The Kettle That Has Steamed Over Court Street Since 1873

Above the door of the Starbucks at 63-65 Court Street hangs a large gilded copper kettle, and every so often a puff of steam drifts from its spout. It was made in 1873 by the Boston coppersmiths Hicks and Badger as a sign for the Oriental Tea Company, which had its store nearby in old Scollay Square. On New Year's Day 1875 the company staged a contest to guess how much it held. A crowd reported at about ten thousand filled the square. Before the measuring began, eight boys and a tall man climbed out of the kettle. The official answer, still inscribed on its side, was 227 gallons, 2 quarts, 1 pint and 3 gills. When Scollay Square was cleared for Government Center in the 1960s, the kettle moved here, and it has kept steaming above a run of coffee shops ever since.