John Hancock Paid A Lot To Eat Fresh Fish

The most flamboyant signature on the Declaration of Independence belonged to John Hancock, and that seems only fitting. The wealth he acquired by inheriting and growing his uncle’s mercantile firm enabled Hancock to live and eat with a lot of style.

To acquire one of the first salmon of the season, he paid a guinea—an amount equal to a full week’s wage for most skilled English craftsmen.

Hancock was known for the elaborate codfish dinners that he hosted. He so loved the cod found in Massachusetts Bay that even after advancing British troops forced him to flee Boston, Hancock paid to have codfish from the bay shipped to his temporary homes in Philadelphia and Baltimore.

Source: What The Great Ate

The most flamboyant signature on the Declaration of Independence belonged…