This week's collection of whimsical and curious stories will once more consider fish. However, rather than poking light fun again at some UK-related fish stories, we will focus on the colonies today (Massachusetts to be precise).
Sacred Cod - Those familiar with the Massachusetts legislature will know that it is adorned with a 1.5m (5 foot) long model of a cod fish (to honor the fish's role in the local economy). While you would expect ostentatious seafood worshipping from a state like Maine, the oddness of the cod's role in the Massachusetts parliament reflects its storied history.
So important was cod-fishing during the early days of Massachusetts, that a wood-carving of the fish was hung in the old State House legislature in Boston long before the United States started calling itself a country. By the time 1798 rolled around and the cod moved to the new Massachusetts State House (draped in an American flag), it was already the third model of the fish now known as Sacred Cod (one having been lost to a fire and another to the thieving British).
The Sacred Cod in the Massachusetts State House
The great cod-napping of 1933 - After this turbulent early history, nothing much happened to the state's Sacred Cod for another 135 years - until April 1933. It was on the 25th of that month that the fish suddenly disappeared. For many legislatures this was no laughing matter and the New York times even reported that some suggested that it would be "sacrilege to transact state business" codless. After a frantic hunt for the fish, the Harvard Crimson (student) newspaper revealed that their rivals from the Harvard Lampoon had a hand in the conspiracy.
Excerpt from the April 28th, 1933 edition of the New York Times
However, nobody could prove who was ultimately guilty of the theft and after the fish was returned anonymously a few days later, interest in catching the thieves seems to have faded. When the Sacred Cod returned to the State House, it was mounted so high that it could only be reached with a stepladder to deter future thieves. This worked until 1968 when it was briefly stolen again (by a thief with a stepladder).
The Sacred Cod returned after the 1933 Cod-napping
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P.S: The Massachusetts State House not only houses the Sacred Cod but also the metal likeness of a another fish called the Holy Mackerel.
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