Cultures & Communities

Cleveland Many Peoples One Language Poster

Furniture, cooking wares, clothing, works of art, and many other kinds of artifacts are part of what knit people into communities and cultures. The Museum’s collections feature artifacts from European Americans, Latinos, Arab Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, African Americans, Gypsies, Jews, and Christians, both Catholics and Protestants. The objects range from ceramic face jugs made by enslaved African Americans in South Carolina to graduation robes and wedding gowns. The holdings also include artifacts associated with education, such as teaching equipment, textbooks, and two complete schoolrooms. Uniforms, insignia, and other objects represent a wide variety of civic and voluntary organizations, including youth and fraternal groups, scouting, police forces, and firefighters.

Topic: Art

One of a Pair of Scrimshaw Sperm Whale’s Teeth, late 19th Century

This is one of a pair of decorative whales teeth (374507 and 374508). Both are the same size, have similar subjects by the same hand and identical mahogany bases for vertical display.
Description
This is one of a pair of decorative whales teeth (374507 and 374508). Both are the same size, have similar subjects by the same hand and identical mahogany bases for vertical display. Originally, they would have decorated a family parlor, or a gentleman’s bureau or dressing room. This tooth shows an armored and cloked man standing before a large wooden throne. On his head is a winged helmet reminiscent of both the god Mercury or a Viking chieftain.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
ID Number
DL.374508
catalog number
374508
accession number
136263

Scrimshaw Sperm Whale Tooth, 20th Century

The obverse of this large sperm whale tooth has a freehand etching with an imaginary 10-gun warship, framed by a rope motif. A fluttering pennant below is inscribed "KING NEPTUNE".
Description
The obverse of this large sperm whale tooth has a freehand etching with an imaginary 10-gun warship, framed by a rope motif. A fluttering pennant below is inscribed "KING NEPTUNE". The top of the tooth is inscribed "WILLIAM•CULLIMORE•N•Y•1842", and the reverse is a rope-framed image of a seated and crowned King Neptune with a trident in his left hand.
This tooth is probably a reference to the Neptune ceremony inflicted upon the crew and passengers of ships the first time they crossed the equator. King Neptune would emerge from a cabin or the sea and administer some form of mild hazing on the first timers, as a way of passing time and entertaining the veteran sailors aboard the ship.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
20th century
ID Number
1978.0052.16
accession number
1978.0052
catalog number
1978.52.16

Scrimshaw Sperm Whale Tooth, 19th or 20th Century

During the Civil War, Confederate commerce raiders like the CSS Alabama made it very difficult for the North's merchant vessels to conduct their business.
Description
During the Civil War, Confederate commerce raiders like the CSS Alabama made it very difficult for the North's merchant vessels to conduct their business. After a two-year chase, on 19 June 1864 the Union steam warship USS Kearsarge caught the CSS Alabama at the port of Cherbourg, France. The evenly-matched ships fought a battle that ended with the Alabama sinking. The loss of the most famous Confederate raider was a strategic and political victory.
On the obverse of this sperm whale tooth, Kearsarge on the left is delivering a broadside at the Alabama to the right. The scene is framed by an oval pennant inscribed with the date on the top and "ALABAMA and KEARSARGE" below. To the left is an eagle atop a shield. The reverse has a bust portrait of victorious Union ship captain John A. Winslow, surrounded by an oval rope motif, a striped swag, a cannon and a barrel. The tip of the tooth was broken off and repaired with two staples and adhesive. Specific decorative elements in common indicate that this tooth was carved by the same anonymous artist as the Constitution vs. Guerriere tooth (Cat. 1978.0052.18).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
19th-20th century
ID Number
1978.0052.36
accession number
1978.0052
catalog number
1978.0052.36

Flight into Egypt

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
CL.65.1141
catalog number
65.1141
accession number
256396

Fans with Carl and Pearl Butler

Carl and Pearl Butler pose for photographs with fans.Currently not on view
Description
Carl and Pearl Butler pose for photographs with fans.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1973
print
2003
Associated Name
Butler, Pearl
Butler, Carl
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.090
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.090

Scrimshaw Walrus Tusk, 19th Century

This long, highly polished walrus tusk is scrimshawed on one side; the other remains rough and unpolished. At the bottom is a heraldic shield and weapons image with a British flag and a sash with a crown.
Description
This long, highly polished walrus tusk is scrimshawed on one side; the other remains rough and unpolished. At the bottom is a heraldic shield and weapons image with a British flag and a sash with a crown. Above is a mid-19th century bust portrait of a young woman with elaborately coiffed hair, a brooch on a ribbon around her neck and a low-cut fur bodice—possibly an opera singer or stage actress. Above, a circular motif frames an anchor topped with eight stars. The highest image is only a little more than halfway up the long tusk, and it is an unfinished scene of two doves both reaching for the same ribbon. The rest of the tusk is polished but undecorated to the top, which is pierced by a hole for hanging the piece. On the back in small letters is the word “HAZEN”, which might be the name of the scrimshander who carved this tusk.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
19th century
ID Number
DL.154079
catalog number
154079

Horse Weathervane

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1850-1900
ID Number
CL.65.0925
catalog number
65.0925
accession number
256396

Camera-ready comic strip, entitled "Grandma".

Charles Kuhn (1892-1989), who studied under fellow cartoonist Frank King, is most known for his comic strip "Grandma". The strip features the antics of a 90-year old woman and her grandchildren, based on the artist's own mother.
Description
Charles Kuhn (1892-1989), who studied under fellow cartoonist Frank King, is most known for his comic strip "Grandma". The strip features the antics of a 90-year old woman and her grandchildren, based on the artist's own mother. In this strip, Grandma disguises a watermelon as a football so that the grandkids will stay away from it until its ready to eat.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
09/02/1966
graphic artist
Kuhn, Charles
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22592
catalog number
22592
accession number
277502

Jukebox

Tootsie's Orchid Lounge offered a place where hopeful musicians could put their demo 45s in the jukebox.Currently not on view
Description
Tootsie's Orchid Lounge offered a place where hopeful musicians could put their demo 45s in the jukebox.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1972
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.109
catalog number
2003.0169.109
accession number
2003.0169

Scrimshaw Sperm Whale Tooth, mid 19th Century

This elegant tooth could serve as a primer or pictorial dictionary on the different types of sailing ship rigs.
Description
This elegant tooth could serve as a primer or pictorial dictionary on the different types of sailing ship rigs. Spread out over its surface are a fully rigged three-masted ship; a topsail brig; a hermaphrodite brig; a two-masted schooner; a cutter; a yawl; a barque; and a brigantine. About half of the fleet have American flags, and all have the vertical sail sections or gores carefully delineated. The larger ship types have gun ports along their sides; the smaller types have the strakes or hull planks etched along their sides. Around the top of the tooth, a little building inside a fenced area is engraved with three trees around it.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 19th century
ID Number
DL.65.1128
catalog number
65.1128
accession number
256396

Eagle Figure

Made of carved painted wood. Figure has spread wings. Right foot is holding arrows, left foot holding a red, white and blue shield.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Made of carved painted wood. Figure has spread wings. Right foot is holding arrows, left foot holding a red, white and blue shield.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
CL.65.1084
accession number
261195
catalog number
65.1084
collector/donor number
T-38

Camera-ready comic strip, entitled "Beetle Bailey".

"Beetle Bailey" was created and continues to be drawn by Mort Walker (b. 1923). The comic strip centers around characters on Camp Swampy, a fictitious United States Army military post.
Description
"Beetle Bailey" was created and continues to be drawn by Mort Walker (b. 1923). The comic strip centers around characters on Camp Swampy, a fictitious United States Army military post. The main character, Beetle Bailey, is consistently lazy, drawing negative attention towards him and causing antics on the post. In this strip, the General is briefing his men on battle plans. He soon learns that asking his men for criticisms was the wrong plan.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
07/03/1966
graphic artist
Walker, Mort
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22601
catalog number
22601
accession number
277502

Eagle Weathervane

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875-1899
ID Number
CL.65.0962
catalog number
65.0962
accession number
256396

Jean Shepard

Jean Shepard (b.1933) joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1956. Beginning with her first solo top ten single, "A Satisfied Mind" in 1955, Shepard's pure country voice led to hit after hit.Currently not on view
Description
Jean Shepard (b.1933) joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1956. Beginning with her first solo top ten single, "A Satisfied Mind" in 1955, Shepard's pure country voice led to hit after hit.
Location
Currently not on view
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.051
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.051

Goddess of Liberty

Date made
ca 1865
patentee
Cushing & White
maker
Cushing & White
ID Number
CL.65.0968
accession number
256396
catalog number
65.0968

Cow Weathervane

Date made
1850-1899
ID Number
CL.65.0938
catalog number
65.0938
accession number
256396

Scrimshaw Sperm Whale Tooth, mid 19th Century

The obverse of this tooth has an image of a full rigged sailing ship stopped in the water, with most of the sails furled or rolled up.
Description
The obverse of this tooth has an image of a full rigged sailing ship stopped in the water, with most of the sails furled or rolled up. Alongside it is the carcass of a big whale, spinning around as the ship’s crew slice and hoist the ‘blanket pieces’ or strips of skin and body fat off the carcass in long sheets onto the deck. Once the long sheets are aboard, they’ll be cut into smaller pieces and tossed into a pot of boiling ‘blubber’ to render into whale oil. Above the scene in flowing script are the words “Ship Swift cutting a large whale.” There are a few registration pinholes within the image, but most of it is lightly drawn freehand. Engraved below the ship are the initials WHS, and in modern ink writing around the initials is written “149890. N.Y. M. Willis./U.S.A.” The number is the Smithsonian’s catalog number; the remainder is a notation by an earlier owner of the tooth. There is also a tag marked “39” stuck to the surface of the tooth in front of the ship’s bowsprit.
The reverse depicts a full-rigged ship plowing hard through heavy seas, with all sails flying. It is chasing a pair of whales lying on the water surface just ahead of its bow. The engraving is very fine but quite shallow on this side, and multiple pinholes indicate that a magazine drawing was laid over the polished tooth and pricked through for the image detail.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 19th century
ID Number
DL.149890
catalog number
149890
accession number
27163

Scrimshaw Ditty Box, mid 19th Century

The sides of this whalebone ditty box are carved from a single piece of whalebone, shaved to make it uniformly thin. The overlapping ends are fastened together with tiny silver alloy rivets, which also fasten the sides to the pine bottom. Unfortunately, the top is missing.
Description
The sides of this whalebone ditty box are carved from a single piece of whalebone, shaved to make it uniformly thin. The overlapping ends are fastened together with tiny silver alloy rivets, which also fasten the sides to the pine bottom. Unfortunately, the top is missing. The outside of the box is engraved and infilled in green pigment with alternating columns and laurel leaves; leafy vines mount the columns. The overlapping ends of the bone strip are carved with two contiguous vases with three-part leaves sprouting from the tops. The craftsmanship and quality of the freehand carving and fastenings are exceptionally fine, and the condition of this box is outstanding.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 19th century
ID Number
1978.0052.10
accession number
1978.0052
catalog number
1978.52.10

Milliner's Shop Figure

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1883-1884
ID Number
CL.65.1008
catalog number
65.1008
accession number
256396

Scrimshaw Whale Busk, mid 19th Century

Busks are long, flat slices out of whalebone ribs that whaling crews decorated with carvings and then gave to their wives or sweethearts once they were back on land after a voyage.
Description
Busks are long, flat slices out of whalebone ribs that whaling crews decorated with carvings and then gave to their wives or sweethearts once they were back on land after a voyage. Busks were slipped into vertical pocket in ladies’ corsets to stiffen the garment.
The front of this example has vertical floral frames alternating with horizontal cross-pattern boundaries dividing the scenes. The back is carved with a single creeping floral vine. The infill material is faint, endowing the piece with a delicate, dreamlike quality. The bottom is bi-lobed, and part of the top is broken off and missing.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 19th century
ID Number
DL.249980
catalog number
249980
accession number
48696

Cheyenne Pictures. Warrior Killing a Soldier

Unknown artist, about 1894“Cheyenne Pictures. Standing Elk’s Horse Killed in Fight with Troops.”Pencil, ink, and watercolorThe central focus of this image is a wounded horse, bleeding from head and rump, being fired on by U.S. troops at the right.
Description
Unknown artist, about 1894
“Cheyenne Pictures. Standing Elk’s Horse Killed in Fight with Troops.”
Pencil, ink, and watercolor
The central focus of this image is a wounded horse, bleeding from head and rump, being fired on by U.S. troops at the right. Standing Elk, with his name glyph above him, has dismounted and appears to be safe from the rifle shots. The suggestion of concern by the warrior indicates the high value placed on horses by Plains tribesmen.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1894
original artist
unknown
ID Number
GA.08112
catalog number
GA*08112
accession number
1897.031963

T. Johnson Tavern Sign

date made
1804
ID Number
CL.65.0978
accession number
256396
catalog number
65.0978

Billy Bird

Billy Bird, seen here autographing a paper plate, played with Ernest Tubb (1920-2001) and was a pioneer of the electric guitar.Currently not on view
Description
Billy Bird, seen here autographing a paper plate, played with Ernest Tubb (1920-2001) and was a pioneer of the electric guitar.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1973
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.075
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.075

Drawing made by a Comanche Indian

Unknown artist, about 1869“Drawing made by a Comanche Indian”[Title given by collector Dr. Edward Palmer]Media: Colored inks on paperThis drawing of a Comanche warrior was likely prepared and collected in 1869 at the Kiowa and Comanche Agency in present-day Oklahoma.
Description
Unknown artist, about 1869
“Drawing made by a Comanche Indian”
[Title given by collector Dr. Edward Palmer]
Media: Colored inks on paper
This drawing of a Comanche warrior was likely prepared and collected in 1869 at the Kiowa and Comanche Agency in present-day Oklahoma. The artist’s representation of a warrior on horseback follows a tradition of pictographic imagery which presents the subject on one plane without the illusion of depth. Here both of the warrior’s legs and leg sashes are imaged on the viewer’s side of the horse.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880
ca 1868
ca 1882
ca 1868
original artist
unknown
ID Number
2008.0175.50
catalog number
2008.0175.050
accession number
2008.0175

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