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 2117 items.
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Ambergris
- Description
- Pound for pound, ambergris was the most valuable product produced by the whale. It was—and is—also the rarest and most enigmatic whale product. An opaque, waxy substance from a sperm whale’s intestines, it was found occasionally in the stomachs of whales being processed on whale ships. More commonly, it was found floating on the surface of the world’s oceans or washed up on the shore in pieces that could weigh several hundred pounds. It was used by western cultures as a fixative to prolong the scent of perfumes into the later 20th century.
- But why it is formed—and from which end of a sperm whale it is expelled—remains unknown. Fragments of squid beaks are often found inside the pieces, and some scientists believe that ambergris forms around the sharp, indigestible squid beaks to prevent irritating or cutting a whale’s intestines. Others consider it the cetacean equivalent of human gallstones.
- ID Number
- 1991.0083.01
- catalog number
- 1991.0083.01
- accession number
- 1991.0083
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
"The Battle of the Sewing Machines" Sheet Music
- Description
- "The Battle of the Sewing Machines" was composed and arranged by F. Hyde for the piano, and was published in 1874 by Wm. A. Pond & Co. of 547 Broadway, N.Y., N.Y. The lithograph by R. Teller of 120 Wooster St., N.Y., N.Y., illustrates a "battle" of sewing machines. The Remington "army" is marching towards the fleeing Singer, Howe, Succor, Weed, and Willcox & Gibbs sewing machines. The soldiers are riding the Remington treadle machines like horses and are carrying Remington rifles. The Remington No. 2 sewing machine had just come out to market in June 1874. The family treadle machine with a drop-leaf table and two drawers would have cost $75.00.
- On the top left of the sheet music, a woman is pictured sewing on a Remington machine in the Remington office at Madison Square, New York. In the right box is featured the Remington Works of Ilion, N.Y. The music consists of 11 pages, with such subtitles as: "Howe the battle began"; "Advent of all the best machines"; "Song of the Sewing Machine Man: 'How Can I Leave Thee'"; "Triumph of the Remington Sewing Machine," and "Home Sweet Home."
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1874
- referenced
- Remington Sewing Machine Company
- composer
- Hyde, F.
- publisher
- William A. Pond and Company
- lithographer
- Teller, R.
- ID Number
- 1991.0130.01
- catalog number
- 1991.0130.01
- accession number
- 1991.0130
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Lithograph of the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company
- Description
- This lithograph is a bird's-eye view of the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company, circa 1880. The company maufactured sewing machines in Watertown, N. Y., from 1851 to 1856. In 1856, they relocated to Bridgeport, Conn., where they continued operations until 1905. In the 1850s and 1860s, their sewing machines outsold all others, including Singer and Howe. Two separate factory buildings are illustrated. The caption under the building on the left notes: "Front 368 ft., Width 307 feet," and the dimensions for the building on the right are noted as "Front 526 ft., Width 219 feet." The lithographers were Worley and Bracher of 320 Chesnut Street in Philadelphia, Penn.
- S.I. Photo Negative No.: 92-4215 for both B&W and color slide.
- Date made
- ca 1880
- lithographer
- Worley and Bracher
- ID Number
- 1991.0134.01
- catalog number
- 1991.0134.01
- accession number
- 1991.0134
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Cincinnati Type Foundry Army Press, first manufactured in 1862
- Description
- Henry Barth of the Cincinnati Type Foundry designed this cylinder press, known as the Army Press, for use by the armed forces during the Civil War. To make up for lost business early in the war, the Foundry also manufactured bullets for the State of Indiana and Gatling guns used in the New Orleans campaign.
- The Army Press was listed as resembling the modern common hand press in having ways, bed, tympan and fisket and a rotating cylinder that, unlike the Adams's Cottage press, moved with the press bed.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1862
- maker
- Barth, Henry
- manufacturer
- Cincinnati Type Foundry
- ID Number
- 2005.0133.01
- accession number
- 2005.0133
- catalog number
- 2005.0133.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Levee Wall Fragment
- Description
- One of the signature events of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 was the failure of the levees of New Orleans. Seemingly impregnable earthen walls surmounted by concrete barricades turned out to be no match for the surging flood waters that turned Lake Pontchartrain into a force that devastated one of the nation's major cities.
- From the earliest years of the city's establishment several feet below sea level, New Orleans has been at risk of catastrophic flooding. And yet the city's vital location at the mouth of the Mississippi River, taking in raw materials and finished goods and distributing them to the world, was too strong an economic force to be turned away. The threat of water inundation was nothing that good engineering and a few pumps could not overcome.
- But some of the largest drainage pumps in the world were rendered useless on the morning of August 30th when some eighty percent of New Orleans became a part of Lake Pontchartrain. The great pump houses stood silent beneath many feet of flood water. The city that depended upon strong walls and the pumps behind them in order to stay dry had encountered a force of nature unlike anything it had experienced before: a large, strong hurricane sweeping vast quantities of ocean water into the lake at high tide.
- Geological studies would later reveal that some of the earthen levees of New Orleans had been built on soft, peaty soils and that many of the concrete flood walls that topped the levees were poorly anchored. Several of these levees and their walls were undercut and then destroyed by the ponderous weight and power of the lake water.
- To acknowledge the key role of the levees and walls in the flooding of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, the Smithsonian selected several decorative chunks of concrete from the damaged floodwall along the London Avenue Canal at Mirabeau Street.
- This floodwall's attractive concrete ribbing faced houses that stood within several feet of the canal, houses later destroyed by waters the levee intended to keep at bay.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Associated Date
- 2005-08-2005-09
- ID Number
- 2006.3059.02
- nonaccession number
- 2006.3059
- catalog number
- 2006.3059.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Oyster Tin, Pride of the Chesapeake Brand
- Description
- This gallon tin once contained fresh oyster meats packed by the J. D. Groves & Co., located at 117 S. Calvert St. and 116 Cheapside, in Baltimore, Maryland. J. D. Groves also packed fish, fruits, and produce at this address, and was a delegate at the first annual meeting of the Oyster Growers and Dealers Association of North America, held in Baltimore May 18-19, 1909.
- In 1906 the U.S. Congress passed several pure food laws in response to outbreaks of typhoid fever and gastrointestinal ailments linked to poor sanitation. Several new regulations were imposed on the oyster industry after contaminated oysters were blamed for serious illnesses. The laws required inspections of oyster beds and packing houses, as well as the identification of shellfish sources and standardized labeling.
- This tin probably dates to the period 1920-30, when colorful lithographed tins became popular. The distinctive orange tin features a porthole design with a sailing schooner inside. Like many Baltimore oyster packers, the J. D. Groves Company included a message to consumers concerning the sanitary conditions under which the oysters were packed. The reverse of the can reads:
- “WE GUARANTEE THIS CAN TO CONTAIN STRICTLY FRESH SHUCKED OYSTERS / FREE FROM PRESERVATIVES OF ANY KIND / QUALITY AND QUANTITY GUARANTEED.”
- date made
- 1920s
- 1920-1930
- maker
- J. D. Groves & Co.
- ID Number
- 2007.0054.01
- catalog number
- 2007.0054.01
- accession number
- 2007.0054
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Oyster Tin, Foote's Best Oysters
- Description
- This gallon tin once contained fresh oyster meats packed by the D. E. Foote & Co., Inc. Established in 1870 on West and Jackson Streets in Baltimore, D. E. Foote was one of a hundred oyster packing firms in the city that year, reflecting the enormous volume of trade in oysters from the Chesapeake Bay.
- In 1906 the U.S. Congress passed several pure food laws in response to outbreaks of typhoid fever and gastrointestinal ailments linked to poor sanitation. Several new regulations were imposed on the oyster industry after contaminated oysters were blamed for serious illnesses. The laws required inspections of oyster beds and packing houses, as well as the identification of shellfish sources and standardized labeling.
- This tin probably dates to the period 1920-30, when colorful lithographed tins became popular. It includes the old-style bail handle, a feature that was phased out around this time in an effort to reduce manufacturing costs. Like many Baltimore oyster packers, the Foote Company addressed consumers’ fears about sanitation by emphasizing the clean conditions under which the oysters were handled and citing its compliance with the law. The message to consumers on the reverse of the can reads: “THIS CAN CONTAINS STRICTLY FRESH SHUCKED SALT WATER OYSTERS PACKED UNDER PERSONAL SUPERVISION IN THE MOST SANITARY MANNER IN CONFORMITY WITH THE NATIONAL PURE FOOD LAW. KEEP ON ICE UNTIL USED.”
- date made
- 1920-1930
- maker
- D. E. Foote & Co., Inc
- ID Number
- 2007.0062.01
- catalog number
- 2007.0062.01
- accession number
- 2007.0062
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Sewing Machine Sperm Oil
- Description
- Sperm whale oil is very light and fine, and it has a low freezing point. As a result, it was used to lubricate fine machinery such as clocks, watches, and sewing machines from colonial times into the 20th century.
- Date made
- 1870-1880
- maker
- Donnell Company
- ID Number
- 2007.0084.1
- catalog number
- 2007.0084.1
- accession number
- 2007.0084
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Oyster Tin, Heyser’s Oysters
- Description
- This gallon tin once contained fresh oyster meats packed by the Wm. Heyser Company. Established in 1871 between Pratt, Grant, and Ellicott Streets in Baltimore, the block became known as the “Heyser block” as the company grew.
- In 1906 the U.S. Congress passed several pure food laws in response to outbreaks of typhoid fever and gastrointestinal ailments linked to poor sanitation. Several new regulations were imposed on the oyster industry after contaminated oysters were blamed for serious illnesses. The laws required inspections of oyster beds and packing houses, as well as the identification of shellfish sources and standardized labeling.
- This tin probably dates to the period 1920-30, when colorful lithographed tins became popular. Heyser’s distinctive red tins featured a stylized H resting on an open oyster with the sun’s rays shining on a waterfront city certainly meant to be Baltimore. It includes the old-style bail handle, a feature that was phased out around this time in an effort to reduce manufacturing costs.
- Like many Baltimore oyster packers, Wm. Heyser explicitly addressed consumers’ fears about sanitation by emphasizing the clean conditions under which the oysters were handled and citing its compliance with the law. The reverse of the tin contains this message:
- “GUARANTEE / OYSTERS CONTAINED IN THIS CAN WERE PACKED IN THE MOST ADVANCED SANITARY MANNER TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE PURE FOODS REGULATIONS
- Shucked Fresh From The Beds—CAUTION—Fresh oysters are perishable. This can must be kept in refrigerator or in contact with ice until contents are used.”
- date made
- 1920-1930
- maker
- Wm Heyser Co.
- ID Number
- 2007.0087.01
- catalog number
- 2007.0087.01
- accession number
- 2007.0087
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Brochure for Cooley's Cabinet Printing Office, dated July, 1862
- Description
- Like other portable presses sold at this time, J. G. Cooley's New York Cabinet Press was sold with accompanying equipment in more than one size. This 1862 advertisement for the Cooley press calls for its use by small country printers, merchants, druggists, grocers, bankers, and the army and navy &c.
- The advertisement states: Gen. McClellan, upon the recommendation of Capt. Irwin, of his staff, who was detailed especially to examine it, ordered two complete offices for his head-quarters, Col. Ferris, of the Conn. Fifth, has one; Col. Mix, of the New York Cavalry, has one; Gen. Burnside has one; Gen. Porter, one; Rev. G. D. Crocker, Chaplain of Ira Harris Bridgade, has one; Capt. Tallmadge has one at Fortress Monroe . . . .
- No known examples of this press still exist.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1862
- printer
- Cooley, J. G.
- ID Number
- 2007.0162.010
- accession number
- 2007.0162
- catalog number
- 2007.0162.010
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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