Transportation

Americans have always been a people on the move—on rails, roads, and waterways (for travel through the air, visit the National Air and Space Museum). In the transportation collections, railroad objects range from tools, tracks, and many train models to the massive 1401, a 280-ton locomotive built in 1926. Road vehicles include coaches, buggies, wagons, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and automobiles—from the days before the Model T to modern race cars. The accessories of travel are part of the collections, too, from streetlights, gas pumps, and traffic signals to goggles and overcoats.

In the maritime collections, more than 7,000 design plans and scores of ship models show the evolution of sailing ships and other vessels. Other items range from scrimshaw, photographs, and marine paintings to life jackets from the Titanic.

At the dawn of the twentieth century, many people believed that the automobile offered great potential as a practical means of transportation. Once expensive toys, automobiles were becoming faster and more powerful, but several obstacles hindered their widespread use.
Description
At the dawn of the twentieth century, many people believed that the automobile offered great potential as a practical means of transportation. Once expensive toys, automobiles were becoming faster and more powerful, but several obstacles hindered their widespread use. One of the most visible barriers was the extreme difficulty of driving long distances, particularly in the West with its rugged terrain and lack of improved roads. After two attempts by other motorists, H. Nelson Jackson, a physician from Burlington, Vermont, broke the cross-country barrier through sheer determination and perseverance. In the spring and summer of 1903, Jackson and his mechanic, Sewall Crocker, drove this 1903 Winton touring car from San Francisco to New York City. The trip took 64 days, including numerous delays while the two men waited for parts or paused to hoist the Winton up and over a gully. Their achievement changed the way Americans thought about long-distance automobile travel. It now seemed possible -- even desirable -- to move about the country in cars instead of trains. The pioneering 1903 trip inspired two rival teams of motorists, turning the much-publicized journey into a race. Within ten years there were plans for a coast-to-coast highway. By the late 1910s and early 1920s, hordes of vacationing autocampers with touring cars and tents ushered in the era of transcontinental motoring.
date made
1903
contributor
Firestone, Jr., Harvey S.
user
Crocker, Sewall K.
maker
Winton Engine Company
ID Number
TR.312831.01
catalog number
312831
accession number
167685
This three-spring delivery wagon was purchased from a collection in Baltimore, Maryland. It was collected to help build the museum's examples of common commercial horse drawn wagons used at the turn of the 20th century.
Description
This three-spring delivery wagon was purchased from a collection in Baltimore, Maryland. It was collected to help build the museum's examples of common commercial horse drawn wagons used at the turn of the 20th century. This type of wagon was used to deliver all kinds of light goods to homes and businesses. The wagon’s striping and scroll work was repainted in 1978 using the original patterns on the wagon. There is a label on the wagon marked "M. Martin, builder, Raspeburg, Md." Max Martin was a wheelwright, carriage, and wagon builder in Raspeburg, Maryland around 1914.
date made
ca 1900
maker
Martin, M.
ID Number
TR.336470
accession number
1978.0988
catalog number
336470
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this transportation token in 1906. 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 transportation token in 1906. 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. The token has a circular hole in the center.
Obverse: The legend reads: MUNICIPAL TRACTION CO./ CLEVELAND.
Reverse: The legend reads: 3 CENT TICKET 1906.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1906
referenced
Municipal Traction Company
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1345
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1345
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this time table token during the early 20th century. 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 time table token during the early 20th century. 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 tokens.
Obverse: The legend reads: NEW YORK AND ALBANY/ PEOPLES LINE OF STEAM BOATS
Reverse: The legend reads: TIME TABLE/ LEAVE N.Y./ 6 P.M./ LEAVE ALBANY/ 7 ½ P.M.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
referenced
People's Line of Steamboats
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1602
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1602
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1908
ID Number
NU.69.127.420
catalog number
69.127.420
accession number
286471
The main surface of this large sperm whale tooth is etched with the famous scene of Washington crossing the Delaware River on Christmas 1776 into New Jersey.
Description
The main surface of this large sperm whale tooth is etched with the famous scene of Washington crossing the Delaware River on Christmas 1776 into New Jersey. The river was filled with ice, and the rowers had to push it out of their way to get across the river in their heavy, flat-bottom Durham cargo boats. In all, Washington transported ca. 2,400 troops across the Delaware that day. After crossing, they marched nine miles to Trenton, NJ, where they surprised and conquered the British Hessian troops.
The absence of any pinholes indicates that the artist of this piece carved it freehand, but its subject indicates that the artist had a good look at the many images of the famous scene before he began carving. The back of the tooth is smoothed but uncarved, with a large piece missing from the bottom edge.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 19th century
ID Number
DL.374497
catalog number
374497
accession number
136263
The carving and artistry on this sperm whale tooth indicate the hand of a professional artist or engraver. In the center of the obverse is an American crest with stars and stripes.
Description
The carving and artistry on this sperm whale tooth indicate the hand of a professional artist or engraver. In the center of the obverse is an American crest with stars and stripes. From either side come American flags hung on spears, which change on both sides into three bayonets affixed to rifle barrels below. Under the bayonets are large cannon muzzles, below which are the rams used to clean and prepare the tubes for the next shot. At the top of the crest, a large sailing ship with all sails raised sails towards the viewer. Below is an intricate geometric border surmounted by a floral device in the center under the crest.
The complex shading, imaginative composition and absence of any image registration pinholes attest to the master craftsmanship of the piece; unfortunately, it is undecorated on the back side.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 19th century
ID Number
DL.374485
catalog number
374485
accession number
136263
By the mid-1870s, the Pacific guano trade had mined all the available bird guano from the South American and remote Pacific Ocean islands.
Description
By the mid-1870s, the Pacific guano trade had mined all the available bird guano from the South American and remote Pacific Ocean islands. Fortunately for international agricultural interests, nitrate and phosphate mines had recently been discovered inland in Peru and Chile to fill the gap, and big sailing ships from Europe and the United States exchanged the avian excrement for chemicals that could be mined and blended for synthetic fertilizers and other products.
The German four-masted steel barque Pitlochry was built in Scotland in 1894 for the Flying P Line of nitrate clippers and was one of the fastest in the fleet. It measured 319 ft. 5 in. in length and 3,111 tons (gross) and set a speed record in 1902 on a nitrate voyage to Valparaiso. In 1905 it was partly dismasted on a trip around Cape Horn.
This track chart measured daily progress for Pitlochry from Hamburg, Germany to "The West Coast" (South America) on a 1908 nitrate voyage that took only 72 days. In 1913 Pitlochry sank in the English Channel after a collision with a British steamship.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1908
ID Number
1999.3004.04
catalog number
1999.3004.04
nonaccession number
1999.3004
This is one of a pair of decorative whales teeth (374507 and 374508). Both are the same size, have similar subjects by the same hand and identical mahogany bases for vertical display.
Description
This is one of a pair of decorative whales teeth (374507 and 374508). Both are the same size, have similar subjects by the same hand and identical mahogany bases for vertical display. Originally, they would have decorated a family parlor, or a gentleman’s bureau or dressing room. This tooth shows an armored and cloked man standing before a large wooden throne. On his head is a winged helmet reminiscent of both the god Mercury or a Viking chieftain.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
ID Number
DL.374508
catalog number
374508
accession number
136263
This long, highly polished walrus tusk is scrimshawed on one side; the other remains rough and unpolished. At the bottom is a heraldic shield and weapons image with a British flag and a sash with a crown.
Description
This long, highly polished walrus tusk is scrimshawed on one side; the other remains rough and unpolished. At the bottom is a heraldic shield and weapons image with a British flag and a sash with a crown. Above is a mid-19th century bust portrait of a young woman with elaborately coiffed hair, a brooch on a ribbon around her neck and a low-cut fur bodice—possibly an opera singer or stage actress. Above, a circular motif frames an anchor topped with eight stars. The highest image is only a little more than halfway up the long tusk, and it is an unfinished scene of two doves both reaching for the same ribbon. The rest of the tusk is polished but undecorated to the top, which is pierced by a hole for hanging the piece. On the back in small letters is the word “HAZEN”, which might be the name of the scrimshander who carved this tusk.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
19th century
ID Number
DL.154079
catalog number
154079
The surface of this smooth, polished small sperm whale tooth is carved with the image of a sperm whale, with the characteristically toothed lower jaw delineated.
Description
The surface of this smooth, polished small sperm whale tooth is carved with the image of a sperm whale, with the characteristically toothed lower jaw delineated. The oversize tail is deeply pleated like the belly of a blue whale, and the body of the whale is deeply gouged out to show depth, but not infilled with pigment. Above the whale is a harpoon with a barbed point; below the animal is a hand lance or killing iron with a laurel-leaf-shaped point. The back of the tooth is highly polished but undecorated.
A barbed harpoon was thrown to fasten to a whale, and usually at least two were used to ensure a good connection to the whaleboat. Once the whale was tired enough from towing the whaleboat to be more docile, it was hauled alongside and the mate plunged the killing iron into the whale's "life," or thick neck arteries, several times to drown it in its own blood.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect the dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create intricate, fine-lined carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or it could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
19th century
ID Number
1978.0052.40
accession number
1978.0052
catalog number
1978.0052.40
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1902
ID Number
NU.68.263.768
catalog number
68.263.768
accession number
281689
281689
This elegant tooth could serve as a primer or pictorial dictionary on the different types of sailing ship rigs.
Description
This elegant tooth could serve as a primer or pictorial dictionary on the different types of sailing ship rigs. Spread out over its surface are a fully rigged three-masted ship; a topsail brig; a hermaphrodite brig; a two-masted schooner; a cutter; a yawl; a barque; and a brigantine. About half of the fleet have American flags, and all have the vertical sail sections or gores carefully delineated. The larger ship types have gun ports along their sides; the smaller types have the strakes or hull planks etched along their sides. Around the top of the tooth, a little building inside a fenced area is engraved with three trees around it.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 19th century
ID Number
DL.65.1128
catalog number
65.1128
accession number
256396
The obverse of this tooth has an image of a full rigged sailing ship stopped in the water, with most of the sails furled or rolled up.
Description
The obverse of this tooth has an image of a full rigged sailing ship stopped in the water, with most of the sails furled or rolled up. Alongside it is the carcass of a big whale, spinning around as the ship’s crew slice and hoist the ‘blanket pieces’ or strips of skin and body fat off the carcass in long sheets onto the deck. Once the long sheets are aboard, they’ll be cut into smaller pieces and tossed into a pot of boiling ‘blubber’ to render into whale oil. Above the scene in flowing script are the words “Ship Swift cutting a large whale.” There are a few registration pinholes within the image, but most of it is lightly drawn freehand. Engraved below the ship are the initials WHS, and in modern ink writing around the initials is written “149890. N.Y. M. Willis./U.S.A.” The number is the Smithsonian’s catalog number; the remainder is a notation by an earlier owner of the tooth. There is also a tag marked “39” stuck to the surface of the tooth in front of the ship’s bowsprit.
The reverse depicts a full-rigged ship plowing hard through heavy seas, with all sails flying. It is chasing a pair of whales lying on the water surface just ahead of its bow. The engraving is very fine but quite shallow on this side, and multiple pinholes indicate that a magazine drawing was laid over the polished tooth and pricked through for the image detail.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 19th century
ID Number
DL.149890
catalog number
149890
accession number
27163
The sides of this whalebone ditty box are carved from a single piece of whalebone, shaved to make it uniformly thin. The overlapping ends are fastened together with tiny silver alloy rivets, which also fasten the sides to the pine bottom. Unfortunately, the top is missing.
Description
The sides of this whalebone ditty box are carved from a single piece of whalebone, shaved to make it uniformly thin. The overlapping ends are fastened together with tiny silver alloy rivets, which also fasten the sides to the pine bottom. Unfortunately, the top is missing. The outside of the box is engraved and infilled in green pigment with alternating columns and laurel leaves; leafy vines mount the columns. The overlapping ends of the bone strip are carved with two contiguous vases with three-part leaves sprouting from the tops. The craftsmanship and quality of the freehand carving and fastenings are exceptionally fine, and the condition of this box is outstanding.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 19th century
ID Number
1978.0052.10
accession number
1978.0052
catalog number
1978.52.10
Busks are long, flat slices out of whalebone ribs that whaling crews decorated with carvings and then gave to their wives or sweethearts once they were back on land after a voyage.
Description
Busks are long, flat slices out of whalebone ribs that whaling crews decorated with carvings and then gave to their wives or sweethearts once they were back on land after a voyage. Busks were slipped into vertical pocket in ladies’ corsets to stiffen the garment.
The front of this example has vertical floral frames alternating with horizontal cross-pattern boundaries dividing the scenes. The back is carved with a single creeping floral vine. The infill material is faint, endowing the piece with a delicate, dreamlike quality. The bottom is bi-lobed, and part of the top is broken off and missing.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 19th century
ID Number
DL.249980
catalog number
249980
accession number
48696
For decades, Hawai`i was a primary destination for Japanese immigrants. The cane sugar industry, which dominated Hawaiian life from the 1850s to the 1950s, recruited tens of thousands of laborers from Japan.
Description
For decades, Hawai`i was a primary destination for Japanese immigrants. The cane sugar industry, which dominated Hawaiian life from the 1850s to the 1950s, recruited tens of thousands of laborers from Japan. Immigration increased after the United States annexed Hawai`i in 1898, and continued despite restrictions on Japanese immigration to the U.S. mainland. Japanese workers endured severe and unequal conditions in Hawai`i, which was controlled by white American business interests. Still, Japanese immigrants established a strong and lasting community that supported their families and maintained their cultural traditions.
The need for cheap labor forced plantations to recruit contract workers from China, Japan, Korea, the Pacific Islands, and the Philippines, as well as Puerto Rico, Europe, and California. The unique racial and ethnic mix in contemporary Hawai`i is due to this history. The largest group of workers came from Japan. Unlike other Asian groups, the Japanese included significant numbers and percentages of women workers.
This trunk belonged to Kumataro Sugimoto, who immigrated to Hawai`i from Kumamoto, Japan, about 1902. After hearing stories of quick wealth, Kumataro left for Hawai`i to seek his fortune. Later, he brought his sons to help him on the plantation. One of his sons, Kichizo, married an American-born Japanese woman and started a family in Hawai`i. Inscriptions on the trunk include Sugimoto, the family name, and Hawai`i, the destination. This was a common practice for identification on any long voyage. This trunk or toronko, made of leather and paper, carried kimono and other personal belongings. Immigrants also carried Yanagi-gori, suitcases made of willow branches, and others made of bamboo and rattan, as well as cloth bags.
Date made
late 1800s
cane sugar industry in Hawaii
1850-1950s
owner immigrated from Japan to Hawaii
1902
trunk owner
Sugimoto, Kumataro
ID Number
2005.0132.17
catalog number
2005.0132.17
accession number
2005.0132
Andrew Riker was one of several electric vehicle enthusiasts who rose to prominence in the early automobile manufacturing industry. In 1884, when Riker was a teenager, he designed and built a three-wheeled electric tricycle.
Description
Andrew Riker was one of several electric vehicle enthusiasts who rose to prominence in the early automobile manufacturing industry. In 1884, when Riker was a teenager, he designed and built a three-wheeled electric tricycle. Four years later, he established the Riker Electric Motor Company in Brooklyn, New York to manufacture motors and dynamos. The Riker Electric Vehicle Company, which he founded in 1899, built more than a dozen types of electric cars and trucks. In the early 1900s, most cars were small and open, but the owners of the Smithsonian’s ca. 1900 Riker electric demi-coach, Herbert and Martha Wadsworth, were born to wealth and could afford a large, enclosed car, even though it was at the upper end of the price range. Herbert inherited vast acres of farm land in upstate New York, and he managed a creamery and flour mill. Martha’s father, Henry Blow, developed mining interests in Missouri and became a leading figure in the industrial and commercial development of St. Louis. Mr. and Mrs. Wadsworth spent the winters in Washington, D. C. and mingled with the city’s social elite. In 1902, they built a Beaux Arts mansion on Washington’s fashionable Dupont Circle. They equipped it with modern conveniences: electricity in every room, dual steam radiator and forced air heat, a refrigerated room cooled with ice, and the most up-to-the-minute form of urban transportation, an electric automobile. Working with their architect, they designed a ground floor tunnel that substituted for a porte-cochere (exterior shelter over a driveway). With no tailpipe emissions, the Riker rolled safely and silently through the depths of the mansion, and it carried Mr. and Mrs. Wadsworth through Washington’s winter weather in relative comfort. An “automobile room,” one of the first indoor garages in Washington, was equipped with battery charging equipment and a car wash to keep the Riker ready for use.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
inventor
Riker, Andrew Lawrence
maker
Riker Electric Vehicle Company
ID Number
TR.310470
catalog number
310470
accession number
118161
This straight, thick piece of whale bone measuring 13-1/2 inches long is marked at one-and-half inch intervals, starting one inch in from the left end.
Description
This straight, thick piece of whale bone measuring 13-1/2 inches long is marked at one-and-half inch intervals, starting one inch in from the left end. Such tools were used to rule straight lines in ship logbooks, journals, letters and account books.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
19th century
ID Number
DL.249981
catalog number
249981
accession number
48696
William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. and AAA established America’s first international auto race in 1904. Held annually on Long Island’s public roads, the race was aimed at improving the performance of American automobiles.
Description
William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. and AAA established America’s first international auto race in 1904. Held annually on Long Island’s public roads, the race was aimed at improving the performance of American automobiles. The trophy, a silver cup made by Tiffany, is inscribed with the winning entries and an image of Vanderbilt in his Mercedes race car. After a spectator fatality in 1906, Vanderbilt constructed the first highway designed for automobiles, the Long Island Motor Parkway, where races resumed in 1908. After more fatalities, the race relocated to Georgia, Wisconsin, and California. Vanderbilt donated the cup to the Smithsonian in 1934.
Location
Currently on loan
date made
1904
maker
Tiffany & Co.
ID Number
TR.310894
accession number
131820
catalog number
310894
This classic example of scrimshaw has a portrait of a fashionable young woman pinpricked into the surface of a polished sperm whale’s tooth.
Description
This classic example of scrimshaw has a portrait of a fashionable young woman pinpricked into the surface of a polished sperm whale’s tooth. The artist’s inexperience is evident in the overuse of the pinpricking technique, whereby a magazine illustration is wetted and smoothed on the surface of a tooth and then pricked through to get the subject’s outline. Nearly every detail of this carving is guided by the original illustration, with nothing left to interpretation. As a result, the woman’s face has a deep, dark outline where the original picture was shaded. Her headband is decorated with tiny flowers and some portions of her hair and accessories are incomplete, giving an unfinished look to the artwork.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850 - 1900
ID Number
DL.374501
catalog number
374501
accession number
135263
On the obverse of this tooth, eight men in a rowboat are pulling offshore for a ship in the distance. One man, probably an officer or mate, is standing in the stern directing the crew to row; a sketchy American flag is flying at the bow.
Description
On the obverse of this tooth, eight men in a rowboat are pulling offshore for a ship in the distance. One man, probably an officer or mate, is standing in the stern directing the crew to row; a sketchy American flag is flying at the bow. Farther offshore, a fogbank is rolling in and obscuring the hulls of more ships offshore; only their upper sails are visible. On the far left, another ship is visible, but its upper masts and rig are missing. The absence of any pinholes in the composition indicates a freehand carving; the reverse side is polished but undecorated.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 19th century
ID Number
DL.374476
catalog number
374476
accession number
136263
The surface of this small sperm whale tooth was not smoothed or polished much before the artist began his carving. On one side, an etched rectangular frame contains a whale on the water surface spouting, or exhaling through the blowhole on the top of its head.
Description
The surface of this small sperm whale tooth was not smoothed or polished much before the artist began his carving. On one side, an etched rectangular frame contains a whale on the water surface spouting, or exhaling through the blowhole on the top of its head. This distinctive vertical spout of water vapor by a pod or group of whales was actively sought by whaleship lookouts as evidence that their prey was nearby. Below the whale is pricked out the word "SPOUTER." Above the frame is an accurately drawn harpoon with two lines attached to its shaft. The other side is undecorated.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or it could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
19th century
ID Number
1978.0052.37
accession number
1978.0052
catalog number
1978.52.37
This box was used to transport loaves of bread by wagon or train from Meinburg's Bakery of Washington DC to establishments in the city and outlying counties. Delivering goods by rail meant a larger customer base for businesses like this bakery.
Description
This box was used to transport loaves of bread by wagon or train from Meinburg's Bakery of Washington DC to establishments in the city and outlying counties. Delivering goods by rail meant a larger customer base for businesses like this bakery. After reaching its destination and unloaded, the grocery would return the box to the bakery where it was reloaded for another shipment.
The box is constructed of wood with rope handles and could be carried by one person. The box is numbered so agents could track the shipment.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890-1900
ID Number
1985.0709.01
accession number
1985.0709
catalog number
1985.0709.01
85.0709.01
accession number
1985.0709

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