Rooster weathervane, c. 1860, 39 x 27 in. (99.06 x 68.58 cm), Iron, United States, 19th century, For townspeople of the 1700s and 1800s in America, reading the weather was simply a matter of looking up. Weathervanes graced the roofs of meeting halls and churches in the town center. Farmers and others who lived outside of town often made their own weathervanes. Early examples like this highly stylized rooster from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, were usually two-dimensional and hand cut from wood or sheet metal.