Industry & Manufacturing - Overview
The Museum's collections document centuries of remarkable changes in products, manufacturing processes, and the role of industry in American life. In the bargain, they preserve artifacts of great ingenuity, intricacy, and sometimes beauty.
The carding and spinning machinery built by Samuel Slater about 1790 helped establish the New England textile industry. Nylon-manufacturing machinery in the collections helped remake the same industry more than a century later. Machine tools from the 1850s are joined by a machine that produces computer chips. Thousands of patent models document the creativity of American innovators over more than 200 years.
The collections reach far beyond tools and machines. Some 460 episodes of the television series Industry on Parade celebrate American industry in the 1950s. Numerous photographic collections are a reminder of the scale and even the glamour of American industry.
"Industry & Manufacturing - Overview" showing 14 items.
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Benjamin Harrison Campaign Pin
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign pin was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1888. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and campaign medals. The pin is in the shape of a clover.
- Obverse: Bust of Benjamin Harrison facing left. The legend reads: HE’S ALL RIGHT. HARRISON.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Harrison, William Henry
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1161
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1161
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
William Henry Harrison Campaign Medal
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1840. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today. Scovill is an important example of early American industrial manufacturing that adapted armory machines to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and campaign medals.
- Obverse: Bust of William Henry Harrison facing right. The legend reads: WILLIAM H. HARRISON,THE HERO & STATESMAN.
- Reverse: Image of a log cabin set into the woods with smoke rising from the chimney. Legend reads: CANDIDATE OF THE PEOPLE.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Harrison, William Henry
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1221
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1221
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
William Harrison/Henry Clay Medal
- Description (Brief)
- This medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1840. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and campaign medals.
- Obverse: Bust of William Henry Harrison facing right. The legend reads: HONOR WHERE HONOR'S DUE TO THE HERO OF TIPPECANOE/ GEN WILLIAM H. HARRISON.
- Reverse: Bust of Henry Clay facing left. The legend reads: HENRY CLAY/ THE FARMER OF ASHLAND/ BORN APRIL 12 1777.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Harrison, William Henry
- Clay, Henry
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1239
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1239
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
William Henry Harrison Medal
- Description (Brief)
- This medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut during the 1840s. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and campaign medals.
- Obverse: Bust of William Henry Harrison facing right. The legend reads: HONOR WHERE HONOR'S DUE TO THE HERO OF TIPPECANOE/ GEN WILLIAM H. HARRISON.
- Reverse: Image of the Bunker Hill Monument in the center, the legend reads: BUNKER HILL. A NATION’s GRATITUDE.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Harrison, William Henry
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1244
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1244
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
William Henry Harrison Campaign Medal
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1841. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and campaign medals.
- Obverse: Bust of William Henry Harrison facing left. The legend reads: MAJ. GEN. W.H. HARRISON/1841.
- Reverse: Spread-winged eagle with shield, clutching a laurel branch and three arrows in its’ talons. In the eagle’s beak is a ribbon that reads: O IT TIP.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Harrison, William Henry
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1248
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1248
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
William Henry Harrison Campaign Medal
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1841. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce various consumer goods including campaign medals. The medal has a hole in the top, allowing it to be worn.
- Obverse: Bust of William Henry Harrison facing left. Legend: MAJ. GEN. W.H. HARRISON/BORN FEB 9, 1773.
- Reverse: Log cabin with American flag, and barrel of hard cider. Legend: THE PEOPLES CHOICE/THE HERO OF TIPPECANOE.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Harrison, William Henry
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1249
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1249
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
William Henry Harrison Campaign Medal
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1841. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and campaign medals. This medal’s hole indicates it was worn
- Obverse: Bust of William Henry Harrison facing left. Legend: MAJ. GEN. W.H. HARRISON/BORN FEB 9, 1773.
- Reverse: Log cabin with American flag, and barrel of hard cider. Legend: THE PEOPLES CHOICE/THE HERO OF TIPPECANOE.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Harrison, William Henry
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1255
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1255
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
William H. Harrison Cracker Jack Coin
- Description (Brief)
- This coin was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut during the 1930s. Scovill was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods. These coins could be mailed to Cracker Jack to become a Mystery Club member.
- Obverse: Bust of William Harrison facing forward. Legend: THE PRESIDENT, U.S.A./ 1841- DIED/ WM. HENRY HARRISON.
- Reverse:"OLD TIPPECANOE"/ "THE WASHINGTON OF THE WEST"/ JOIN THE CRACKER JACK MYSTERY CLUB SAVE THIS COIN/ THE CRACKER JACK CO. CHICAGO, U.S.A.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Harrison, William Henry
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1266
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1266
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
William Henry Harrison Medal
- Description (Brief)
- This medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1840. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and campaign medals.
- Obverse: Bust of William Henry Harrison facing left. The legend reads: WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.
- Reverse: Image of the Bunker Hill Memorial, surrounded by flags with an eagle at the top. Legend reads: HARRISON JUBILEE BUNKER HILL/SEPt 10 1849.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Harrison, William Henry
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1576
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1576
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
William Henry Harrison Campaign Medal
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1840. Scovill was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including campaign medals. The medal has a hole in the top so it could be worn.
- Obverse: Bust of William Henry Harrison facing left. Legend: MAJ: GENl W.H. HARRISON/BORN FEB.9.1773.
- Reverse: Image of a log cabin with a cider barrel next to it. Legend: THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE IN THE YEAR 1840.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Harrison, William Henry
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1627
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1627
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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