Communications
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.
1,462
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Four soldiers with heavy communications equipment in winding battlefield trench. 14558 interpositive
- Notes
- Company catalog card included.
- Currently stored in box 3.2.43 [143].
- Date
- 1910-1920
- publisher
- Underwood & Underwood
- Local number
- RSN 25396
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
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Confederate Signal Station, Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, Tenn. Active no. 5745 : interpositive.
- Notes
- Currently stored in box 3.2.51 [114].
- Date
- 1900
- 1910
- Civil War, 1861-1865
- 1900-1910
- publisher
- Underwood & Underwood
- Local number
- RSN 26753
- AC0143-0026753 (AC scan number)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
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The Heliograph Station--signalling between land and naval forces--near Pasay, Philippine Islands. Copyright 1899 by Underwood & Underwood. on negative Active no. 20943 : non-stereo photonegative, 1899
- Notes
- Company catalog card included.
- Currently stored in box 3.1.51 [100].
- Date
- 1899
- 1890-1900
- publisher
- Underwood & Underwood
- Local number
- RSN 16110
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
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Telegraph Register
- Description (Brief)
- This telegraph register was made in the shop of Charles Williams, Jr., in Boston. Williams was an important maker of telegraph equipment and also early telephones designed by Alexander Graham Bell. Telegraph registers are electrically-activated printers that receive Morse code messages. The message travels as a series of electrical pulses through a wire. The pulses energize the register’s electromagnets which move a lever-arm holding a pen or stylus. A clockwork mechanism pulls a strip of paper across the pen or stylus, recording the message. Short pulses draw or emboss a dot, slightly longer pulses a dash. The sequence of dots and dashes represent letters and numbers.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1870
- maker
- Charles Williams, Jr.
- ID Number
- 1981.0696.01
- accession number
- 1981.0696
- catalog number
- 1981.0696.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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Union type chest Headquarters Army of Potomac, Printing Department, No. 6, about 1863
- Description
- This type chest, measuring roughly 1’H x 2.5’W x 1.5’D, was purchased from L. Johnson & Company for the Printing Department of the Union Army of the Potomac. At least five other type chests were made for that unit. The top of the chest reads Headquarters Army of Potomac, Printing Department, No. 6. A virtually identical chest markedNo. 5 is displayed at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1863
- maker
- L. Johnson & Company
- issuing authority
- Army of the Potomac
- ID Number
- 1982.0203.2739
- accession number
- 1982.0203
- catalog number
- 1982.203.2739
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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Adams Cottage press, No. 4
- Description (Brief)
- This hand cylinder press was made by the Adams Press Company of New York in about 1862. It is marked in its casting “Patented March 19 1861.” Its bed measures 11.5 inches by 13 inches.
- The Adams Cottage Press was patented by Albert Adams in 1861, and manufactured by Joseph Watson operating as the Adams Press Company, New York. The press was advertised as a portable do-it-yourself press for amateurs and businessmen, but its portability soon appealed to the armies and navies of the Civil War. This particular press arrived at the Museum with a traveling chest of type with the painted words, “HEAD QUARTERS, ARMY OF POTOMAC, NO. 6, PRINTING DEPARTMENT.”
- Purchased in 1982.
- Citation: Elizabeth Harris, "Printing Presses in the Graphic Arts Collection," 1996.
- Description
- Every Man His Own Printer! advertised the makers of the Lowe and Adams presses. Easy to use, these presses inspired military and amateur printers during and after the Civil War to make use of the portable presses to print military orders, receipts, billheads, and other documents.
- Albert Adams's New York cylinder press was described as useful for the armed forces and merchants. It was patented on March 19, 1861, and manufactured and distributed by entrepreneur Joseph Watson and the Adams Press Company in New York.
- The Adams Cottage Press was designed without a frisket. The frisket, a separate inner frame hinged to the cloth-covered tympan, served to hold the paper in place and protect the printed sheet. The press included an automatic tympan which closed with the movement of the cylinder. The Adams Cottage Press and other portable presses did not include a self-inking system. The type was inked by hand, a sheet of paper was placed over the inked type, and the bed of the press was cranked below the cylinder to produce an impression and the printed sheet.
- date made
- ca 1861
- ca 1862
- maker
- Adams, Albert
- manufacturer
- Adams Press Company
- ID Number
- 1982.0203.2740
- accession number
- 1982.0203
- catalog number
- 1982.0203.2740
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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Telegraph Register
- Description (Brief)
- This telegraph register includes a reel for the paper tape. Not a commercial product, personnel at Trenton State may have made this object for use in the laboratory. Telegraph registers are electrically-activated printers that receive Morse code messages. The message travels as a series of electrical pulses through a wire. The pulses energize the register’s electromagnets which move a lever-arm holding a pen or stylus. A clockwork mechanism pulls a strip of paper across the pen or stylus, recording the message. Short pulses draw or emboss a dot, slightly longer pulses a dash. The sequence of dots and dashes represent letters and numbers.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 1982.0230.03
- accession number
- 1982.0230
- catalog number
- 1982.0230.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
-
Telephone Answering Machine
- Description (Brief)
- This Crown model CTA-4000 answering machine from the late 1960s used a non-standard cassette for recording messages. The telephone sat on top of the unit and was connected via a pickup and telephone cradle plug. A small microphone is mounted in a slot on the right side. The duration of message was 60 seconds. An advertisement from 1968 lists the retail price as $98.50 while one year it sold for $49.95.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1968
- maker
- Crown Radio Corporation
- ID Number
- 1982.0264.01
- accession number
- 1982.0264
- catalog number
- 1982.0264.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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Camera-ready comic art drawing for Garfield
- Description (Brief)
- This pen-and-ink drawing prepared for the Garfield comic strip shows the title character explaining the best things about cats.
- James Robert "Jim" Davis (1945- ) first worked at an advertising agency before transitioning into comics. Beginning in 1969, he assisted Tumbleweeds artist Tom K. Ryan. Davis later created a short-lived strip called Gnorm Gnat, which was only syndicated in one Indiana newspaper. In 1978 he launched Garfield for United Features and created one of the most popular animals in the comic world. Garfield has been represented in books, films, television specials, video games, amusement park attractions, and merchandise. Davis continues to write Garfield today.
- Garfield (1978- ) is a comic strip which looks at the life of the title character, a tabby cat, as well as a beagle named Odie, and their owner, Jon Arbuckle. Appearing in newspapers around the world, the strip’s international popularity is the result of non-topical and apolitical humor, and a simple story. The character Garfield is lazy and fat, and usually presents a disdainful attitude towards everything. He is often seen harassing Odie, his happily naïve housemate. Garfield also looks down on his owner, Jon, because of Jon's inability to get a date or benefit from social situations. Dr. Liz Wilson, Garfield’s veterinarian, was introduced in the second year of the strip’s run. She became Jon's romanic interest. In 2006, Jon and Liz began dating and then became engaged.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1978-06-25
- original artist
- Davis, Jim
- publisher
- United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
- ID Number
- 1983.480.01
- accession number
- 1983.0480
- catalog number
- 1983.0480.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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Regency Model TR-1 Transistor Radio
- Description
- During World War Two scientists and engineers at Bell Laboratories conducted research on many radar and radio devices. One goal was to find a replacement for fragile and energy-wasting vacuum tubes. Building on war-time research, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain, working with group leader William Shockley, developed a device they called a transistor. The first laboratory demonstration took place on 23 December 1947. Bell publicly announced the new invention on 30 June 1948.
- At first the US military bought all the transistors Bell Labs could make, and the company agreed to license other manufacturers. As engineers learned how to use the new invention, plans were made for commercial products that could take advantage of the transistor's small size, energy efficiency, and rugged design. In 1953 hearing aids became the first commercial product to use transistors.
- A small, portable radio seemed a good opportunity, and a company called Idea Incorporated designed and produced the Regency. Planning began in 1951 between Idea and Texas Instruments, supplier of the transistors. Work began in earnest in the spring of 1954, and this first Regency transistor radio was in stores for the Christmas season later that year. The Regency model TR-1 contained four transistors. Capable of receiving AM stations, the radio cost about $50 (that would be almost $400 today.)
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1954
- maker
- Idea Incorporated
- ID Number
- 1984.0040.01
- accession number
- 1984.0040
- catalog number
- 1984.0040.01
- model number
- TR-1
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
-
Reel-to-Reel Wire Recorder
- Description (Brief)
- In 1945 William Lear purchased a license from the Armour Research Foundation and made wire recorders like this “Dynaport” unit. The Dynaport combined a wire recorder with a disk record player. The user could play records and make a wire recording of the contents. Users could also connect the Dynaport with a radio and record programs off the air.
- The Dynaport did not sell well and Lear turned his attention to other products like small business jets. Years later he redesigned a tape cartridge system and became a driving force in the introduction of 8-track tape players for automobiles.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1948
- date ordered, given, or borrowed
- 1981-01-15
- maker
- Lear, Inc.
- ID Number
- 1984.0901.01
- accession number
- 1984.0901
- maker number
- 175
- catalog number
- 1984.0901.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
-
Railroad Hand-Signal Lantern, 1950s-70s
- Description
- This battery-powered signal lantern was manufactured by the Star Headlight & Lantern Company of Honeoye Falls, New York beginning in the 1950s. The lantern has a metal body with a fixed rubber-coated handle, allowing for better grip during signaling as well as a insulating the handle from electricity. The lantern has sockets for two bulbs; one equipped with a reflector used for signaling and a smaller adjacent socket that makes a focused beam that could be used as a flashlight.
- Before the advent of portable two way radios, train crews communicated via hand signals during the day, and lantern signals during periods of low visibility or at night. Hand lantern signals are still used in situations when radio intercommunication is impractical. Specific motions of the lantern convey precise instructions such as “Clear to Depart;" "Move the train Forward;" "Move the train Backward;" "Slow Down;" "Slow Down Further;" or "Stop and Remain Stopped."
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1950-1959
- associated institution
- Louisville and Nashville Railroad
- maker
- Star Headlight & Lantern Company
- ID Number
- 1985.0552.03
- accession number
- 1985.0552
- catalog number
- 1985.0552.03
- 85.0552.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
-
Studies for San Salvador, 1492
- Description
- Unsigned sheet of pencil drawings listing names of men who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his first expedition to the New World and shows some armor they might have worn. About 1930 Gerome Ferris painted San Salvador, 1492 in which Columbus claims the island of present-day San Salvador for Spain.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1920s
- maker
- Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome
- ID Number
- 1985.0650.004
- accession number
- 1985.0650
- catalog number
- 85.0650.004
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
-
Studies for San Salvador, 1492
- Description
- Unsigned sheet of pencil studies, showing swords and helmets, some of which can be linked to the figure of a crossbowman in Ferris’s painting in which Christopher Columbus takes possession of present-day San Salvador for Spain.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1920s
- original artist
- Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome
- ID Number
- 1985.0650.005
- accession number
- 1985.0650
- catalog number
- 85.0650.005
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
-
Studies for San Salvador, 1492
- Description (Brief)
- Gerome Ferris sketched these helmets in pencil for his 1930 historical painting of Christopher Columbus landing in the new world, San Salvador, 1492.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1920s
- original artist
- Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome
- ID Number
- 1985.0650.006
- accession number
- 1985.0650
- catalog number
- 85.0650.006
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
-
Studies for San Salvador, 1492
- Description (Brief)
- Unsigned sheet; Gerome Ferris explores in pencil a possibility for the central group in his painting, San Salvador, 1492. Here Columbus flourishes his sword above his head whereas in the painting he gestures forward with it. There is also a preliminary study for the crossbowman at left front in the painting.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1920s
- original artist
- Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome
- ID Number
- 1985.0650.007
- accession number
- 1985.0650
- catalog number
- 85.0650.007
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
-
Seventeenth-Century Ship
- Description
- Gerome Ferris’s unsigned pencil sketch of a ship under full sail with pennant jauntily flying in the breeze may be related to his circa 1930 painting Henry Morgan’s Knight of the Double Cross, 1670 where there is a similar ship.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1920s
- original artist
- Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome
- ID Number
- 1985.0650.008
- accession number
- 1985.0650
- catalog number
- 85.0650.008
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
-
American Vibroplex Telegraph Key
- Description (Brief)
- Semi-automatic keys like this "American Vibroplex" automatically produced rapid morse code dots by using a weighted pendulum to quickly make and break contact in the electrical circuit. The operator would make the dashes manually but could send much faster than with an ordinary key.
- King & Company produced this key under license from a company that worked with Horace Martin, inventor of "Vibroplex" semi-automatic key.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- King & Company
- ID Number
- 1985.0885.01
- accession number
- 1985.0885
- catalog number
- 1985.0885.01
- serial number
- 223
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
-
Semi-automatic Telegraph Key
- Description (Brief)
- Semi-automatic keys like this one automatically produced rapid morse code dots by using a weighted pendulum to quickly make and break contact in the electrical circuit. The operator would make the dashes manually but could send much faster than with an ordinary key.
- Electric Specialty Manufacturing Company produced this key under license from a company that worked with Horace Martin, inventor of "Vibroplex" semi-automatic key.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Electric Specialty Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1985.0885.02
- accession number
- 1985.0885
- catalog number
- 1985.0885.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
-
Reel-to-Reel Tape Recorder
- Description (Brief)
- This portable Fi-Cord reel-to-reel tape recorder was made in Switzerland around 1964. Intended for use as a portable dictating machine, the Fi-Cord model 101 weighs nearly two pounds (one kilogram).
- The Swiss economy has always been heavily dependant on exporting manufactured products, especially finely crafted items like clocks and watches. This tape recorder exhibits the skill one associates with Swiss engineering and also shows that they quickly adopted transistors for small electronic devices.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1964
- maker
- Fi-cord International
- ID Number
- 1986.0407.01
- accession number
- 1986.0407
- catalog number
- 1986.0407.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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