Work

The tools, rules, and relationships of the workplace illustrate some of the enduring collaborations and conflicts in the everyday life of the nation. The Museum has more than 5,000 traditional American tools, chests, and simple machines for working wood, stone, metal, and leather. Materials on welding, riveting, and iron and steel construction tell a more industrial version of the story. Computers, industrial robots, and other artifacts represent work in the Information Age.

But work is more than just tools. The collections include a factory gate, the motion-study photographs of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, and more than 3,000 work incentive posters. The rise of the factory system is measured, in part, by time clocks in the collections. More than 9,000 items bring in the story of labor unions, strikes, and demonstrations over trade and economic issues.

This one-twentieth scale model of the Harris-Seybold 4-color sheet-fed offset press dates from about 1950.
Description (Brief)
This one-twentieth scale model of the Harris-Seybold 4-color sheet-fed offset press dates from about 1950. The press has a height of 7.5 inches a length of 32.5 inches and a width of 9.5 inches.
Donated by Lithographers National Association, 1953.
Citation: Elizabeth Harris, "Printing Presses in the Graphic Arts Collection," 1996.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
circa 1950
date made
ca 1950
maker
Harris-Seybold Company
ID Number
GA.20396-a
accession number
1953.198538
catalog number
20396-a
Date made
1900-1950s
date made
ca. 1900-1950s
maker
unknown
ID Number
2002.0075.03
accession number
2002.0075
catalog number
2002.0075.03
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
The traditional American leather firefighter’s helmet with its distinctive long rear brim, frontpiece, and crest adornment was first developed around 1821-1836 in New York City. Henry T.
Description
The traditional American leather firefighter’s helmet with its distinctive long rear brim, frontpiece, and crest adornment was first developed around 1821-1836 in New York City. Henry T. Gratacap, a New York City luggage maker by trade, is often credited as the developer of this style of fire helmet. Gratacap created a specially treated leather helmet with a segmented “comb” design that led to unparalleled durability and strength. The elongated rear brim (also known as a duckbill or beavertail) and frontpiece were 19th century innovations that remain the most identifiable feature of firefighter’s helmets. The body of the helmet was primarily designed to deflect falling debris, the rear brim prevented water from running down firefighters’ backs, and their sturdy crowns could aid, if necessary, in breaking windows.
This metal fire helmet was made by Cairns & Brother of New York, New York around 1950. This 20th century metal fire helmet features the hallmarks of Gratacap’s early 19th century leather helmet design including the protective combs, elongated rear brim, eagle frontpiece holder and leather frontpiece. The frontpiece holder features a painted design of the fireman’s cross, with a picture of a hook and ladder on the left side of the cross and the helmet on the right side of the cross. The leather frontpiece reads “2355 / 59 / PFD.” This helmet and frontpiece was worn by a member of Engine 59 of the Philadelphia Fire Department.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 1950s
maker
Cairns & Brother
ID Number
2005.0233.0218
accession number
2005.0233
catalog number
2005.0233.0218
This colliery whistle was used in Carbon County region of Pennsylvania during the 20th century. In mining towns the whistle would sound to signal shift changes, if the steam whistle sounded unexpectedly it likely mean that an accident or shutdown had occurred.
Description
This colliery whistle was used in Carbon County region of Pennsylvania during the 20th century. In mining towns the whistle would sound to signal shift changes, if the steam whistle sounded unexpectedly it likely mean that an accident or shutdown had occurred.
date made
1900 - 1950
ID Number
AG.MHI-MN-9401
catalog number
MHI-MN-9401
accession number
272081
This United Automobile Workers of America button dates to May of 1955. During the 1950s the U. A. W. established some of the most significant collective bargaining agreements between unions and management. In 1950, The U. A. W.
Description
This United Automobile Workers of America button dates to May of 1955. During the 1950s the U. A. W. established some of the most significant collective bargaining agreements between unions and management. In 1950, The U. A. W. negotiated a contract with GM that included a fully funded pension plan, and in 1955 the U. A. W. gained the same terms from Ford. The U. A. W. operated as part of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (C. I. O.) until it merged with the American Federation of Labor (A. F. L.) in 1955.
The button has the initials “U. A. W.” at the top and “A. F. L.” on the bottom. The center bears the logo of the U. A. W.-A. F. L. of two hands shaking inside a car. Around the logo is the text “International Union- United Automobile Workers of America/Chartered August 26, 1935.” The center of the badge reads “May 1955.”
date made
1955
ID Number
2015.3079.02
catalog number
2015.3079.02
nonaccession number
2015.3079
Part of a Pullman porter's job was to make up the sleeping berths in his assigned sleeping car, and to provide extra blankets to passengers requesting them. The standard Pullman blanket in the 20th century was dyed a salmon color, which became almost a trademark of the company.
Description
Part of a Pullman porter's job was to make up the sleeping berths in his assigned sleeping car, and to provide extra blankets to passengers requesting them. The standard Pullman blanket in the 20th century was dyed a salmon color, which became almost a trademark of the company. When a blanket became worn or damaged in service, it was assigned to those blankets reserved for porters' use.
This wool blanket, made in 1910, was used by African American railroad porters. According to Pullman service rules, a porter's blanket was never to be given to a passenger. Ostensibly to avoid mixing these with the passengers' blankets, the porters' blankets were dyed blue. This was to comply with statutes in the South that dealt with the segregation of blacks and whites. The Pullman service rules were applied nationwide throughout the Pullman system, not just in the South. Dyeing the blanket blue made it easy to tell which blankets were used by passengers and which blankets were used by the African American porters and attendants. A dyed-blue Pullman blanket is today extremely rare, given its negative racial symbolism.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1910
user
Pullman Palace Car Company
ID Number
1986.0133.01
accession number
1986.0133
catalog number
1986.0133.01
86.0133.01
This long-handled, iron basket, called a torch or fire basket, was used to help 19th century river pilots navigate in shallow waters at night.
Description
This long-handled, iron basket, called a torch or fire basket, was used to help 19th century river pilots navigate in shallow waters at night. Filled with burning fuel and suspended off the side of a steamboat, the torch basket illuminated the shoreline, as well as snags or debris in the water that could damage the vessel. Steamboat crew also used torch baskets for lighting up the ship’s deck, the landing, or a levee during deliveries of cargo after dark.
Although the torch basket was invaluable for steamboats operating at night, the device sometimes proved disastrous. Typically the fuel consisted of oil-soaked scraps and "lightwood" or Southern pine covered in resinous sap, which could easily send off sparks. So as not to obstruct the light, these buckets of flames rarely had any sort of protective covering. But because steamboats were often loaded with highly flammable cargoes, such as cotton and lumber, it is not surprising that one stray spark could destroy an entire vessel. That may have been the fate for this torch basket, which was found by a net fisherman near Clinton, Iowa. It was pulled up from 30 feet of water in the Mississippi River.
By the early 20th century, torch baskets were becoming obsolete, replaced by electric lamps and incandescent light bulbs used to illuminate steamboats as well as the landings they served. Although the phasing-out of the torch basket lowered the risk of steamboat fires, some steamboat enthusiasts lamented the lost romance of waterways flickering with flame.
Date made
19th century
date made
1800s
date found
1950s
ID Number
TR.335674
catalog number
335674
accession number
1978.0367
This press is a scale model of the ATF Chief, a one-color offset press.
Description (Brief)
This press is a scale model of the ATF Chief, a one-color offset press. The model dates from about 1950; it measures 4 5/8 inches high by 5.75 inches long.
Donated by Lithographers National Association, 1953.
Citation: Elizabeth Harris, "Printing Presses in the Graphic Arts Collection," 1996.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
circa 1950
date made
ca 1950
maker
American Type Founders Company
ID Number
GA.20396-b
accession number
1953.198538
catalog number
20396-b
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1690
reconditioned
1955
ID Number
MC.244888
catalog number
244888
accession number
46812
For much of the 19th century, ladies’ fashion required very small waists. The most common way to achieve this was to wear a tightly laced corset, which could be adjusted according to the specific dress it accompanied.
Description
For much of the 19th century, ladies’ fashion required very small waists. The most common way to achieve this was to wear a tightly laced corset, which could be adjusted according to the specific dress it accompanied. Like this example, many corsets were handmade to fit an individual, although they were also available in shops.
One of the most intimate pieces of scrimshaw a whaleman could produce was a bone or baleen busk, or corset stiffener. These were carved and given to a crewman’s loved one, who then inserted it into a matching sleeve on her corset as a unique memento of her beloved’s feelings.
Each of these busks has a cityscape etched into one side. The other side of one has eight pictures, topped by a portrait of a beautiful young woman. The other has a plaintive love poem on the back.
date made
mid-1800s
collected
1951-06-29
fashion
19th century
ID Number
TR.388604
catalog number
TR*388604
accession number
182022
The Graphic Arts Collection of the National Museum of American History houses an extensive series of prints by archeologist and artist Jean Charlot (1898–1979), and prominent Los Angeles printer Lynton Kistler (1897–1993).
Description
The Graphic Arts Collection of the National Museum of American History houses an extensive series of prints by archeologist and artist Jean Charlot (1898–1979), and prominent Los Angeles printer Lynton Kistler (1897–1993). Charlot, the French-born artist of this print, spent his early career during the 1920s in Mexico City. As an assistant to the socialist painter Diego Rivera, he studied muralism, a Mexican artistic movement that was revived throughout Latino communities in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. This lithograph, titled Work and Rest contrasts the labor of an indigenous woman, grinding corn on a metate, with the slumber of her baby. Printed by Lynton Kistler in Los Angeles in 1956, it presents an image of a Mexican woman living outside the industrial age. This notion of "Old Mexico" unblemished by modernity appealed to many artists concerned in the early 20th century with the mechanization and materialism of American culture. It was also a vision that was packaged as an exotic getaway for many American tourists. It is worth contrasting the quaint appeal of an indigenous woman laboring over her tortillas with the actual industrialization of the tortilla industry. By 1956, this woman would likely have bought her tortillas in small stacks from the local tortillería, saving about six hours of processing, grinding, and cooking tortilla flour.
Description (Spanish)
La Colección de Artes Gráficas del Museo Nacional de Historia Americana alberga una extensa serie de grabados del arqueólogo y artista Jean Charlot (1898-1979), y del prominente grabador de Los Ángeles Lynton Kistler (1897-1993). Nacido en Francia, Chralot, autor original de esta ilustración, pasó los comienzos de su carrera durante la década de 1920, en la ciudad de México. Como asistente del pintor socialista Diego Rivera, estudió muralismo, un movimiento artístico mexicano que resurgió en las comunidades latinas de los Estados Unidos en las décadas de los '60 y '70. Esta litografía, titulada Trabajo y Descanso contrasta la labor de una mujer indígena moliendo maíz con un metate, con el letargo de su bebé. Impreso por Lynton Kistler en Los Ángeles en 1956, simboliza la imagen de una mujer mexicana con una vida al margen de la era industrial. Esta noción del "Viejo México" impoluto por la modernidad resultaba atractiva para los artistas de principios del siglo XX, preocupados por la mecanización y el materialismo de la cultura americana. También constituía una visión que se envasaba como un escape exótico para muchos turistas americanos. Vale la pena contrastar el pintoresco atractivo de una mujer indígena trabajando para hacer tortillas con la industrialización actual de la fabricación de tortillas. Ya hacia el año 1956 esta mujer probablemente hubiera comprado sus tortillas en pequeñas cantidades en la tortillería del barrio, ahorrándose las 6 horas de trabajo aproximadas que le hubiera llevado procesar, moler y cocinar la harina de maíz ella misma.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1956
graphic artist
Charlot, Jean
printer
Kistler, Lynton R.
ID Number
GA.23355.05
catalog number
23355.05
accession number
299563
This battery-powered signal lantern was manufactured by the Star Headlight & Lantern Company of Honeoye Falls, New York beginning in the 1950s.
Description
This battery-powered signal lantern was manufactured by the Star Headlight & Lantern Company of Honeoye Falls, New York beginning in the 1950s. The lantern has a metal body with a fixed rubber-coated handle, allowing for better grip during signaling as well as a insulating the handle from electricity. The lantern has sockets for two bulbs; one equipped with a reflector used for signaling and a smaller adjacent socket that makes a focused beam that could be used as a flashlight.
Before the advent of portable two way radios, train crews communicated via hand signals during the day, and lantern signals during periods of low visibility or at night. Hand lantern signals are still used in situations when radio intercommunication is impractical. Specific motions of the lantern convey precise instructions such as “Clear to Depart;" "Move the train Forward;" "Move the train Backward;" "Slow Down;" "Slow Down Further;" or "Stop and Remain Stopped."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1950-1959
associated institution
Louisville and Nashville Railroad
maker
Star Headlight & Lantern Company
ID Number
1985.0552.03
accession number
1985.0552
catalog number
1985.0552.03
85.0552.03
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s-1950s
maker
Keppler, Victor
ID Number
PG.006263.J
catalog number
6263J
accession number
238737
This metal cap badge reads “CONDUCTOR” in skeleton type letters. The badge is plated and has two fastening pins or posts on the back with pin backs attached. The badge identified the wearer as a conductor on the Southern Pacific Railroad.
Description
This metal cap badge reads “CONDUCTOR” in skeleton type letters. The badge is plated and has two fastening pins or posts on the back with pin backs attached. The badge identified the wearer as a conductor on the Southern Pacific Railroad. The Southern Pacific Railroad ran throughout the southwest United States, opening in 1865 and operating until 1996 when it was taken over by the Union Pacific Railroad. The conductor was—and is today—the sole on-board supervisor of the train’s crew, responsible for the movement of the train, the safety of passengers, and the security and accounting of cargo on board.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1950
ID Number
TR.333723
catalog number
333723
accession number
304341
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1953
maker
Leipzig, Arthur
ID Number
2019.0273.0006
accession number
2019.0273
catalog number
2019.0273.0006
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1953
maker
Leipzig, Arthur
ID Number
2019.0272.0007
accession number
2019.0272
catalog number
2019.0272.0007
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1953
maker
Leipzig, Arthur
ID Number
2019.0272.0004
accession number
2019.0272
catalog number
2019.0272.0004
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1953
maker
Leipzig, Arthur
ID Number
2019.0272.0005
accession number
2019.0272
catalog number
2019.0272.0005
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1953
maker
Leipzig, Arthur
ID Number
2019.0272.0008
accession number
2019.0272
catalog number
2019.0272.0008
Set of engraving blocks, about 146, in a corrugated, hard plastic case with lid, accompanies 2019.0306.01, the New Hermes Corp. engravo-graph. Blocks are of letters and numbers.Used by Lillian Vernon with her monogramming machine.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Set of engraving blocks, about 146, in a corrugated, hard plastic case with lid, accompanies 2019.0306.01, the New Hermes Corp. engravo-graph. Blocks are of letters and numbers.
Used by Lillian Vernon with her monogramming machine.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1950s circa
maker
New Hermes, Inc.
ID Number
2019.0306.02
accession number
2019.0306
catalog number
2019.0306.02
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1953
maker
Leipzig, Arthur
ID Number
2019.0272.0003
accession number
2019.0272
catalog number
2019.0272.0003
This brown plastic Roll-O-Dex is the personal desktop address tool of Charles Elmer Doolin, the creator of Fritos and the co-founder of the Frito-Lay snack company.
Description
This brown plastic Roll-O-Dex is the personal desktop address tool of Charles Elmer Doolin, the creator of Fritos and the co-founder of the Frito-Lay snack company. On the enclosed cards, Doolin had noted the phone numbers of many of his business associates at Frito-Lay, as well as associated friends and family throughout Texas and across the country.
The lid of the Roll-O-Dex is affixed with a yellow metal plaque bearing C.E. Doolin’s name in script; the bottom is covered in green felt. The interior of the box contains 14 double-sided address cards, each of which can be brought forward by pressing one of the 14 buttons on the front of the Roll-O-Dex. (Each button corresponds to two letters of the alphabet, and the final button has the word “close” written above it.)
Alongside the script text “Remembrance,” two patent numbers are listed on the inside lid of the Roll-O-Dex, both of which were granted to Robert E. Gordenier in 1950 and 1951. Gordenier invented both products for the Brown & Bigelow company, a distributor of branded office products throughout the United States beginning in 1896. The Roll-O-Dex itself was manufactured by Keymatic, a division of Brown & Bigelow.
This Roll-O-Dex is part of a collection of objects and archival materials on the Doolin family and the Frito Company donated by Kaleta Doolin, the daughter of C.E. Doolin. See Frito Company Records, 1924-1961, #1263, NMAH Archives Center.
C.E. Doolin launched “Fritos” in 1932, inspired by a recipe he had purchased from Gustavo Olguin, a Mexican-American restaurant owner in San Antonio, where Doolin had worked as a fry cook. Olguin’s “fritos” (the name came from the Spanish word frit, meaning fried) were small fried corn chips made from masa dough. Doolin bought the recipe, Olguin’s hand-operated potato ricer, and nineteen customer accounts for the snack, all for $100. He then patented his own device for extruding the masa dough through a cutter, which produced ribbon-like strips that were then fried in hot oil. Doolin marketed the chips as an ingredient in recipes, many of which were inspired by his mother Daisy Dean Stephenson Doolin’s dishes for entertaining. The chips were used in both sweet and savory preparations, including as crust for fruitcakes, breading for salmon croquettes, and garnish for tuna salad.
In 1945 Doolin connected with Herman Lay, famous for automating the manufacturing process of potato chips and the head of H.W. Lay & Co. Lay took on the nationwide distribution of Fritos at this time. Doolin passed away in 1959, and in 1961 The Frito Company officially merged with H.W. Lay & Co. to become Frito-Lay. Frito-Lay went on to develop more products (including the wildly popular snack foods Cheetos and Doritos) and become the largest snack conglomerate in the world. Initially promoted as an ingredient in foods for entertaining, Fritos were advertised mostly to children, both in print and television campaigns and via cartoon characters such as the cowboy-inspired “Frito Kid.”
Fritos were most successful as a standalone snack. Following the success of the commercial potato chip in the 1930s, there was a growing market for other salty snacks and pre-packaged foods to be eaten on the go and in-between meals. The creation of “snack time” as a new type of American meal helped bolster the popularity of Doolin’s invention. The packaging of these snacks would also prove revolutionary—before 1900, snack foods and sweets were sold in small paper bags and portioned out by the grocer or shop owner. As manufacturers experimented with cans and glassine bags and materials such as wax paper and cellophane, they found new ways to keep food fresh and vacuum-packed until the customer opened it. Over the second half of the twentieth century, snack foods would develop into a $22 billion dollar industry.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1940s-1950s
ID Number
2012.0079.05
catalog number
2012.0079.05
accession number
2012.0079
A portable engraving/monogramming machine for clothing from the New Hermes Corporation, created circa 1950s, and owned by business woman Lillian Vernon. Accompanying this is 2019.0306.02, a box of engraving blocks.
Description (Brief)
A portable engraving/monogramming machine for clothing from the New Hermes Corporation, created circa 1950s, and owned by business woman Lillian Vernon. Accompanying this is 2019.0306.02, a box of engraving blocks.
date made
1950s circa
maker
New Hermes, Inc.
ID Number
2019.0306.01
accession number
2019.0306
catalog number
2019.0306.01

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