Communications

WANN Microphone

Tools of communication have transformed American society time and again over the past two centuries. The Museum has preserved many instruments of these changes, from printing presses to personal digital assistants.

The collections include hundreds of artifacts from the printing trade and related fields, including papermaking equipment, wood and metal type collections, bookbinding tools, and typesetting machines. Benjamin Franklin is said to have used one of the printing presses in the collection in 1726.

More than 7,000 objects chart the evolution of electronic communications, including the original telegraph of Samuel Morse and Alexander Graham Bell's early telephones. Radios, televisions, tape recorders, and the tools of the computer age are part of the collections, along with wireless phones and a satellite tracking system.

Place: United States

Picture postcard, "San Buena Ventura Mission, Founded 1782, Ventura, California"

This postcard view of San Buenaventura Mission was printed by the Van Ornum Colorprint Company in Los Angeles, Calif.
Description (Brief)
This postcard view of San Buenaventura Mission was printed by the Van Ornum Colorprint Company in Los Angeles, Calif. using photomechanical processes.
The Van Ornum Colorprint Company (1908-1921) was one of many picture postcard publishing companies producing California landmark scenes.
Mission San Buenaventura, founded in 1782, is located in the coastal town of Ventura. It was the ninth of twenty-one Spanish Franciscan missions established in California between 1769 and 1823 to convert American Indians of the Chumash tribe to Catholicism.
Today the mission serves as a parish church and a museum.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1908-1921
graphic artist
Van Ornum Colorprint Co.
ID Number
1986.0639.0487
accession number
1986.0639
catalog number
1986.639.0487

Press pass, Headquarters, Army of the Potomac

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1862
maker
Army of the Potomac
ID Number
2012.0084.01
accession number
2012.0084
catalog number
2012.0084.01

Engraved woodblock of a "Bird's-eye view of the Grand Canyon"

This engraved woodblock of “Bird’s-eye view of the Grand Canyon" was prepared by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 as as Figure 72 (p.187) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of
Description
This engraved woodblock of “Bird’s-eye view of the Grand Canyon" was prepared by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 as as Figure 72 (p.187) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
printer
Government Printing Office
author
Powell, John Wesley
graphic artist
Nichols, H. H.
ID Number
1980.0219.0467
accession number
1980.0219
catalog number
1980.0219.0467

Rodgers telegraph relay

Telegraph relays amplified electrical signals in a telegraph line. Telegraph messages traveled as a series of electrical pulses through a wire from a transmitter to a receiver. Short pulses made a dot, slightly longer pulses a dash.
Description
Telegraph relays amplified electrical signals in a telegraph line. Telegraph messages traveled as a series of electrical pulses through a wire from a transmitter to a receiver. Short pulses made a dot, slightly longer pulses a dash. The pulses faded in strength as they traveled through the wire, to the point where the incoming signal was too weak to directly operate a receiving sounder or register. A relay detected a weak signal and used a battery to strengthen the signal so that the receiver would operate.
This telegraph relay appears similar to early units from the 1850s and '60s. The frame is marked "J. Rodgers New York" about whom we have no current information.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Rodgers, J.
ID Number
EM.181421
catalog number
181421
accession number
31652

Engraved woodblock of "Bringing down the batten"

This engraved woodblock of “Bringing down the batten” was prepared, after a photograph, by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Plate XXXVIII (p.390) in an article by Dr.
Description
This engraved woodblock of “Bringing down the batten” was prepared, after a photograph, by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Plate XXXVIII (p.390) in an article by Dr. Washington Matthews (1843-1905) entitled “Navajo Weavers” in the Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1881-82.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1884
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
printer
Government Printing Office
author
Matthews, Washington
Powell, John Wesley
block maker
A. P. J. & Co.
ID Number
1980.0219.1365
catalog number
1980.0219.1365
accession number
1980.0219

Picture postcard, "Mission San Miguel, California"

This postcard view of Mission San Miguel was printed by the Detroit Publishing Company in about 1910, using a copyrighted photolithographic process called "Photostint."The Detroit Publishing Company (previously known as the Detroit Photographic Company) was first listed in Detroi
Description (Brief)
This postcard view of Mission San Miguel was printed by the Detroit Publishing Company in about 1910, using a copyrighted photolithographic process called "Photostint."
The Detroit Publishing Company (previously known as the Detroit Photographic Company) was first listed in Detroit city directories in 1888. Its manager, William A. Livingstone, invited famous landscape photographer William Henry Jackson to join the company as a partner in 1897. Jackson brought with him his own photographic images, which would be used by the company.
Mission San Miguel Arcángel, located in San Miguel, was the sixteenth of twenty-one Spanish Franciscan missions founded in California between 1769 and 1823. The mission was established to convert American Indians of the Salinan tribe.
Today the mission serves as a parish church.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1910
graphic artist
Detroit Publishing Co.
ID Number
1986.0639.2041
accession number
1986.0639
catalog number
1986.639.2041

Herb Vegetable Sauce

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1968-1970
author
Waters, Alice
ID Number
2016.0085.11
accession number
2016.0085
catalog number
2016.0085.11

Engraved woodblock of "Weaving diamond-shaped diagonals"

This engraved woodblock of “Weaving diamond-shaped diagonals” was prepared, after a photograph, by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Plate XXXV (p.380) in an article by Dr.
Description
This engraved woodblock of “Weaving diamond-shaped diagonals” was prepared, after a photograph, by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Plate XXXV (p.380) in an article by Dr. Washington Matthews (1843-1905) entitled “Navajo Weavers” in the Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1881-82.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1884
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
printer
Government Printing Office
author
Matthews, Washington
block maker
W. T. & B.
ID Number
1980.0219.1359
catalog number
1980.0219.1359
accession number
1980.0219

Picture postcard, "Monterey. Old Mission Chapel"

This postcard view of the Old Mission Chapel at Monterey was printed using a copyrighted photolithographic process called "Photostint" by the Detroit Photographic Company in about 1899.The Detroit Photographic Company was first listed in Detroit city directories in 1888 and was m
Description (Brief)
This postcard view of the Old Mission Chapel at Monterey was printed using a copyrighted photolithographic process called "Photostint" by the Detroit Photographic Company in about 1899.
The Detroit Photographic Company was first listed in Detroit city directories in 1888 and was managed by William A. Livingstone. Livingstone invited the famous landscape photographer William Henry Jackson to join the company as a partner in 1897. Jackson brought with him his own photographic images, which would be used by the company.
Mission San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo, or the Old Mission Chapel, was founded in 1770 by Fr. Junípero Serra, the Spanish Franciscan missionary associated with twenty-one missions in California. Mission San Carlos was the second of the missions founded between 1769 and 1823 for the conversion of American Indians of the Esselen and Ohlone, or Costanoan, tribes to Catholicism.
Today the mission serves as a parish church.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1899
graphic artist
Detroit Photographic Co.
ID Number
1986.0639.1998
catalog number
1986.639.1998
accession number
1986.0639

Engraved woodblock of "Climbing the Grand Canyon"

This engraved woodblock of “Climbing the Grand Canyon” was prepared by F. S.
Description
This engraved woodblock of “Climbing the Grand Canyon” was prepared by F. S. King and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 on page 98 of John Wesley Powell's Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Thomas Moran (1837-1926) was the original artist.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1875
1875
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
printer
Government Printing Office
author
Powell, John Wesley
original artist
Moran, Thomas
graphic artist
King, Francis Scott
maker
V. W. & Co.
ID Number
1980.0219.0474
accession number
1980.0219
catalog number
1980.0219.0474

OK jobber, Kelsey

This platen jobber, with a clamshell mechanism, was made by W. A. Kelsey, about 1891.
Description (Brief)
This platen jobber, with a clamshell mechanism, was made by W. A. Kelsey, about 1891. Its chase measures 9 inches by 13 inches.
William Kelsey made his fame and fortune with small presses for amateurs and children, but for a few years he tried making platen jobbers too, and even a small flatbed cylinder press. His short-lived OK Jobber, introduced in 1887, sold for only $100. The press, criticized as being flimsy and lacking power, was not a great success. But like many lightweight clamshell jobbers of the time, it filled a need and did so inexpensively.
This model was presented in 1891, with a modified frame and a wraparound feed table. The small flywheel (25 inches in diameter) is tied directly to the treadle by a rod. Despite its light frame, the press is heavy in operation.
Purchased in 1985.
Citation: Elizabeth Harris, "Printing Presses in the Graphic Arts Collection," 1996.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
circa 1891
date made
ca 1891
maker
Kelsey, William
Kelsey, William
Kelsey, William
ID Number
1985.0559.02
accession number
1985.0559
catalog number
1985.0559.02
1985.0559.02

On the Lookout for Game

Koba, aka Wild Horse,drawn between 1875 and 1878 at Fort Marion, Florida"On the Lookout for Game"Collected by Richard Henry Pratt about 1878Colored pencil, ink, and watercolorThis illustration by Koba shows a band of Kiowa traveling to the right.
Description
Koba, aka Wild Horse,
drawn between 1875 and 1878 at Fort Marion, Florida
"On the Lookout for Game"
Collected by Richard Henry Pratt about 1878
Colored pencil, ink, and watercolor
This illustration by Koba shows a band of Kiowa traveling to the right. Both men and women carry various supplies, bow and quiver cases, rifles, and umbrellas (a popular trade item). The route of the band is imaged using dashes on the ground. A scout keeps a lookout on the highest hill. The Kiowa hunt on foot, in the old way, though they use both old and new weapons.
date made
ca 1875-1878
original artist
Koba
ID Number
2008.0175.58
accession number
2008.0175
catalog number
2008.0175.058

Holiday

Beatrice Wood (1883-1998) was an acclaimed artist, bestknown for her work with ceramics and her role in founding the Dada Movement.
Description (Brief)
Beatrice Wood (1883-1998) was an acclaimed artist, best
known for her work with ceramics and her role in founding the Dada Movement. While working in the Los Angeles art scene during the 1930s, she was introduced to master printer Lynton Kistler, who persuaded her to take up printmaking and gifted her a set of lithographic plates. Her prints were simple and satirical, sometimes incorporating a subtle dark humor. Her lithograph “Holiday,” was printed in 1932.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
about 1940
September 1920
date made
1932
printer
Kistler, Lynton R.
ID Number
1978.0650.0979
accession number
1978.0650
catalog number
1978.0650.0979

Califonia Cabin at the Mines

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1856
associated date
1856
graphic artist
Ballou, Maturin Murray
ID Number
GA.309390.16
catalog number
309390.16
309390.16

Merchant's Exchange, San Francisco

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1857
associated date
1852 - 1857
graphic artist
Peirce, Joshua H.
original artist
Waud, William
ID Number
GA.309390.08
catalog number
309390.08
309390.08

Map of the Pilgrim's Progress

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
c. 1850
date made
ca 1800
graphic artist
Melish, John
ID Number
1985.0303.05
accession number
1985.0303
catalog number
1985.0303.05

The Through Express

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1969
original artist
Currier & Ives
publisher
Travelers Companies, Inc.
ID Number
2012.3050.05.09
nonaccession number
2012.3050
catalog number
2012.3050.05.09

Engraved woodblock of a "Bottle with geometric figures"

This engraved woodblock of a “Bottle with geometric figures” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Figure 166 (p.116) in an article by William Henry Holmes (1846-1933) entitled “Ancient Art of the Province of Chiriqui, Colo
Description
This engraved woodblock of a “Bottle with geometric figures” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Figure 166 (p.116) in an article by William Henry Holmes (1846-1933) entitled “Ancient Art of the Province of Chiriqui, Colombia” in the Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian,1884-85.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1888
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
graphic artist
Government Printing Office
author
Holmes, William Henry
ID Number
1980.0219.1061
catalog number
1980.0219.1061
accession number
1980.0219

Blind Man's Bluff

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1969
1962
original artist
Palmer, Frances F.
publisher
Travelers Companies, Inc.
ID Number
2012.3050.05.14
nonaccession number
2012.3050
catalog number
2012.3050.05.14

Lowe Press No. 2 press

Samuel W. Lowe of Philadelphia invented the Lowe printing press, an unusual conical cylinder press patented in 1856. Like Adams's Cottage printing press, it did not include a frisket and included an automatic tympan.
Description
Samuel W. Lowe of Philadelphia invented the Lowe printing press, an unusual conical cylinder press patented in 1856. Like Adams's Cottage printing press, it did not include a frisket and included an automatic tympan. The rights for the press were sold in 1858 to Joseph Watson, who marketed both presses in Boston and Philadelphia.
The Lowe printing press does not appear to have been as heavily advertised as the Adams, although the company notes that we have sold many presses … to druggists … in this country and in other lands. Every boy and business man seems to be having one.
As for portability, the Lowe was more than a third lighter than the Adams, ranging from between 12 and 120 pounds as compared to Adams's press at between 100 and 400 pounds. The Lowe used a simpler frame and relatively thin castings.
date made
ca 1860
patent date
1856
maker
Lowe, Samuel W.
ID Number
1988.0650.03
accession number
1988.0650
catalog number
1988.0650.03

August Willich/ Brigadier General USA

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Ehrgott, Forbriger & Co.
ID Number
2014.0250.35
accession number
2014.0250.35
catalog number
2014.0250.35

Picture postcard, "Mission San Juan Capistrano - 1776. Midway Between San Diego and Los Angeles, California"

This postcard view of San Juan Capistrano was printed by the Curt Teich Company of Chicago using photomechanical processes. It was published about 1914 by the I. L.
Description (Brief)
This postcard view of San Juan Capistrano was printed by the Curt Teich Company of Chicago using photomechanical processes. It was published about 1914 by the I. L. Eno company in San Diego, Calif.
The Curt Teich Company manufactured postcards between 1898 and 1978 in association with several publishers. The firm used the term "photochrom," later "colortone," to describe its color printing processes.
Mission San Juan Capistrano is located in the town of the same name. It was the seventh of twenty-one Spanish Franciscan missions established in California between 1769 and 1823, and was founded for the conversion to Catholicism of American Indians of the Luisen, or Juaneno, tribe.
Today the mission compound includes a parish chapel and a museum.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1914
graphic artist
Eno, I. L.
ID Number
1986.0639.0332
accession number
1986.0639
catalog number
1986.0639.0332

Portrait of Sarah Gilmor

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1843
original artist
Lawrence, Sir Thomas
graphic artist
Sartain, John
ID Number
GA.14336
accession number
94830
catalog number
14336

Gleason's Pictorial...View of the Town of Marysville, California

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1852
associated date
1852
publisher
Gleason, Frederick
ID Number
GA.309390.09
catalog number
309390.09
309390.09

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