Swampscott weathervane retired, put on display

SWAMPSCOTT – Once a victim of theft, BB gun pellets and abandonment, the Town Hall grasshopper weathervane has been retired to a display case inside the building.The weathervane is about 122 years old, and was originally mounted on the cupola of the historic Elihu Thomson home from 1889 until 1944, when the home was converted into the Town Hall building. Betty Dean Holmes of the Historical Society said the grasshopper was the symbol of commerce, and a similar weathervane tops Faneuil Hall and the Royal Exchange building in London, where Thomson was from.Historical Commission associate member Lou Gallo proposed the weathervane be put on display for safekeeping.?Sometimes these things get misplaced, and it?d be a sin to lose it,” Gallo said. “This way, it?s there, people can see it and know part of the history of the house. I just wanted it back in Town Hall and displayed so nothing ever happened to it.”The grasshopper weathervane has already suffered its fair share of misplacement. In 1973, the weathervane was stolen along with other town items, which Gallo said was common during the Bicentennial. The weathervane was found in an antique shop in Vermont in 1974, and returned to the peak of the Town Hall roof.The weathervane was put in storage from 2007 to 2008 during renovations of Town Hall. Gallo said it might have moved from place to place, but recently it was found in the evidence locker at the police station.?Some of these things have been allowed to disintegrate from lack of care, and this was on its way to becoming that way,” Gallo said.He said the grasshopper has already suffered damage. After years of battling New England weather, one antenna broke off the grasshopper?s head, and Gallo said it has small dents in the metal from when Thomson?s sons used the weathervane as target practice with their BB guns.With the original weathervane safely on display, Swampscott resident Howard Thatcher has decided to make a replica to put back on the roof. Thatcher made the shadow box that the weathervane is displayed in, and during the project, he said, he decided he “wanted a challenge.”?I?m an old-timer and I like challenges,” said Thatcher. “I?ve been retired for 23 years and I?m looking for projects to keep me out of trouble.”Thatcher is working to make a wooden mold that he can use to cast a new grasshopper weathervane in copper. He hopes to give it to the town to be placed on the roof within the next month, as long as it is “presentable.”In the meantime, the original weathervane is safe inside the Town Hall foyer. “Hopefully it will be there for many, many years,” said Gallo.Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].