Patent Models: Graphic Arts

Of the 10,000 patent models held in this Museum, some 400 models are housed in and relate to the Graphic Arts Collection. These include models prepared for the printing, type, paper, and bookbinding trades.

The following Introduction is copied directly from Elizabeth M. Harris, Patent Models in the Graphic Arts Collection (Washington, D.C.: The National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, 1997). This publication is illustrated with line drawings.

Black and white photographs of many of the 400 plus patent models in the Graphic Arts Collection were taken in the 1960s. We hope the publication of these photographs will also assist the public in better understanding the Collection.

“Until 1880, the U.S. Patent Office required most inventors to submit a model with their application for patent protection. The Patent Office thus became the keeper of a huge collection, one that suffered several catastrophes over the years. In 1836 a fire at Blodgett's Hotel, where the Patent Office was housed, destroyed all existing models—about 10,000 items—as well as the records of some specifications. After the fire new patents, hitherto unnumbered, were numbered in a consecutive series. In 1840 an effort was made to restore models and specifications lost in the fire. Some 2845 were restored (and numbered in a new X... series), but there were gaps that could not be filled and remain blank to this day. In 1887 a second fire started in a loft in the Patent Office where 12,000 rejected models were stored. It spread rapidly, destroying or damaging 114,000 more models out of the total collection of around 200,000. Of these, 27,000 were eventually restored, while 87,000 were lost.

The first patent models now in the Graphic Arts Division came to the Smithsonian in 1908—a group of eleven models transferred by the Patent Office. In 1926 Congress decided to dispose of the remaining Patent Office collection, which then consisted of some 150,000 models. About 10,000 pieces came to the Smithsonian's U.S. National Museum.

The largest single group within that transfer—about 4,000—consisted of models for the textiles industry. More than 300 were for the printing trades. Other printing models have arrived since 1926, singly or in small groups.”

For more information about the Museum’s patent model collection, see Patent Model Index, Guide to the Collections of the National Museum of American History.

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a self-inking hand-cranked cylinder press which was intended to replace the common iron lever press.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a self-inking hand-cranked cylinder press which was intended to replace the common iron lever press. The patent was granted patent number 25008.
George Gordon (1810-1878) started out as an actor but soon took up the printing trade in New York City. From 1851 he was responsible for a succession of jobbing presses--the Yankee, the Turnover, the Firefly, this cylinder press, and, finally, the Franklin jobber with which he established his name as well as his fortune. Degener was a Gordon employee in the 1850s, setting up in his own business in 1860. See also Degener's separate Patent 110018.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1859
patent date
1859-08-09
maker
Gordon, George Phineas
Degener, Frederick O.
ID Number
GA.11022
catalog number
GA*11022
accession number
48865
patent number
025008
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
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a platen press in which the platen had, in addition to the usual rocking motion, a straight-line approach that took it perfectly parallel to the type bed for the impression.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a platen press in which the platen had, in addition to the usual rocking motion, a straight-line approach that took it perfectly parallel to the type bed for the impression. The invention was granted patent number 32130.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1861
patent date
1861-04-23
maker
Gordon, George Phineas
ID Number
GA.22837
accession number
249602
patent number
032130
catalog number
GA*22837

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.