First used to gauge New England's ever-changing weather, now viewed as American folk art, historic weathervanes have been a part of the region's skyline for more than three centuries. Focusing on examples that can still be seen in public, this comprehensive study of the development of the weathervane describes changes in form and function from colonial times to the present, and also documents the histories of weathervane makers throughout New England.

Serving as a vehicle for change and offering an outlet for the anxieties of a changing socity, Watts writes, the War of 1812 ultimately intensified and sanctioned the imperatives of a developing world-view