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: 1840s

Zachary Taylor Campaign Medal

This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1848.The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1848.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 campaign medals.
Obverse: Bust of Zachary Taylor facing left. Legend: MAJOR GENL. Z. TAYLOR NEVER SURRENDERS.
Reverse: Eagle perched on a plaque surrounded by four flags and two swords. Plaque reads: PALO ALTO/RESACA DE LA PALMA/MONTEREY/BUENA VISTA. Legend: I ASK NO FAVORS & I SHRINK FROM NO RESPONSIBILITY.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1848
depicted
Taylor, Zachary
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1304
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1304

Hard Times Token

The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this hard times token around 1841. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this hard times token 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, medals, coins, and transportation tokens.
Obverse Profile image of Lady Liberty facing left.: The legend reads: E PLURIBUS UNUM/1841.
Reverse: The legend reads: MILLIONS FOR DEFENCE/NOT ONE CENT/FOR TRIBUTE.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1841
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1615
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1615

William Henry Harrison Campaign Button

The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this William Henry Harrison campaign button in 1840. Scovill was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this William Henry Harrison campaign button in 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 buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and tokens.
This circular button has the image of a log cabin with a barrel of hard cider by the door. William Henry Harrison called himself “the log cabin and hard cider candidate" to depict himself as a man of the people.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1844
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1308
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1308

William Henry Harrison Campaign Medal

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.
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
date made
ca 1840
depicted
Harrison, William Henry
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1627
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1627

William Henry Harrison Campaign Medal

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.
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 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. GENl W. HARRISON BORN FEB. 9. 1773.
Reverse: Image of a log cabin, with a legend: THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE IN THE YEAR 1840.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1840
depicted
Harrison, William Henry
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1195
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1195

Henry Clay Campaign Medal

This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1845. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1845. 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 Henry Clay facing left. The legend reads: HARRY OF THE WEST/ 1845.
Reverse: Wreath around the rim. Center legend reads: THE PROTECTOR OF HOME INDUSTRY.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1845
depicted
Clay, Henry
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1224
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1224

William Henry Harrison Campaign Medal

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.
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
date made
ca 1841
depicted
Harrison, William Henry
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1248
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1248

Zachary Taylor Medal

This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1848. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1848. 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 Zachary Taylor facing left. The legend reads: MAJ. GEN ZACH: TAYLOR.
Reverse: Legend reads: FORT HARRISON/OKEE-CHO-BEE/PALO ALTO/RESACA DE LA PALMA/MONTEREY/BUENA VISTA.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1848
depicted
Taylor, Zachary
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1227
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1227

Van Buren Hard Times Token

This token was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1841. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This token was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1841. 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 coins.
This “hard times token” was made during the United States’ economic depression in the 1830s.
Obverse: A ship named “Experiment” is wrecked against rocks. Legend: VAN BUREN METALLIC CURRENT 1837.
Reverse: A ship named “Constitution” is sailing in a soft sea with full sails. Legend: WEBSTER CREDIT CURRENT 1841.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1841
referenced
Van Buren, Martin
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1132
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1132

William Henry Harrison Campaign Medal

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.
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 was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods campaign medals. The medal has a hole so that it could be worn.
Obverse: Bust of William Henry Harrison facing left. The legend reads: MAJ. GENl W. HARRISON BORN FEB. 9. 1773.
Reverse: Image of a log cabin, and the legend: THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE/ THE HERO OF TIPPECANOE.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1840
depicted
Harrison, William Henry
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1200
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1200

James Polk Campaign Medal

This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1844. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods.Obverse: Bust of James K.
Description (Brief)
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1844. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods.
Obverse: Bust of James K. Polk and George M. Dallas facing each other ringed by stars. Over is a spread-winged eagle with an olive branch in its beak. The legend reads: POLK/ DALLAS./ 1844/ THE PEOPLE'S CANDIDATES.
Reverse: Seated female figure surrounded by a lamb, spinning wheel, and tobacco barrel, with a ship in the background. Legend: SUCCESS WILL CROWN OUR EFFORTS.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1844
depicted
Polk, James K.
Dallas, George M.
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1307
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1307

Russian porcelain teapot and cover (part of a service)

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c.1840s
ID Number
CE.P-541Aab
catalog number
P-541Aab
accession number
225282

Patent Model for a Flatbed Cylinder Press

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a flatbed cylinder press which was granted patent number 3551. This presses’ tapered bearers were attached to the bed to prevent slurring of the impression at the ends of the formCurrently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a flatbed cylinder press which was granted patent number 3551. This presses’ tapered bearers were attached to the bed to prevent slurring of the impression at the ends of the form
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1844
patent date
1844-04-17
patentee
Hoe, Richard March
maker
Hoe, Richard March
ID Number
GA.89797.003551
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.003551
patent number
003551

Patent Model for the Manufacture of Rubber Fabrics

In 1844 Charles Goodyear of New York, New York received a patent for a machine used for the manufacturing of corrugated or shirred rubber fabrics.
Description (Brief)
In 1844 Charles Goodyear of New York, New York received a patent for a machine used for the manufacturing of corrugated or shirred rubber fabrics. Rubber strips were sandwiched between fabric, stretched and pressed between two rollers, one calendared, creating a rubber impregnated cloth.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1844
patent date
1844-03-09
inventor
Goodyear, Charles
ID Number
AG.003462
catalog number
003462
accession number
89797
patent number
3,462

Patent Model for a Double-Ended Press

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a double-ended press; it was granted patent number 2793. The invention included a method of bringing two alternating beds into printing position.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a double-ended press; it was granted patent number 2793. The invention included a method of bringing two alternating beds into printing position. The patent could be applied either to a bed-and-platen press or to another cylinder press.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1842
patent date
1842-09-30
maker
Northrup, Joel G.
ID Number
GA.89797.002793
patent number
002793
accession number
89797
catalog number
GA*89797.002793

Sickels Drop Cut-Off Valve Gear, Patent Model

This model was part of the application to the U.S. Patent Office for the patent issued to Frederick E. Sickels, of New York, New York, May 20, 1842, no. 2631.The Sickels valve gear is generally considered to be the first successful and practical drop cut-off.
Description
This model was part of the application to the U.S. Patent Office for the patent issued to Frederick E. Sickels, of New York, New York, May 20, 1842, no. 2631.
The Sickels valve gear is generally considered to be the first successful and practical drop cut-off. It was widely used on the engines of the side-wheel steamboats up to the beginning of the 20th century and was the forerunner of the many subsequent designs of drop cut-off valve gears. This valve gear provides a means of rapidly cutting off the admission of steam to the cylinder of the engine at any point in the stroke of the piston. It accomplishes this by tripping or disengaging the valve from the valve gear and permitting it to drop to its seat under the impulse of a spring. A plunger operating in a water chamber gradually retards the falling valve and brings it to rest without shock.
The Sickels valve is of the conical or poppet type, working vertically with the valve stem directed upward. Motion is transmitted to the valve through a lift rod working up and down continuously parallel to the valve stem. Spring clips on the lift rod engage with the projections on the valve stem and lift and open the valve, until the clips come into contact with wedge-shaped blocks, which spread the clips and permit the valve to fall back to its closed position. The wedge-shaped disengaging block can be placed so as to cause the valve to disengage and close at any desired instant during the up or down movement of the lift rod. A spring bearing upon the top of the valve stem causes it to close rapidly, while a plunger or piston attached to the underside of the valve and working in a chamber of water retards the valve gradually and permits it to close without shock. The lift rod may be actuated by an eccentric or, as was more usually the case, by cam and follower of the “alligator” jaw or steamboat type of gear.
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
1842
patent date
1842-05-20
ID Number
MC.308650
catalog number
308650
accession number
89797
patent number
2,631

Patent Model for a Double Cylinder Flatbed Printing Press

This patent model demonstrates an invention for various improvements on the English presses of Applegath, Napier, and others, especially methods of stopping and reversing the press bed in its travel and of raising the impression cylinders to allow the bed to pass underneath.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for various improvements on the English presses of Applegath, Napier, and others, especially methods of stopping and reversing the press bed in its travel and of raising the impression cylinders to allow the bed to pass underneath. The invention was granted patent number 2629.
This was the patent for Hoe's Pony press, built specifically for the New York Sun to print 5-6,000 impressions per hour. Richard March Hoe (1812-1886) was the son of Robert Hoe, founder of the original company, which he took over in 1833 after his father's death. Among many outstanding inventions, his most famous press was the Lightning of 1846. He was also known for solicitous management of his employees, for whom he set up set up a free but compulsory apprentice school.
Location
Currently not on view (printing press fragment)
date made
ca 1842
patent date
1842-05-20
patentee
Hoe, Richard March
maker
Hoe, Richard March
ID Number
GA.11023
catalog number
GA*11023
accession number
48865
patent number
002629

Sevres porcelain cup

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840
ID Number
CE.P-766D
catalog number
P-766D
accession number
225282

Morse-Vail Telegraph Key

Alfred Vail made this key, believed to be from the first Baltimore-Washington telegraph line, as an improvement on Samuel Morse's original transmitter.
Description
Alfred Vail made this key, believed to be from the first Baltimore-Washington telegraph line, as an improvement on Samuel Morse's original transmitter. Vail helped Morse develop a practical system for sending and receiving coded electrical signals over a wire, which was successfully demonstrated in 1844.
Morse's telegraph marked the arrival of instant long-distance communication in America. The revolutionary technology excited the public imagination, inspiring predictions that the telegraph would bring about economic prosperity, national unity, and even world peace.
Date made
1844
used date
1844
demonstrator
Morse, Samuel Finley Breese
Vail, Alfred
maker
Vail, Alfred
Morse, Samuel Finley Breese
ID Number
EM.181411
catalog number
181411
accession number
31652

Patent Model of a Machine for Printing Paper Hangings

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a block-printing press for wallpaper and oilcloth; the invention was granted patent number 6404.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a block-printing press for wallpaper and oilcloth; the invention was granted patent number 6404. Two sets of blocks, suspended over the paper, were mounted in a frame that moved laterally so that one was re-inked by brushes while the other delivered its impression. The paper traveled along a table transverse to the block frame.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1849
patent date
1849-05-01
maker
Shaw, William M.
Gould, Ezra
ID Number
GA.89797.006404
accession number
089797
patent number
006404
catalog number
GA*89797.006404

Russian porcelain sugar bowl (part of a service)

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c.1840s
ID Number
CE.P-541B
catalog number
P-541B
accession number
225282

Richards Sole Cutting Patent Model

Richard Richards of Lynn, Massachusetts received patent number 3,857 on December 16, 1844 for his invention of a machine for cutting leather soles for shoes.
Description
Richard Richards of Lynn, Massachusetts received patent number 3,857 on December 16, 1844 for his invention of a machine for cutting leather soles for shoes. The leather is placed upon the platform, and operating the treadle causes the machine to move the leather into position, cut a sole, and move the cut sole away from the blade. Richards had previously been a shoe last maker in Lynn, a city that became synonymous with shoe making as mechanization began to take over the industry in the second half of the 19th century. While Richards machine was a step towards mechanization of the shoe industry, it was still only a step in the process. The tedious task of hand lasting each shoe remained, but a machine patented by Jan Matzeliger of Lynn in 1883 solved this problem, increasing the rate of production by 70.
date made
1840 - 1844
patent date
1844-12-16
patentee
Richards, Richard
inventor
Richards, Richard
ID Number
AG.003857
catalog number
003857
accession number
89797
patent number
3,857

Sèvres porcelain sauceboat and stand

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1846
1864
ID Number
CE.P-117ab
catalog number
P-117ab
accession number
225282

Manayunk Bridge Truss, 1845

This span that once crossed Manayunk Creek in Pennsylvania is from the first iron truss bridge built in the United States.
Description
This span that once crossed Manayunk Creek in Pennsylvania is from the first iron truss bridge built in the United States. Richard Osbourne, the British-born chief engineer for the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, designed this bridge in the 1840s, based on a cross-hatch wood truss pattern developed by the American engineer William Howe.
P&R shops crafted this span from cast and wrought iron, assembling it without bolts or screws, much like the timber joinery found in all-wood bridges of the era.
The railroad used the new, stronger iron bridges to speed coal trains from Schuykill Valley to Philadelphia coal yards, bypassing the less efficient canal system.
The Smithsonian collected this span in 1942, days before it was scheduled to be melted down as wartime scrap iron.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1844-1845
maker
Reading Company
ID Number
MC.312552.01
catalog number
312552.01
accession number
164162

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