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.

Metal Buckle

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890 - 1930
maker
Waterbury Button Company
ID Number
MC.314686.1771
catalog number
314686.1771
accession number
314686

Metal Hardware

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890 - 1930
maker
Waterbury Button Company
ID Number
MC.314686.3033
catalog number
314686.3033
accession number
314686

Patent model for sheet-feed gauges for printing press

This patent model demonstrates an invention for adjustable feed gauges for platen presses, to take paper and cards of various sizes. The invention was granted patent number 162207. (James Turner was from Montreal, Canada.)Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for adjustable feed gauges for platen presses, to take paper and cards of various sizes. The invention was granted patent number 162207. (James Turner was from Montreal, Canada.)
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1875
patent date
1875-04-20
maker
Turner, James
ID Number
GA.89797.162207
accession number
089797
patent number
162207
catalog number
GA*89797.162207

Patent Model for Flatbed Cylinder Printing Presses

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a flatbed printing press; the invention was granted patent number 173295. The patent describes improvements to the movement of the bed, the sheet fly, and the inking table of cylinder presses.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a flatbed printing press; the invention was granted patent number 173295. The patent describes improvements to the movement of the bed, the sheet fly, and the inking table of cylinder presses.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1876
date made
ca 1876
patent date
1876-02-08
maker
Hoe, Richard March
Tucker, Stephen D.
ID Number
GA.89797.173295
patent number
173295
catalog number
GA*89797.173295
accession number
89797

Patent model for a cylinder drum

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a cylinder drum. Maker, patent number, and date are unknown.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a cylinder drum. Maker, patent number, and date are unknown.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
maker
unknown
ID Number
1997.0198.09
catalog number
1997.0198.09
accession number
1997.0198

Patent Model of a Copy Holder

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a portable and adjustable copy holder on which the reader could tilt the manuscript backwards or spin it sideways, "with reference to light, etc., to suit himself." The invention was granted patent number 155202.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a portable and adjustable copy holder on which the reader could tilt the manuscript backwards or spin it sideways, "with reference to light, etc., to suit himself." The invention was granted patent number 155202. Nutting (1803-1887) was one of the first generation of American lithographers, working at the profession as early as 1826. Later in his life he was also an art teacher, and published a series of art teaching manuals.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1874
patent date
1874-09-22
patentee
Nutting, Benjamin F.
maker
Nutting, Benjamin F.
ID Number
GA.22843
accession number
249602
patent number
155202
catalog number
22843
GA*22843

Patent model for printers' quoins

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a quoin which was adjusted by means of a tapered screw; the invention was granted patent number 173493.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a quoin which was adjusted by means of a tapered screw; the invention was granted patent number 173493.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1876
patent date
1876-02-15
maker
Polen, George B.
ID Number
1996.0062.14
patent number
173493
accession number
1996.0062
catalog number
1996.0062.14

Patent model for printers' quoins

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a three-part quoin, the parts being held together by a key passing through a slot in the central wedge; the invention was granted patent number 148308.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a three-part quoin, the parts being held together by a key passing through a slot in the central wedge; the invention was granted patent number 148308. Roughened sides of the quoin prevented slippage on other furniture.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1874
patent date
1874-03-10
maker
Lame, Samuel C.
Briggs, Ferdinand Sherwin
ID Number
1996.0062.11
patent number
148308
accession number
1996.0062
catalog number
1996.0062.11

Patent model for drawing and shading pictures

This patent model demonstrates an invention for an improvement on known methods of shading lithographic drawings with molded gelatine sheets, as by the Ben Day method. The invention was granted patent number 432994.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for an improvement on known methods of shading lithographic drawings with molded gelatine sheets, as by the Ben Day method. The invention was granted patent number 432994.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1890
patent date
1890-07-29
maker
Fausel, Daniel
ID Number
GA.89797.432994
accession number
089797
patent number
432994
catalog number
GA*87979.432994

Patent model for printers' quoins

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a screw quoin, adjustable with any common wrench; the invention was granted patent number 167780.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a screw quoin, adjustable with any common wrench; the invention was granted patent number 167780.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1875
patent date
1875-09-14
maker
O'Shea, Andrew Jackson
ID Number
1996.0062.13
patent number
167780
accession number
1996.0062
catalog number
1996.0062.13

Patent Model of a Lithographic Scraper Press

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a lithographic scraper press which was granted patent number 228271. The patent describes a method of mounting a scraper to a swinging arm to produce more even pressure in "Photo-Mechanical Presses.”Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a lithographic scraper press which was granted patent number 228271. The patent describes a method of mounting a scraper to a swinging arm to produce more even pressure in "Photo-Mechanical Presses.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880
patent date
1880-06-01
maker
Parks, John A.
ID Number
GA.89797.228271
patent number
228271
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.228271

Patent model for printers' sidesticks and quoins

This patent model demonstrates an invention for sidesticks made with two symmetrical series of inclined surfaces; the invention was granted patent number 133948. Matching quoins were adjusted by turning a double-threaded screw.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for sidesticks made with two symmetrical series of inclined surfaces; the invention was granted patent number 133948. Matching quoins were adjusted by turning a double-threaded screw.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1872
patent date
1872-12-17
maker
McGrath, Thomas
ID Number
1996.0062.12
patent number
133948
accession number
1996.0062
catalog number
1996.0062.12

Patent Model for a Sheet Feed Apparatus for Cylinder Presses

This patent model demonstrates an invention for improvements in the delivery of sheets to cylinder presses; it consists of separating mechanisms and a vibrating table; the invention was granted patent number 137156.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for improvements in the delivery of sheets to cylinder presses; it consists of separating mechanisms and a vibrating table; the invention was granted patent number 137156.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1873
patent date
1873-03-25
maker
Stuart, Robert J.
ID Number
1997.0198.08
catalog number
1997.0198.08
accession number
1997.0198
patent number
137156

Patent Model for an Artificial Blast for Typecasting Machines

This patent model demonstrates an invention for an artificial blast for typecasting machines; the invention was granted patent number 11955. This device was intended for small type molds, which were apt to overheat at fast casting rates.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for an artificial blast for typecasting machines; the invention was granted patent number 11955. This device was intended for small type molds, which were apt to overheat at fast casting rates. A blower, operated by a steam engine, drove air through a wooden tube around the casting room. Tin pipes from the tube supplied each casting machine with a double blast of air, one directed at the fuel to fire it, the second at the mold to cool it. George Bruce (1781-1866) followed his brother David to America from Scotland in 1795. The brothers first worked around the printing trades, and in 1816 set up their own type foundry. David retired in 1822 and was followed in the business by his son David Jr., author of the patents listed above.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1854
patent date
1854-11-14
maker
Bruce, George
ID Number
GA.89797.011955
patent number
011955
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.011955

Bakelizer

This is the steam pressure vessel used by Leo H. Baekeland, the chemist and inventor, to produce commercial quantities of the first totally synthetic plastic, Bakelite. It was produced by reacting phenol and formaldehyde under pressure at high temperatures.
Description
This is the steam pressure vessel used by Leo H. Baekeland, the chemist and inventor, to produce commercial quantities of the first totally synthetic plastic, Bakelite. It was produced by reacting phenol and formaldehyde under pressure at high temperatures. The product was a thermosetting resin which proved to be an extremely versatile substance, readily moldable and quite strong when combined with fillers such as cellulose.
The Bakelizer was used around 1909, and dubbed "Old Faithful" by its early operators. Made of iron alloys and still in usable condition, it's about 35 inches wide, 40 inches deep, and nearly 72 inches tall.
An inscription cast into the door of the Bakelizer reads "H. W. DOPP CO. BUFFALO N.Y. / USA." H. William Dopp (1824-1888) was a German machinist who immigrated to the U.S. in 1849 and, in 1878, established the H. William Dopp & Son firm in Buffalo, N.Y. William H. Dopp, Jr. (b. 1853) continued the firm.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
about 1909
user
Baekeland, L. H.
maker
H. William Dopp & Son
ID Number
1983.0524.01
catalog number
1983.0524.01
accession number
1983.0524

Patent model for typesetting machine

This patent model demonstrates an invention for an improved type-setting machine. It consists of a frame, type-case, and composing stick; it was granted patent number 28857.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for an improved type-setting machine. It consists of a frame, type-case, and composing stick; it was granted patent number 28857.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1860
patent date
1860-06-26
maker
Harger, H.
ID Number
1997.0198.07
accession number
1997.0198
catalog number
1997.0198.07
patent number
28857

Experimental Compact Fluorescent Lamp

Ordinary lamps give good quality light and can be designed for all manner of special tasks. However, they waste a tremendous amount of energy in the form of heat.
Description
Ordinary lamps give good quality light and can be designed for all manner of special tasks. However, they waste a tremendous amount of energy in the form of heat. The steep rise in energy prices during the 1970s spurred a burst of invention aimed at developing lamps that gave more lumens per watt—the lighting equivalent of miles per gallon in cars.
Much of the invention took place in the laboratories of major lighting companies like General Electric and Sylvania. But inventors outside the corporate labs also offered ideas and new devices. One such inventor was Donald Hollister of California. A UCLA graduate with experience in plasma physics, Hollister patented a small fluorescent lamp called the "Litek." The lamp seen here is a hand-made prototype from 1979.
Most fluorescent lamps, large and small, operate by passing an electric current through a gas between two electrodes. The current energizes the gas that in turn radiates ultraviolet (UV) light. The UV is converted to visible light by a coating of phosphors inside the glass envelope of the lamp. Electrodes are responsible for much of the energy lost in a fluorescent lamp and are usually the part of the lamp that fails. Hollister's design was "electrodeless," and used high-frequency radio waves instead of electrodes to energize the gas.
The Litek lamp worked in the laboratory, and Hollister received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to refine the design. That proved more difficult than expected though. The electronic components available at the time were expensive and generated too much heat. Hollister tried to compensate with the massive heat-dissipation fins set below the bulb, but this added to the cost. Also, as an independent inventor Hollister could not just focus on research. He had to perform administrative tasks that researchers in corporate labs did not, and the project lagged. In the end the Litek did not reach the market, though in the 1990s the major companies all began selling electrodeless fluorescent lamps. These built on the work of several inventors, including Hollister's.
Lamp characteristics: Nickle-plated brass medium-screw base shell with brass retainer and plastic skirt. The base insulator is part of skirt. A metal fitting attaches to the skirt to dissipate heat. Tipped, G-shaped envelope with phosphor coating on inner wall and clear tip.
Date made
1979
maker
Hollister, Donald
ID Number
1992.0466.01
catalog number
1992.0466.01
accession number
1992.0466

Patent model for printing photomechanical plates

This patent model demonstrates an invention for methods of making photomechanical or other prints resemble original photographs.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for methods of making photomechanical or other prints resemble original photographs. The invention was granted patent number 493850.
Tonal photomechanical reproductions had an objectionable coarseness because of the perceptible pattern of the halftone screen. By this invention, screened plates-either bearing an image or blank-were printed several times slightly out of register with each other, softening the effect of the screen. The key impression of the image would be made first in a dark ink with a heavy body, and then the other impressions in paler or lighter-bodied inks. To imitate sepia photographs, later impressions were made in brown tinted inks.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1893
patent date
1893-03-21
patentee
Woodward, Charles B.
ID Number
GA.89797.493850
patent number
493850
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.493850

Patent Model of a Type-rubbing Machine

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a type-rubbing machine which was granted patent number 225501. The patent details a machine for smoothing and trueing the surfaces of type, and bringing the type to a proper width.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a type-rubbing machine which was granted patent number 225501. The patent details a machine for smoothing and trueing the surfaces of type, and bringing the type to a proper width. The machine was hand fed, but otherwise automatic.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880
patent date
1880-04-06
maker
Webster, Cyrus C.
ID Number
GA.89797.226377
accession number
89797
catalog number
GA*89797.226377

Patent model for printers' quoins

This patent model demonstrates an invention for quoins that were adjusted by means of concentric projecting spirals on one half, working on concentric grooves in the other. The invention was granted patent number 223192.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for quoins that were adjusted by means of concentric projecting spirals on one half, working on concentric grooves in the other. The invention was granted patent number 223192.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1879
patent date
1879-12-30
patentee
Torsch, Edward L.
Lee, James R.
ID Number
GA.89797.223192
patent number
223192
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.223192

Patent model for music type

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a method of printing large music charts for educational purposes; the invention was granted patent number 78855. The type was made of wood.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a method of printing large music charts for educational purposes; the invention was granted patent number 78855. The type was made of wood. Each note came with its part of the staff lines, and with shoulders that interlocked and overlapped with those of its neighbors, to produce a continuous line of music.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1868
patent date
1868-06-16
patentee
Balch, Edward L.
ID Number
GA.89797.078855
patent number
078855
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.078855

Patent model for hand cancelling machine

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a device that cancels checks and drafts by punching figures into the paper to match the value of the check; the invention was granted patent number 106665.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a device that cancels checks and drafts by punching figures into the paper to match the value of the check; the invention was granted patent number 106665.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
patent date
1870-08-23
maker
Corne, William F.
ID Number
GA.22835
accession number
249602
patent number
106665
catalog number
GA*22835
accession number
249602

Patent Model for Platen Printing Press

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a platen printing press, which was granted patent number 40099. In this invention, one of a series on Gordon's platen presses, the platen was pivoted on long legs.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a platen printing press, which was granted patent number 40099. In this invention, one of a series on Gordon's platen presses, the platen was pivoted on long legs. The bed, rocking on its own axis, was locked into vertical position to take the impact of impression. The model is incomplete: the platen assembly is missing.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1863
patent date
1863-09-29
maker
Gordon, George Phineas
ID Number
GA.22836
accession number
249602
patent number
040099
catalog number
GA*22836

Celluloid Billiard Ball

This billiard ball, a gift of the Celanese Corporation, is made of cellulose nitrate, a substance eventually known as "celluloid." John Wesley Hyatt, a printer, was encouraged to develop the new substance when he saw an ad offering $10,000 to the person who invented a usable subs
Description
This billiard ball, a gift of the Celanese Corporation, is made of cellulose nitrate, a substance eventually known as "celluloid." John Wesley Hyatt, a printer, was encouraged to develop the new substance when he saw an ad offering $10,000 to the person who invented a usable substitute for ivory in billiard balls. Hyatt eventually achieved success with his new material, forming the Celluloid Manufacturing Co. in 1871, but never received the $10,000 award.
The ball is mounted on a walnut stand with a silver label stating, "Made in 1868 of Cellulose Nitrate, Celluloid. The Year John Wesley Hyatt Discovered This First Plastics Resin."
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1868
inventor
Hyatt, John Wesley
originator
Hyatt, John Wesley
ID Number
CH.334572
accession number
310799
catalog number
334572

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