Industry & Manufacturing

Eli Terry Mass-Produced Clock

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.

Date: 1870s

Patent model for leather bound case

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a mail box providing a "strong, light, durable, and convenient box or trunk for the transporation of letters and other matter." The invention was granted patent number 9253.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a mail box providing a "strong, light, durable, and convenient box or trunk for the transporation of letters and other matter." The invention was granted patent number 9253.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
ca 1880
patent date
1880-06-15
maker
Sherriff, John
ID Number
1997.0198.18
catalog number
1997.0198.18
accession number
1997.0198

Patent model for weighing scale

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a balancing ball on a weighing scale; the invention was granted patent number 534839.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a balancing ball on a weighing scale; the invention was granted patent number 534839.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
ca 1895
patent date
1895-02-26
maker
Heyer, Charles A.
ID Number
1997.0198.19
catalog number
1997.0198.19
accession number
1997.0198

Patent Model of an Engraving Machine for Drilling Straight or Oblique Holes

This patent model demonstrates an invention for an engraving machine for drilling straight or oblique holes which was granted patent number 103576.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for an engraving machine for drilling straight or oblique holes which was granted patent number 103576. The invention was designed for engraving and was probably intended for working ornamental plates rather than printing plates.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
patent date
1870-05-31
maker
Coulter, Charles J.
ID Number
GA.89797.103576
patent number
103576
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.103576

Patent Model of a Bookbinders' Arming Press

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a bookbinder’s arming press which was granted patent number 114130. The patent describes an arming press with a moveable bed and inking apparatus. It could be converted into an ordinary printing press.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a bookbinder’s arming press which was granted patent number 114130. The patent describes an arming press with a moveable bed and inking apparatus. It could be converted into an ordinary printing press. John Gough was from London, England.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1871
patent date
1871-04-25
maker
Gough, John
ID Number
GA.89797.114130
accession number
089797
patent number
114130
catalog number
GA*89797.114130

Patent models for ink pads

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a strong, compact inking pad for canceling or dating stamps and other devices; the invention was granted patent number 135949.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a strong, compact inking pad for canceling or dating stamps and other devices; the invention was granted patent number 135949. The elastic stuffing of the pad was saturated with ink, which penetrated the cloth or chamois covering.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1873
patent date
1873-02-18
patentee
Towne, Henry R.
Taylor, Warren H.
ID Number
GA.89797.135949
patent number
135949
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.135949

Abraham Lincoln Campaign Medal

This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1872. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1872. 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.
Obverse: Bust of Abraham Lincoln facing right. The legend reads: ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 1860. \
Reverse: The legend reads: FREEDOM NATIONAL SLAVERY SECTIONAL.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1872
depicted
Lincoln, Abraham
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1209
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1209

Patent Model of an Inking Apparatus for Platen Presses

This patent model demonstrates an invention for an inking apparatus for platen presses where the platen gives a lateral motion to the ink-distributing plate. The patent is demonstrated on a platen jobber similar to one of Prouty's, patented in 1872.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for an inking apparatus for platen presses where the platen gives a lateral motion to the ink-distributing plate. The patent is demonstrated on a platen jobber similar to one of Prouty's, patented in 1872. The new invention was granted patent number 141077.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1873
patent date
1873-07-22
maker
Prouty, G. W.
ID Number
GA.22839
accession number
249602
patent number
141077
catalog number
22839
GA*22839

Patent model for printing films

This patent model demonstrates an invention for Day's shading medium, an important tool in chromolithography and later in other kinds of commercial illustration.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for Day's shading medium, an important tool in chromolithography and later in other kinds of commercial illustration. A flexible glue sheet, cast from the surface of a plate ruled with parallel lines, was inked and then pressed over an image to shade it. The invention was granted patent number 214493. The model consists of a very fragile pack of samples.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1879
patent date
1879-04-22
maker
Day, Jr., Benjamin Henry
ID Number
GA.89797.214493
accession number
089797
patent number
214493
catalog number
GA*89797.214493

Stevens Rocking Grate Bar, Patent Model

This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to Francis B. Stevens, November 11, 1879, no.
Description
This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to Francis B. Stevens, November 11, 1879, no. 221430.
The model represents a grate surface formed of ordinary fish-bellied grate bars on each of the lower ends of which two journal bearings are formed to fit into and rest in two corresponding rounded socket bearings. The bar is made to rock in each of these bearings alternately to the right and left, so that the upper part of the grate overhangs the right-hand socket when rocked to the right, and the left-hand socket when rocked to the left. That the upper part of the grate bar will overhang the center on which it turns is the improvement claimed by the inventor.
Reference:
This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1879
patent date
1879-11-11
inventor
Stevens, Francis B.
ID Number
MC.309217
catalog number
309217
accession number
89797
patent number
221,430

Patent model for stencil writing

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a method of making perforated stencil sheets that were easy for the printer to read, and thus to use, by inking the edges of the puncture holes. The invention was granted patent number 192624.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a method of making perforated stencil sheets that were easy for the printer to read, and thus to use, by inking the edges of the puncture holes. The invention was granted patent number 192624.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1877
patent date
1877-07-03
maker
Hix, Albert E.
patentee
Hix, Albert E.
ID Number
GA.89797.192624
accession number
089797
patent number
192624
catalog number
GA*89797.192624

Garner Print Works Sample and Cost Record Book

John Oldfield, Assistant Manager of the Garner Print Works in Garnerville, New York, kept a series of record books that date between 1844 and 1880.
Description
John Oldfield, Assistant Manager of the Garner Print Works in Garnerville, New York, kept a series of record books that date between 1844 and 1880. The notebooks contain samples of cloth produced by the mill on one page, with quantities and the costs of dyeing or printing on the facing page—this notebook covers the years 1877-1878. Garnerville was originally called Calicotown, but was renamed after the Garner family, which owned the print works from 1838 to 1909. In the late nineteenth century the family’s textile companies produced more printed fabrics than any other print works in the U.S.
date made
1877-1878
ID Number
1984.0486.06
catalog number
1984.0486.06
accession number
1984.0486

Patent model for unidentified invention

This patent model demonstrates an invention for an unidentified invention. Maker, patent number, and date are unknown.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for an unidentified invention. Maker, patent number, and date are unknown.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
maker
unknown
ID Number
1997.0198.21
catalog number
1997.0198.21
accession number
1997.0198

Patent Model for a Paper-ruling Machine

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a paper-ruling machine which was granted patent number 135751. The ruling pens on the machine were lowered and lifted by an electro-magnetic apparatus, a 'quick and lively but soft and easy' action.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a paper-ruling machine which was granted patent number 135751. The ruling pens on the machine were lowered and lifted by an electro-magnetic apparatus, a 'quick and lively but soft and easy' action. Patentee Averell is best known as the inventor of a wire stitcher (or stapler), which he patented in 1874.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1873
patent date
1873-02-11
maker
Averell, Ellicott D.
ID Number
GA.89797.135751
accession number
89797
patent number
135751
catalog number
GA*89797.135751

Patent Model of a Newspaper Files

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a folding wall-desk for newspaper reading and storage. The invention was granted patent number 173047.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a folding wall-desk for newspaper reading and storage. The invention was granted patent number 173047.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1876
patent date
1876-02-01
maker
Noble, H. Shaw
ID Number
GA.89797.173047
accession number
089797
patent number
173047
catalog number
GA*89797.173047

Republican Medal

This medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut in the 1860s. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut in the 1860s. 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.
Obverse: Image of an eagle with shield clutching an olive branch and three arrows in its talons. The legend around the rim reads: SUCCCESS TO REPUBLICAN PRINCIPLES.
Reverse: Legend reads: MILLIONS FOR FREEDOM NOT ONE CENT FOR SLAVERY.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1860
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1130
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1130

Patent model for stencils for sign painter's template

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a template that includes all the letters of the alphabet in a single pattern; the invention was granted patent number 147942.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a template that includes all the letters of the alphabet in a single pattern; the invention was granted patent number 147942.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1874
patent date
1874-02-24
patentee
Hutchison, Merrill
ID Number
GA.89797.147942
accession number
089797
patent number
147942
catalog number
GA*89797.147942

Patent Model of a Pantographic Engraving Machine with Rotating Engraver

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a pantographic engraving machine with rotating engraver; the invention was granted patent number 167542. The patent details a mechanical device for copying and engraving a design on to wood.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a pantographic engraving machine with rotating engraver; the invention was granted patent number 167542. The patent details a mechanical device for copying and engraving a design on to wood.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1875
patent date
1875-09-07
maker
Johnson, Roice W.
ID Number
GA.89797.167542
patent number
167542
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.167542

Patent model for sidesticks and quoins

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a combination of quoins and sidesticks which was granted patent number 218518. The quoins swiveled on the ends of wide screws that turned into the sides of the metal sidesticks.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a combination of quoins and sidesticks which was granted patent number 218518. The quoins swiveled on the ends of wide screws that turned into the sides of the metal sidesticks. A guage in the center of each sidestick told the compositor how far the quoin could be extended.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1879
patent date
1879-08-12
maker
Gosorn, George T.
ID Number
1996.0062.09
patent number
218518
accession number
1996.0062
catalog number
1996.0062.09
patent number
218518

Patent model for method of making autographic stencils

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a method of preparing autographic stencils in which a porous paper stencil was prepared by varnishing the face of a sheet of paper, then drawing on it with a sharp stylus. The invention was granted patent number 215833.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a method of preparing autographic stencils in which a porous paper stencil was prepared by varnishing the face of a sheet of paper, then drawing on it with a sharp stylus. The invention was granted patent number 215833. The inventor called his process Multograph, or Stulograph. The model consists of a stencil frame and an envelope of papers.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1879
patent date
1879-05-27
maker
Nickerson, Samuel S.
ID Number
GA.89797.215833
accession number
089797
patent number
215833
catalog number
GA*89797.215833

Patent Model of a Lithographic Rotary Printing Press

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a lithographic rotary printing press which was granted patent number 116335. The patent details a small press with a stone cylinder that was removable for wetting and inking.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a lithographic rotary printing press which was granted patent number 116335. The patent details a small press with a stone cylinder that was removable for wetting and inking. The stone was taken out and rolled across the ink and wetting slabs, then replaced for printing. The pressure roller below was hung on adjustable bearings. From 1868 Maurice took out several patents for rotary and flatbed lithographic printing. He advertised this and his other presses as "Autographic Cylinders for Offices.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1871
patent date
1871-06-27
maker
Maurice, Charles C.
ID Number
GA.89797.116335
accession number
089797
patent number
116335
catalog number
GA*89797.116335

Stoneware cooler

Thompson Harrington took over management of Nathan Clark’s Lyons, New York stoneware manufactory in 1852 when Clark left to establish new potteries elsewhere in western New York.
Description
Thompson Harrington took over management of Nathan Clark’s Lyons, New York stoneware manufactory in 1852 when Clark left to establish new potteries elsewhere in western New York. Located along the Erie Canal, the Lyons pottery flourished under Harrington and subsequent ownership until it closed in 1902.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1852-1872
maker
Harrington, Thompson
ID Number
1977.0803.81
accession number
1977.0803
catalog number
1977.0803.81

Patent Model of a Flatbed Cylinder Printing Press for Cards and Tickets

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a flatbed press which was granted patent number 146792. The patent details a press for printing and numbering tickets. A double strip of card stock was fed through the press.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a flatbed press which was granted patent number 146792. The patent details a press for printing and numbering tickets. A double strip of card stock was fed through the press. At the first pass, text was printed on one half of the sheet and the numbers on the other. The sheet was turned end-to-end and put through a second time to complete the tickets.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1874
patent date
1874-01-27
maker
Watson, John
Jones, Albert
ID Number
GA.89797.146792
patent number
146792
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.146792

Horace Greeley Campaign Medal

This campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut in 1872. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut in 1872. 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. This medal was made with a loop so it could be worn on clothing.
Obverse: Bust of Horace Greeley facing right. Legend reads: HORACE GREELEY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE 1872.
Reverse: Legend reads: UNIVERSAL AMNESTY & IMPARTIAL SUFFRAGE.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1872
depicted
Greeley, Horace
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1145
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1145

Patent model for printers' sidesticks and quoins

This patent model demonstrates an invention for printers' quoins and sidesticks which was granted patent number 164543. Tapered sidesticks were grooved along the inclined side.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for printers' quoins and sidesticks which was granted patent number 164543. Tapered sidesticks were grooved along the inclined side. Quoins, with a metal key to slide in the groove, were made using a pair of wedge-shaped blocks to provide fine adjustment.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1875
patent date
1875-06-15
maker
Gilbert, William
ID Number
GA.89797.164543
patent number
164543
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.164543

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