And no matter how you look at it, that batch of ‘lasses is considerable.

The largest molasses storage tank on any of the Hawaiian Islands is located at pier 19 in Honolulu—a tank holding 10,000 tons, or about 1,650,000 gallons! In 1962, with a value of $2,236,000, the total molasses covered under the Fireman’s Fund policies for American Factors amounted to 17,330,000 gallons—enough, if it were molasses of a table variety, for waffles by the truckload. Or plenty, if you’re statistically minded, for 1,386,400,000 pancakes.

"And that," as Mr. Hawxhurst might say, "is quite a snack, sir. Quite a snack."

[04-01-03-004-0083 Fireman’s Fund Archives]