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 34 items.
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Abraham Lincoln Campaign Badge
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign badge was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1860. 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 badges.
- This badge features a photograph of Abraham Lincoln in a brass oval frame. The badge was likely attached to a pin so it could be worn.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Lincoln, Abraham
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1068
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1068
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Abraham Lincoln Campaign Badge
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign badge was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1860. 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 badges.
- This badge features a tintype photograph of Abraham Lincoln, and the photo is labeled “A. Lincoln.” above Lincoln’s head. The badge likely had a pin originally on its back, so the badge could be worn and displayed.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Lincoln, Abraham
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1079
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1079
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Abraham Lincoln Campaign Medal
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company around 1860. 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 badges.
- Obverse: Bust depiction of Abraham Lincoln facing forward. The legend reads: ABRAM LINCOLN/ FREE LAND, FREE SPEECH & FREE MEN.
- Reverse: An image of an eagle with the U.S. shield, clutching arrows and an olive branch in its talons. The legend reads: UNION OF THE STATES.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Lincoln, Abraham
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1085
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1085
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Abraham Lincoln Campaign Badge
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign badge was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1860. 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 badges. This badge likely had a pin originally on its back, so it could be worn on an article of clothing.
- Obverse: Tintype photograph of Abraham Lincoln. The photo is labeled “A. Lincoln.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Lincoln, Abraham
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1106
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1106
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Abraham Lincoln Campaign Badge
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign badge was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1864. 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 badges.
- Obverse: Tintype photograph of Abraham Lincoln set into a circular bronze frame, the image is labeled “A. LINCOLN.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Lincoln, Abraham
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1114
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1114
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Abraham Lincoln Campaign Badge
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign badge was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1864. 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 badges.
- Obverse: Tintype photograph of Abraham Lincoln, labeled: A. LINCOLN.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Lincoln, Abraham
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1171
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1171
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Abraham Lincoln Campaign Badge
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign badge was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1864. 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 badges.
- Obverse: Tintype photograph of Abraham Lincoln, labeled “A. LINCOLN.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Lincoln, Abraham
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1175
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1175
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Abraham Lincoln Campaign Badge
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign badge was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1860. 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 badges. There is a hole at the top of the frame to allow for the badge to be strung and worn.
- Obverse: Tintype photograph of Abraham Lincoln set into a brass oval frame. The photo is labeled: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Lincoln, Abraham
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1182
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1182
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Abraham Lincoln Campaign Badge
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign badge was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1864. 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 badges.
- Obverse: Tintype photograph of Abraham Lincoln, labeled “Lincoln.” The tintype is set into a red, white and blue fabric button.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Lincoln, Abraham
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1256
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1256
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Abraham Lincoln Medal
- Description (Brief)
- This medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut during the 1860s. 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 Abraham Lincoln facing right. The legend reads: ABR'M LINCOLN/ A FOE TO TRAITORS.
- Reverse: Legend reads: NO COMPROMISE WITH ARMED REBELS/ MAY THE UNION FLOURISH.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Lincoln, Abraham
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1298
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1298
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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