Congratulations to Casey Germain for being the first student to tweet a selfie at the October 6th #FindMeFriday location!
A little about this week’s location:
In 1873, the Oriental Tea Company unveiled the Steaming Tea Kettle, which is one of the nation’s oldest animated signs. It has had several homes, but the current and most famous location is the corner of Court and Tremont Streets in Government Center.
The popularity of the Steaming Tea Kettle grew after a competition that took place on New Years Day in 1875. Residents of Boston were invited to guess the capacity of the kettle. Over 13,000 guesses were entered and the official measurements were done by the Boston’s Sealer of Weights & Measures.
If you look closely at the Kettle, you will see the capacity stamped into the brass:
- 227 gallons
- 2 quarts
- 1 pint
- 3 gills (What exactly is a gill? Great question. Find out here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill_(unit) )
Eight people came within 3 gills of the correct measurement and each received about 5 pounds of tea.
In May 2016, ViewPoint Sign and Awning removed the kettle and spent 5 months bringing it back to its original sparkling gold-leaf glory! So the next time you are in Government Center, look up to see the Steaming Tea Kettle hanging over Starbucks at 63-65 Court Street and instead of a tall, grande, or venti, try ordering your triple iced, sugar-free, vanilla latte with soy milk in gills.
To learn more about this interesting landmark, you can visit: http://www.celebrateboston.com/strange/giant-tea-kettle.htm
Now, go tea, I mean, go see your City!