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.

Resource Type: Drawings

drawing

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
GA.06566.10
catalog number
06566.10
accession number
19048

Portrait of a Moroccan Man

Unsigned pencil study made at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial ExhibitionCurrently not on view
Description (Brief)
Unsigned pencil study made at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1876-08-07
original artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.16691
catalog number
16691
accession number
119780

Portrait of Harriet Wheeler

Stephen Ferris made the signed pencil portrait of his sister Harriet Wheeler on August 6, 1875, during a visit to Rock Island, Illinois. Ferris had lived in Illinois until he came East at age 17 to study art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Stephen Ferris made the signed pencil portrait of his sister Harriet Wheeler on August 6, 1875, during a visit to Rock Island, Illinois. Ferris had lived in Illinois until he came East at age 17 to study art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875
original artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.16645
catalog number
16645
accession number
119780

Portrait of Gerome Ferris

Stephen Ferris drew his young son in pencil on January 20, 1868. Gerome would have been about five.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Stephen Ferris drew his young son in pencil on January 20, 1868. Gerome would have been about five.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1868-01-20
original artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.16654
catalog number
16654
accession number
119780

Torre del Oro, Seville

While traveling in southern Spain in the summer of 1881, Stephen Ferris drew Seville’s Torre del Oro or Golden Tower in ink. The two lower sections of the tower were built by the Moors in the thirteenth century and the top section added by the Spanish in the eighteenth.
Description (Brief)
While traveling in southern Spain in the summer of 1881, Stephen Ferris drew Seville’s Torre del Oro or Golden Tower in ink. The two lower sections of the tower were built by the Moors in the thirteenth century and the top section added by the Spanish in the eighteenth. Ferris, who was interested in Moorish architecture, merely recorded the outline of the top section in dots.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1881
graphic artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.14537
catalog number
14537
accession number
94830

Camera-ready comic panel, entitled "Glamour Girls".

Don Flowers (d. 1968) created and drew "Glamour Girls", a series of so-called "pinup cartoons" between the 1940s and the 1960s. The cartoons featured beautiful blonds and brunettes, who lived to shop and generally cause males grief.
Description
Don Flowers (d. 1968) created and drew "Glamour Girls", a series of so-called "pinup cartoons" between the 1940s and the 1960s. The cartoons featured beautiful blonds and brunettes, who lived to shop and generally cause males grief. Men were often the characters that drove the gags. In this panel, a girl stands in front of her parents with a sling on her arm, covered in bandages. Her hair is long and hangs over her eyes. The father says, "And I say she doesn't need glasses, she needs a haircut."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
07/03/1966
graphic artist
Flowers, Don
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22377
catalog number
22377
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Judge Parker

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Judge Parker comic strip shows Charles holding Casandra Canabar and Randy Parker hostage, telling them to report to the police that the emergency call had been a false alarm.Harold Anthony LeDoux (1926-2015) moved to New York City after W
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Judge Parker comic strip shows Charles holding Casandra Canabar and Randy Parker hostage, telling them to report to the police that the emergency call had been a false alarm.
Harold Anthony LeDoux (1926-2015) moved to New York City after World War II and began drawing for the Famous Funnies comic books. In 1953 he began assisting Dan Heilman on the comic strip Judge Parker. LeDoux took over the strip after Heilman's death in 1965 and retired in 2006.
Judge Parker (1952- ) was created by psychiatrist and writer Nick Dallis. Dallis invited Dan Heilman, who had previously assisted on Buz Sawyer and Mary Worth,to be the artist for Judge Parker. The title character was a widower with two children, who later married a younger woman. Originally written as an attractive crime-fighting character, Parker had by the 1960s become more conservative and sedate while the younger attorney, Sam Driver, became more central to the cast, along with his client and girlfriend, Abby, and her two children.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-08-21
graphic artist
LeDoux, Harold
publisher
Publishers Newspapers Syndicate, Inc.
ID Number
GA.22570
catalog number
22570
accession number
277502

Portrait of Henry M. Phillips

Stephen Ferris signed and dated this pencil portrait in 1876.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Stephen Ferris signed and dated this pencil portrait in 1876.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1876
original artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.16663
catalog number
16663
accession number
119780

Portrait of Mrs. Kissic

Stephen Ferris signed and dated this pencil portrait of Mrs. Kissic in 1908. In 1912 he noted that she was “one hundred years old and still continues well.”Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Stephen Ferris signed and dated this pencil portrait of Mrs. Kissic in 1908. In 1912 he noted that she was “one hundred years old and still continues well.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1908-10-15
original artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.16667
catalog number
16667
accession number
119780

Portrait of Ella Dean

Stephen Ferris recorded in pencil the likenesses of four of his sister’s five children on the fourth and fifth of August, 1875, in Rock Island, Illinois. This drawing is signed and dated. See also: GA*16679, GA*16682 and GA*16684.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Stephen Ferris recorded in pencil the likenesses of four of his sister’s five children on the fourth and fifth of August, 1875, in Rock Island, Illinois. This drawing is signed and dated. See also: GA*16679, GA*16682 and GA*16684.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875-08-05
original artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.16678
catalog number
16678
accession number
119870

Camera-ready comic strip, entitled "Felix".

"Felix", featuring one of the first animated characters in history, Felix the Cat, was created and originally drawn by Otto Messmer in 1919. In 1954, his assistant Joe Oriolo took over the strip, adding in Felix's famous "bag of tricks".
Description
"Felix", featuring one of the first animated characters in history, Felix the Cat, was created and originally drawn by Otto Messmer in 1919. In 1954, his assistant Joe Oriolo took over the strip, adding in Felix's famous "bag of tricks". The newspaper strip, distributed by King Features, features Felix and his family, along with Felix's adventures in outwitting the evil Professor. In this strip, the boys tell Felix about compound interest and their savings accounts.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
11/06/1965
publisher
King Features Syndicate
graphic artist
Oriolo, Joe
ID Number
GA.22365
catalog number
22365
accession number
277502

Portrait of Mother Moran

Mother Moran or Mary Higson Moran, shown in the signed pencil drawing, was the mother of Stephen Ferris’s wife Elizabeth Anastasia as well as the artists Thomas, Peter, Edward and John, Moran.
Description (Brief)
Mother Moran or Mary Higson Moran, shown in the signed pencil drawing, was the mother of Stephen Ferris’s wife Elizabeth Anastasia as well as the artists Thomas, Peter, Edward and John, Moran. For Gerome Ferris’s etching of this subject made in 1880, see GA*14435.01.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1867
original artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.16657
catalog number
16657
accession number
119780

Norfolk, 1864

Felix Darley made this 1864 sheet of signed pencil sketches of African Americans in Norfolk, Virginia, during the Civil War. The city was held by the Union Army from 1862 and became a haven for thousands of escaped slaves.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Felix Darley made this 1864 sheet of signed pencil sketches of African Americans in Norfolk, Virginia, during the Civil War. The city was held by the Union Army from 1862 and became a haven for thousands of escaped slaves.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1864
original artist
Darley, Felix Octavius Carr
ID Number
GA.16635
catalog number
16635
accession number
119780

Herr Storck's Hands

Sculptor Carol Storck (1854-1926) whose hands are shown in Ferris’s signed pencil drawing was from Bucharest, Romania. He worked in the United States for four years, before returning to Europe.
Description (Brief)
Sculptor Carol Storck (1854-1926) whose hands are shown in Ferris’s signed pencil drawing was from Bucharest, Romania. He worked in the United States for four years, before returning to Europe. On the verso, there is an ink sketch of a soldier who appears in Mariano Fortuny’s painting Court of Justice in the Alhambra. Gerome Ferris made two prints of this subject in reverse, one large and one small.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1879-08-26
original artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.16687
catalog number
16687
accession number
119780

Portrait of a Moorish Woman

A signed and dated ink wash and line study of a Moorish woman made in 1879Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
A signed and dated ink wash and line study of a Moorish woman made in 1879
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1879
original artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.16698
catalog number
16698
accession number
119780

Camera-ready drawing, entitled "Glamour Girls".

Don Flowers (d. 1968) created and drew "Glamour Girls", a series of so-called "pinup cartoons" between the 1940s and the 1960s. The cartoons featured beautiful blonds and brunettes, who lived to shop and generally cause males grief.
Description
Don Flowers (d. 1968) created and drew "Glamour Girls", a series of so-called "pinup cartoons" between the 1940s and the 1960s. The cartoons featured beautiful blonds and brunettes, who lived to shop and generally cause males grief. Men were often the characters that drove the gags. This is an original artist drawing of the Glamour Girls characters.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
undated
circa 1950s
circa 1960s
graphic artist
Flowers, Don
ID Number
GA.22519
catalog number
22519
accession number
277502

Portrait of Mother Moran on her Seventy-fifth Birthday

Stephen Ferris made this signed pen and ink portrait of his mother-in-law Mary Higson Moran in Brooklyn, New York, on November 30, 1882 when she celebrated her seventy-fifth birthday.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Stephen Ferris made this signed pen and ink portrait of his mother-in-law Mary Higson Moran in Brooklyn, New York, on November 30, 1882 when she celebrated her seventy-fifth birthday.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1882
original artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.16658
catalog number
16658
accession number
119780

Fred Melville

The man in the signed ink and pencil drawing is dressed in typical eighteenth-century style with clubbed wig and white stockings. The comb-back Windsor chair is also typical of that period.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
The man in the signed ink and pencil drawing is dressed in typical eighteenth-century style with clubbed wig and white stockings. The comb-back Windsor chair is also typical of that period.
Location
Currently not on view
original artist
Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome
ID Number
GA.16618
catalog number
16618
accession number
119780

Portrait of Richard Wilson

This signed and dated portrait was made in 1904. The sketch is in pencil with pen and ink additions.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This signed and dated portrait was made in 1904. The sketch is in pencil with pen and ink additions.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1904
original artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.16666
catalog number
16666
accession number
119780

Captain John Smith

Captain John Smith (1580-1631), English author, explorer and soldier, sits at his ease, a book, possibly one of the several he wrote, open on his lap in this signed ink and pencil drawing.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Captain John Smith (1580-1631), English author, explorer and soldier, sits at his ease, a book, possibly one of the several he wrote, open on his lap in this signed ink and pencil drawing.
Location
Currently not on view
original artist
Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome
ID Number
GA.16619
catalog number
16619
accession number
119780

Burning Badly

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1895
original artist
Sloan, John
ID Number
GA.22280
catalog number
22280
accession number
272554

Hercules

This red chalk study by an unknown artist shows Hercules, wearing the skin of the Nemean lion. Representations of this mythological hero frequently show him this way. Hercules killed the almost invulnerable lion as the first of his twelve labors.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This red chalk study by an unknown artist shows Hercules, wearing the skin of the Nemean lion. Representations of this mythological hero frequently show him this way. Hercules killed the almost invulnerable lion as the first of his twelve labors.
Location
Currently not on view
original artist
unknown
ID Number
GA.14359
accession number
94830
catalog number
14359

Portrait of Miss Drysdale

Signed pencil drawing made in 1883Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Signed pencil drawing made in 1883
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1883
original artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.16672
catalog number
16672
accession number
119780

Portrait of Señorita Matilde Gadia

The signed pencil portrait of Señorita Gadia was made in Granada, Spain, during Ferris’s 1881 visit. See also GA*16669 for another member of the family.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
The signed pencil portrait of Señorita Gadia was made in Granada, Spain, during Ferris’s 1881 visit. See also GA*16669 for another member of the family.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1881
original artist
Ferris, Stephen James
ID Number
GA.16675
catalog number
16675
accession number
119780

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