After the middle of the nineteenth century, weathervanes increasingly were made in factory settings, with early centers of production in Massachusetts. Although the final product was “factory-made,” each step required intensive handwork. The first stage was the sculpting of a three-dimensional wooden patter, often beautifully handcrafted by a master carver. An iron mold was then made from the wooden pattern, sometimes in several parts. Sheet metal, usually copper, was hammered or pressed into the molds, and the resulting pieces were soldered together. This weathervane bears the stamp of Harris & Company, an early Boston enterprise established by Josephus Harris of Brattleboro, Vermont, in the late 1860s and located at 111 Kingston Street. Harris weathervanes influenced other Boston factories and were copied by W.A. Snow & Company and Puritan Iron Works, making attribution difficult unless a piece is stamped. The 1880 Harris catalog offered steam fire engine weathervanes in two sizes: no. 126, seven feet long, and no.126x, five feet long.

This weathervane celebrates the horse-drawn steam fire engine, which slowly replaced hand pumpers in the second half of the nineteenth century. It appears to be a type made by the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company of Manchester, New Hampshire, founded in 1859, that is characterized by the double straight frame and the location of the seat. The first American steamer was built in 1840–1841, but the new equipment was not used by a fire department until 1853, when Cincinnati established the first professional fire department. This fulfilled the growing fears of volunteer firefighters, whose brawn and bravery had long been celebrated but who sensed the waning of their role. Boston long been celebrated but who sensed the waning of their role. Boston followed in 1854, but New York did not institute a horse-drawn steam fire engine company until 1865. By 1882, however, the virtues of the steam fire engine were extolled in a poem published in the Firemen’s Herald, which included the line: “The Steamer! We’ll ever adore you.”

Stacy C. Hollander, "Steam Fire Engine Weathervane," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 348.