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The Sacred Cod
A view from below of a carved, painted fish.
The Sacred Cod in its "natural habitat":
"Humble the subject and homely the design; yet this painted image bears on its finny front a majesty greater than the dignity that art can lend to graven gold or chiselled marble ..."
Year 1784 (1784)
Medium Woodcarving
Dimensions 4 ft 11 in (150 cm) long
Weight 80 lb (36 kg)
Location Massachusetts State House, Boston

The Sacred Cod is a four-foot-eleven-inch (150 cm) carved wooden fish. It hangs in the House of Representatives chamber in Boston's Massachusetts State House. This special fish reminds everyone how important the cod fishing industry was to Massachusetts. Cod is even the official symbol of Massachusetts!

The Sacred Cod has a long history. There might have been three different versions of it over the centuries. The first one was lost in a fire in 1747. The second one disappeared during the American Revolution. The third one is the one you can see in the House today.

"Sacred Cod" is actually a nickname. It started being used in 1895. A special committee called it "the sacred emblem." This committee was trying to find out why the fish had been kept in the House for over 100 years. Soon, the name "sacred cod" was used for real codfish too. This showed how important cod fishing was to Massachusetts' success.

In 1933, the Sacred Cod was briefly "Cod-napped." This means it was stolen by students from the Harvard Lampoon humor magazine. Police even searched the Charles River and an airplane in New Jersey to find it! In 1968, students from the University of Massachusetts Boston took it again for a short time.

There is another fish figure in the State House Senate chamber. It's a brass casting above the main chandelier. People sometimes call it the Holy Mackerel.

Why the Cod is Important

Atlantic-cod-1
A "sacred cod" in its natural habitat

Fishing for cod was the first big industry for Europeans in Massachusetts. People say that the first thing the colony ever sold to other places was a shipment of fish.

Because of this, the codfish has been a very important symbol in New England for hundreds of years. You can see its picture on old coins, stamps, and government symbols. For example, a wealthy businessman in Salem built a house in 1743. He had a carved and golden codfish on every stair in his large hall!

In the late 1920s, a codfish symbol even appeared on Massachusetts license plates for a short time.

The Cod's Journey Through History

1751 CourtHouse Boston byNathanielHurd
Boston's Old State House, where the second and (for a time) the third Sacred Cod hung
MAstatehouse62
The modern Massachusetts State House, around 1862
MA HouseRepresentatives Ballous
An etching from 1856 showing the old Representatives chamber, with the Sacred Cod near the top right

The Sacred Cod has hung in the Massachusetts House of Representatives chamber for three centuries. It has been moved around and there have been at least two, and maybe even three, different versions of the fish.

The First Cod

People have a old story about the first Cod. It says that Samuel Sewall, a judge who died in 1729, gave a codfish to the House of Assembly. However, Judge Sewall wrote a lot, and he never mentioned giving a fish.

If this first fish did exist, it was probably destroyed when the State House burned down in 1747.

The Second Cod

A second Cod appeared sometime between 1748 (when the State House was rebuilt) and 1773. We know this because a person named Thomas Crafts, Jr. sent a bill for "painting Codfish" in 1773.

This second Cod disappeared during the American Revolution.

The Third Cod

The third Cod was put in place in 1784. A representative named John Rowe asked if they could hang a codfish again. He wanted it to remind everyone how important cod fishing was to Massachusetts. This is the same wooden fish that is still there today.

In 1798, the Cod was moved to the new State House. It first hung above the Speaker's desk. In the 1850s, it was moved to the back of the chamber.

The 1895 Committee Report

Sacred Cod 02
The Sacred Cod above the House of Representatives visitors' gallery

On January 2, 1895, the House was about to move to a new room. They wondered if they should take the codfish with them. They decided to study its meaning first.

After almost two months of research, a three-member committee shared its report. The House then decided to move the old codfish to the new chamber right away.

The Sacred Cod was carefully wrapped in an American flag. It was carried by House messengers to the new chamber. The representatives stood up and clapped when it arrived. After being repainted, it was hung where it is today. It hangs above the chamber's clock.

Some people say the Cod is turned to face the political party that is currently in charge. But the committee that studied the fish never mentioned such a tradition.

The "Sacred Cod" Nickname

Taft Talks To Publishers Over Wire Pittsburgh Gazette Times April 26 1912
Pittsburgh Gazette Times,
April 26, 1912

The committee's report in 1895 called the fish "the sacred emblem." Around the same time, a newspaper called it "the Sacred Cod."

Within a few years, writers, journalists, and even advertisers started using the term regularly. The phrase quickly began to refer not only to the wooden fish but also to real codfish from the sea, especially when sold in stores.

In 1912, President William Howard Taft gave a speech from Boston. He called Boston "the home of the sacred cod."

In 1922, a historian named Samuel Eliot Morison wrote about how important fishing was to the early economy. He said that Massachusetts got its ideas from a "sacred book" and its money from the "sacred cod."

There is a famous poem that makes fun of old Boston families:

And this is good old Boston, / The home of the bean and the cod,
Where the Lowells talk only to Cabots / And the Cabots talk only to God.

This poem is based on an older, less known poem:

Here's to old Massachusetts / The home of the sacred cod,
Where the Adamses vote for Douglas, / And the Cabots walk with God.

The "Cod-napping" by Harvard Students

Holy Mackerel State House
The Holy Mackerel above the chandelier in the Massachusetts Senate chamber

On April 26, 1933, students from the Harvard Lampoon (Harvard University's humor magazine) stole the Cod. They went into the House of Representatives gallery, cut down the Cod, and carried it away in a large florist's box.

Massachusetts officials were very surprised by the theft. Some lawmakers felt it was wrong to do business without the Cod watching over them.

Boston's mayor, James Michael Curley, received a message from the students. It said the Cod would be returned wrapped in the city flag. Police searched the Charles River and an airplane, but the tips were false. Detectives followed many clues, which led them to "college circles."

Finally, a mysterious phone call told a Harvard official named Charles R. Apted where to go. He followed a car into some woods. There, two young men gave him the Cod. It was not wrapped in a flag. In the early morning of April 29, after some repairs, the Sacred Cod was hung back in the House chamber. It was hung six inches higher than before, so a stepladder would be needed to take it down again.

University of Massachusetts Incident

On November 14, 1968, students from the new Boston campus of the University of Massachusetts took the Sacred Cod. They used a stepladder. They did this to protest what they felt was a lack of attention from lawmakers for their school. The Cod was found a few days later in a little-used hallway in the State House.

Greyhound Proposal

In 1937, a representative named John B. Wenzler jokingly suggested that the Sacred Cod should be replaced with a greyhound. He said this because he felt the lawmakers were too influenced by dog racing.

The Harvard official, Charles Apted, who helped get the Cod back in 1933, wrote to Wenzler. He asked if he could have the Cod if it was replaced. He wanted to keep it safe for future young Americans.

World War II

During World War II, there was a drive to collect aluminum for the war effort. Officials mistakenly thought the Sacred Cod was made of aluminum. They asked for it to be donated. House Speaker Christian Herter explained that the Cod was made of wood, long before aluminum was discovered. He suggested they consider the "Holy Mackerel" in the Senate chamber instead.

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