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"The gilded grasshopper atop Faneuil Hall
has an interesting history. Shem Drowne was a well known
Boston coppersmith. In 1742, he made a copper grasshopper vane
as a gift to
Peter Faneuil, and it was placed on Faneuil Hall. The
vane has been blown off the building a few times, and was then repaired and placed
back on the building. The vane was eventually gilded gold, presumably to harmonize with the gold dome of the
State House. Shem Drowne died in 1774, and was buried at
Copp's Hill Burial Ground. It is believed that the Faneuil Hall vane was modeled after the grasshopper
atop the Royal Exchange in London. The Royal Exchange was built by Sir
Thomas Gresham, and completed in 1571. The exchange became a center of
world commerce. The descendant building was destroyed by fire in 1838,
and a new Royal Exchange Building was opened in 1844.
The name Gresham means "grass-farm," and one can infer the grasshopper atop
the Royal Exchange was a symbol of the Gresham family name.
An obscure American reference, from Edward McDonald's Historical sketches of Copp's Hill (1896), contains a story of
a famous grasshopper
vane in London. Further references have not been found by this
author, but the story is still quite interesting: "A boy
going home from school chased a grasshopper over a fence into a large
field, and on climbing after the grasshopper he discovered in the grass a
baby boy, which he took home to his mother, who brought up the boy and
educated him; he afterwards became very wealthy and erected a large public building
which he presented to the Town of London, and on top he placed a grasshopper
vane, in commemoration of how he was found."
As to why the symbol of a grasshopper was chosen by Peter Faneuil to be
placed atop his new market in 1742, the most practical reason is the most
probable. At that time, before several landfills were completed along
Boston's waterfront, Faneuil Hall stood right at the shoreline. The London
Exchange grasshopper was a globally recognized symbol of commerce. Peter
Faneuil was a wealthy merchant, and his intent was likely to attract
business to the new market by replicating the recognizable London symbol.
Also, according to Yankee Weathervanes by Myrna Kaye (1973), a 4' x
4' sign in front of Faneuil's shop was also that of an image of the London
exchange grasshopper. The historic grasshopper was stolen or
vane-napped in 1974,
and was thankfully repaired and returned to its home a few months later.
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