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.

Ornate Metal Decorative Hardware

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890 - 1930
maker
Waterbury Button Company
ID Number
MC.314686.1161
accession number
314686
catalog number
314686.1161

Ornate Metal Decorative Hardware Rooster

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890 - 1930
maker
Waterbury Button Company
ID Number
MC.314686.1170
accession number
314686
catalog number
314686.1170

Ornate Metal Lid

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890 - 1930
maker
Waterbury Button Company
ID Number
MC.314686.1042
accession number
314686
catalog number
314686.1042

Ornate Metal Button Face

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890 - 1930
maker
Waterbury Button Company
ID Number
MC.314686.1021
accession number
314686
catalog number
314686.1021

Ornate Metal Decorative Hardware

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890 - 1930
maker
Waterbury Button Company
ID Number
MC.314686.1067
accession number
314686
catalog number
314686.1067

Ornate Metal Fastener

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890 - 1930
maker
Waterbury Button Company
ID Number
MC.314686.1012
accession number
314686
catalog number
314686.1012

Corner Bracket

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890 - 1930
maker
Waterbury Button Company
ID Number
MC.314686.3768
accession number
314686
catalog number
314686.3768

Metal Hardware

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890 - 1930
maker
Waterbury Button Company
ID Number
MC.314686.2732
catalog number
314686.2732
accession number
314686

Patent model for printing on pyroxyline compounds (celluloid)

This patent model demonstrates an invention for variations on the method of printing celluloid under heat and pressure. The invention was granted patent number 348222.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for variations on the method of printing celluloid under heat and pressure. The invention was granted patent number 348222. The model consists of three photogravure specimens.
John Wesley Hyatt (born 1837) started his working life as a printer. Early in his career, he took out a patent for a composition for artificial ivory billiard balls, which led him to the invention of celluloid in 1868. In 1869 Hyatt and his brother Isaac founded the Celluloid Manufacturing Company. He held some 250 patents, mostly concerned with the use of celluloid.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1886
patent date
1886-08-31
maker
Lefferts, Marshall C.
Hyatt, John W.
ID Number
GA.89797.348222
accession number
089797
patent number
348222
catalog number
GA*89797.348222

Metal Hardware

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890 - 1930
maker
Waterbury Button Company
ID Number
MC.314686.3657
accession number
314686
catalog number
314686.3657

Metal Chain

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890 - 1930
maker
Waterbury Button Company
ID Number
MC.314686.3802
accession number
314686
catalog number
314686.3802

Metal Fastener

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890 - 1930
maker
Waterbury Button Company
ID Number
MC.314686.2471
accession number
314686
catalog number
314686.2471

Ornate Metal Cufflink Piece

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890 - 1930
maker
Waterbury Button Company
ID Number
MC.314686.1479
accession number
314686
catalog number
314686.1479

Metal Hardware

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890 - 1930
maker
Waterbury Button Company
ID Number
MC.314686.3359
catalog number
314686.3359
accession number
314686

1977 Vega Hatchback Coupe

Beginning in the early 1960s, American auto manufacturers responded to a wave of imported compacts and subcompacts that reached 20 percent of domestic new car sales by 1971.
Description
Beginning in the early 1960s, American auto manufacturers responded to a wave of imported compacts and subcompacts that reached 20 percent of domestic new car sales by 1971. The Chevrolet Corvair, Ford Falcon, and Plymouth Valiant were introduced in 1960, followed by the AMC Gremlin in 1970 and Ford Pinto in 1971. General Motors introduced the Vega as a 1971 model. Like other domestic small cars, the Vega was attractive and handled well, but mechanical quality and reliability were disappointing. On early models, the aluminum-alloy engine block overheated and expanded, valves leaked, and body corrosion was a problem. General Motors was able to correct these defects in later model years, and the Vega became a popular model that made money. This turnaround marked a reawakening of the American auto industry to the need to manage design, performance, and quality-control issues and compete more successfully with imported cars.
By the 1970s, many American motorists discovered the advantages of subcompacts and hatchbacks. Convenient, easy to drive, and economical to own and operate, domestic and imported subcompacts offered expanded opportunities for driving, commuting, and carrying goods. Many were used as second cars. The shift to subcompacts made families more mobile, and greater fuel efficiency offset the effects of gasoline shortages and price increases. This 1977 Vega hatchback was Guenther Sommer's second car; he and his wife, Siewchin Yong Sommer, drove a 1967 Pontiac Grand Prix convertible as their primary transportation. Mr. Sommer used this Vega to haul building materials at his home on Long Island. By removing all seats except the driver's seat, he converted the Vega to a small truck and even used it while building a new house. In 2001, he reinstalled the carefully preserved seats and donated the car to the Smithsonian.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1977
maker
General Motors Corporation
ID Number
2001.0168.01
accession number
2001.0168
catalog number
2001.0168.01

Ornate Metal Fastener

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890 - 1930
maker
Waterbury Button Company
ID Number
MC.314686.1923
accession number
314686
catalog number
314686.1923

Metal Buckle

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890 - 1930
maker
Waterbury Button Company
ID Number
MC.314686.1782
catalog number
314686.1782
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.314686.3707
accession number
314686
catalog number
314686.3707

Metal Dial

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890 - 1930
maker
Waterbury Button Company
ID Number
MC.314686.2502
accession number
314686
catalog number
314686.2502

Patent Model for Molds for Casting Blocks for Printing Carpets or Wall Paper

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a mold that made blocks that were used in printing carpets or wall paper; the invention was granted patent number 10630. The design, formed of short and long pieces of type, was set up in a square casting box.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a mold that made blocks that were used in printing carpets or wall paper; the invention was granted patent number 10630. The design, formed of short and long pieces of type, was set up in a square casting box. The printing block was then cast in any suitable material such as type metal, plaster-of-paris, vulcanized rubber, or, by preference, gutta percha - a popular material in the mid nineteenth century.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1854
patent date
1854-03-14
maker
Berry, James
ID Number
1996.0062.02
accession number
1996.0062
catalog number
1996.0062.02
patent number
010630

Metal Hardware

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890 - 1930
maker
Waterbury Button Company
ID Number
MC.314686.2867
accession number
314686
catalog number
314686.2867

Patent model for printers' chase lock

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a combination of quoins and sidesticks, with a special lever for their adjustment; the invention was granted patent number 11091.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a combination of quoins and sidesticks, with a special lever for their adjustment; the invention was granted patent number 11091.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1854
date made
ca 1854
patent date
1854-06-13
maker
Sprague, E. H.
ID Number
1996.0062.16
patent number
011091
accession number
1996.0062
catalog number
1996.0062.16

Patent Model of a Metallograph, or Embossing Pen for Autographic Printing

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a metallograph, and was granted patent number 215792. With this tool, a writer could turn a sheet of metal into a printing plate as he wrote on it.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a metallograph, and was granted patent number 215792. With this tool, a writer could turn a sheet of metal into a printing plate as he wrote on it. The air-powered writing instrument made a series of sharp blows to the metal, knocking out projections on the back of the sheet. The projections formed a facsimile of the writing in reverse and in relief for printing at a type press.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1879
patent date
1879-05-27
patentee
Setchell, George C.
maker
Carey, Augustus C.
Carey, George R.
ID Number
1996.0062.04
catalog number
1996.0062.04
patent number
215792
accession number
1996.0062

Patent model for printers' chase

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a chase that eliminated the need for furniture; the invention was granted patent number 228201. Four metal bars, matching the inside length and breadth of the chase, were toothed along their outer sides.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a chase that eliminated the need for furniture; the invention was granted patent number 228201. Four metal bars, matching the inside length and breadth of the chase, were toothed along their outer sides. The bars could be locked in any position in the chase by four matching toothed blocks that fitted at the crossing points.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880
patent date
1880-06-01
patentee
Kingsland, Jr., Joseph
ID Number
GA.89797.228201
patent number
228201
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.228201

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