Weather Vanes
09.29.06 By Lorraine Newberry
Like many popular collectibles, much of the charm of weather vanes lies in the fact that they were originally solely functional in nature - a means of telling which way the wind was blowing - but became an art form. The elaborate, whimsical weather vanes that are sought after by collectors were usually owned by the well-to-do, who were willing to spend a little extra on the details.
While weather vanes had long been used in Europe, the European weather vanes tended to portray religious themes. Americans quickly developed a new style in weather vanes, preferring vanes that had some significance to their business or the region, such as roosters and cows for farming communities and whales and ships for towns by the sea. After the American War of Independence patriotic motifs like eagles became popular, and in true Victorian fashion the weather vanes of the late 1800s were elaborately embellished with curves, scrolls and other decorations. People rarely made their own vanes, so iron weather vanes were typically crafted by a town’s blacksmith, while tin vanes were made by tinsmiths and wooden ones were made by carpenters. During the Industrial Age, around the mid-1800s, companies began mass-producing vanes.
Collectible weather vanes generally come in the form of banner vanes or figural vanes. Banner vanes are much simpler and less expensive than figural vanes. They are flat and shaped like arrows, triangles or other shapes to indicate the direction of the wind. Figural vanes are the sort that come in fun shapes like animals.
For more information about weather vanes as well as some great photos, please visit:
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Article Tags: mass produce, style, weather vanes================
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April 9th, 2007 at 8:34 am
Good site!!!
April 9th, 2007 at 11:50 am
11Good site!!!!!
April 9th, 2007 at 11:53 am
N
July 31st, 2007 at 10:15 pm
hi…
i agree…