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 patent model demonstrates an invention for a small self-inking card press which was granted patent number 17405. A traveling frame carried the inking and impression rollers across the fixed type bed and ink plate.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a small self-inking card press which was granted patent number 17405. A traveling frame carried the inking and impression rollers across the fixed type bed and ink plate.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1857
patent date
1857-05-26
maker
Learned, S. D.
ID Number
GA.89797.017405
accession number
089797
patent number
017405
catalog number
GA*89797.017405
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a sheet perfecting flatbed cylinder press which was granted patent number 103894. The invention had two vertical type beds, one at each end of the press.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a sheet perfecting flatbed cylinder press which was granted patent number 103894. The invention had two vertical type beds, one at each end of the press. A sheet of paper was fed to the first cylinder and printed at the first type form traveling upwards. Next the sheet was passed to the second cylinder and printed on the other side at the other form traveling downwards. Finally, it was deposited under the press.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
patent date
1870-06-07
maker
Kerr, William A.
ID Number
GA.89797.103894
accession number
89797
patent number
103894
catalog number
GA*89797.103894
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a rotary printing press; it was granted patent number 9987. The press had several impression cylinders and inking stations arranged around a large type cylinder.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a rotary printing press; it was granted patent number 9987. The press had several impression cylinders and inking stations arranged around a large type cylinder. A web of paper was moistened and folded concertina-fashion for feeding. It was printed at the first series of impression cylinders and refolded. Then it was turned, and printed on the other side at the next series. Finally, it was cut into sheets. According to Stephen D. Tucker’s History of R. Hoe & Company, this patent was bought by R. Hoe & Co., probably more to keep it out of the market than with a mind to its development.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1853
patent date
1853-09-06
patentee
Beaumont, Victor
ID Number
GA.89797.009987
patent number
009987
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.009987
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a scraper press with stationary stone and moving scraper; the invention was granted patent number 43796.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a scraper press with stationary stone and moving scraper; the invention was granted patent number 43796.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
Patent Date August 9, 1864
date made
ca 1864
patent date
1864-08-09
maker
Reynolds, Edwin
ID Number
GA.89797.043796
accession number
89797
patent number
043796
catalog number
GA*89797.043796
This patent model demonstrates an invention for improvements to the inking, dampening, and tympan apparatus in a scraper machine. The invention was granted patent number 37727.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for improvements to the inking, dampening, and tympan apparatus in a scraper machine. The invention was granted patent number 37727.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1863
date made
ca 1863
patent date
1863-02-17
maker
Reynolds, George H.
ID Number
GA.89797.037727
accession number
89797
patent number
037727
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
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a press with a stationary bed which was granted patent number 15740. The cylinder followed an endless rack that lifted it for the return trip over the bed.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a press with a stationary bed which was granted patent number 15740. The cylinder followed an endless rack that lifted it for the return trip over the bed. This patent covered the Newbury Country Press, a small hand-powered printing machine that was popular with country newspaper shops in the 1860s.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1856
patent date
1856-09-16
maker
Newbury, Alonzo
Newbury, Boliver
ID Number
GA.89797.015740
accession number
089797
patent number
015740
catalog number
GA*89797.015740
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a card printing and numbering machine which was granted patent number 21418. The patent describes a little press with a numbering wheel, designed primarily for the production of railroad tickets.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a card printing and numbering machine which was granted patent number 21418. The patent describes a little press with a numbering wheel, designed primarily for the production of railroad tickets. Hill was a pioneer in numbering machines. His city, Buffalo, N.Y., became a center of the rail ticket business.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1858
patent date
1858-09-07
maker
Hill, George J.
ID Number
GA.89797.021418
accession number
089797
patent number
021418
catalog number
GA*89797.021418
This English common press dates from about 1720. It includes English box hose and guide boards, but is missing its gallows, tympan, frisket, and bar catch. The press has a height of 78 inches, a width, at cheeks, of 30.5 inches, and a length of 57 inches.
Description (Brief)
This English common press dates from about 1720. It includes English box hose and guide boards, but is missing its gallows, tympan, frisket, and bar catch. The press has a height of 78 inches, a width, at cheeks, of 30.5 inches, and a length of 57 inches. The platen measures 12 inches by 18.5 inches.
The press was said to have been used by Benjamin Franklin in John Watts's printing shop in London in 1726. (Another common press, also said to have been used in that shop, is among the holding of the Science Museum in London.) In 1841 the 'Franklin' press was acquired by an American, John B. Murray, who shipped it to the United States. The press was put up for public auction, and exhibited at the Patent Office, the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, and the Smithsonian's U.S. National Museum before being sold to the Smithsonian in 1901.
The 'Franklin' press shows evidence of use, numerous small changes, and fixes made over the years, but is, overall, remarkably complete. It carries two brass labels. The larger, dated June 1833, describes Franklin's re-visit to the Watts shop in 1768, when he ordered a gallon of porter for the printers and toasted his old press. The second, dated November 1841, records the presentation of the press to John Murrray by Harrild & Sons of London.
The 1833 plaque reads: "Dr. Franklin's remarks relative to this press made when he came to England as agent of the Massachusetts in the year 1768. The Dr. at this time visited the printing office of Mr. Watts of Wild Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, & going up to this particular press (afterwards in the possession of Messrs Cox & Son of Great Queen Street of whome it was purchased.). This address'd the men who were working at it. "Come my friends we will drink together: it is now forty years since I worked like you at this press, as a journeyman printer. The Dr. then sent for a gallon porter & he drank with them. "Success to printing." From the above it will appear that it is 108 years since Dr. Franklin worked at this identical press. June 1833"
Purchased from Felicia and Frank Tucker, 1901. Felicia and Frank Tucker were John Murray's widow and new husband.
Citations: Philip Gaskell, "A Census of Wooden Presses," in Journal of the Printing Historical Society 6, 1970 (census no. 4, p. 26; Elizabeth Harris and Clinton Sisson, The Common Press (Godine, Boston, 1978; Elizabeth Harris, "Printing Presses in the Graphic Arts Collection," 1996.
Description
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), American scientist, diplomat, and one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence, identified himself as a printer. He wrote his own epitaph long before he died: "The Body of BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Printer. Like the Covering of an old Book, Its contents torn out and stript of its Lettering and Gilding, Lies here, Food for Worms. But the Work shall not be lost, It will (as he believ'd) appear once more In a new and more beautiful Edition Corrected and amended By the Author."
Franklin apprenticed in the Boston printing shop of his brother James from the age of twelve, but ran away at seventeen to Philadelphia. In 1724 he was sent to London where he worked as a printer in the firm of John Watts (where this press is said to have been used) before returning to Philadelphia in 1726. By 1730 he had set up his own printing business and published a newspaper, which gave him a forum for political expression. His political activities led to his involvement in the movement to free the Colonies from British rule. He spent the years 1757–1762 and 1764–1775 in England, returning to Philadelphia to participate in the First Continental Congress. From 1776–1785 he served in France, securing vital French assistance for the American revolutionary effort.
The Franklin press in the Museum's collection is an English common press made early in the eighteenth century. It was on exhibition in the U.S. National Museum beginning in the 1880s, and it was shown in the Hall of Printing and Graphic Arts in this museum from 1964 to 2003. It is missing some of its parts, such as its gallows, tympan, and frisket, so it cannot be operated. A full-sized working replica of the press was made in 1984 for the Museum's exhibition, Life in America–After the Revolution.
The story of how this press came to be associated with Franklin is rather complicated. While in England in 1768, Franklin is said to have visited the Watts firm and saluted the press in the shop where he had worked some 25 years before. A plaque added to the press in 1833 reads:
"Dr. Franklin's Remarks relative to this Press, made when he came to England as agent of Massachusetts, in the year 1768. The Doctor at this time visited the printing office of Mr. Watts, of Wild Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, and going up to this particular press (afterwards in the possession of Messrs. Cox & Son, of Great Queen Street, of whom it was purchased) thus addressed the men who were working at it. 'Come my friends, we will drink together. It is now forty years since I worked like you, at this press, as a journeyman printer.' The Doctor then sent out for a gallon of porter, and he drank with them- "Success to Printing"
Franklin's visit was recalled by elderly printers who testified to the identity of the press three-quarters of a century later. In 1841 the press was presented as "the Franklin press" to American banker John B. Murray, who received it for the express purpose of exhibiting it to attract contributions for the London Printers' Pension Society. He shipped it to the United States to be displayed as a relic associated with Franklin. It was shown at the Patent Office, the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, and the Smithsonian's U.S. National Museum before being sold to the Smithsonian by Murray's widow in 1901.
Date made
ca 1720
referenced
Franklin, Benjamin
Franklin, James
Watts, John
Murray, John M.
maker
unknown
ID Number
GA.14237
accession number
1901.38701
catalog number
GA*14237
This patent model demonstrates an invention for the Duplex Printing Machine which consisted of two printing machines working in unison to produce two perfected sheets at a time, and then fold and deliver them as one product.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for the Duplex Printing Machine which consisted of two printing machines working in unison to produce two perfected sheets at a time, and then fold and deliver them as one product. This patent was granted number 195115; it was purchased by and assigned to R. Hoe & Co.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1877
patent date
1877-09-11
patentee
Ford, Edward L.
ID Number
GA.89797.195115
patent number
195115
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.195115
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a hand-lever printing press which was granted patent number 10717. The press is a self-inking hand press with a fixed bed. The paper was carried into position by a double frisket carriage with inking rollers.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a hand-lever printing press which was granted patent number 10717. The press is a self-inking hand press with a fixed bed. The paper was carried into position by a double frisket carriage with inking rollers. The carriage was propelled by a crank handle turned continuously in one direction.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1854
patent date
1854-03-28
maker
Underhill, Henry
ID Number
GA.89797.010717
accession number
089797
patent number
010717
catalog number
GA*89797.010717
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a rotary sheet perfecting press which was granted patent number 15437. Type forms were bedded on the two flat surfaces on opposite sides of the type cylinder.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a rotary sheet perfecting press which was granted patent number 15437. Type forms were bedded on the two flat surfaces on opposite sides of the type cylinder.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1856
patent date
1856-07-29
maker
Parkes, Thomas
Parkes, Alfred
ID Number
GA.89797.015437
patent number
015437
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.015437
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a self-inking press which was granted number 3917. The press has a vertical bed and platen, and sheet grippers traveling on an endless chain. The model is damaged.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a self-inking press which was granted number 3917. The press has a vertical bed and platen, and sheet grippers traveling on an endless chain. The model is damaged.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1845
patent date
1845-02-20
maker
Kneeland, J. C.
ID Number
GA.89797.003917
accession number
089797
patent number
003917
catalog number
GA*89797.003917
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a flatbed cylinder press which was granted patent number 3551. This presses’ tapered bearers were attached to the bed to prevent slurring of the impression at the ends of the formCurrently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a flatbed cylinder press which was granted patent number 3551. This presses’ tapered bearers were attached to the bed to prevent slurring of the impression at the ends of the form
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1844
patent date
1844-04-17
patentee
Hoe, Richard March
maker
Hoe, Richard March
ID Number
GA.89797.003551
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.003551
patent number
003551
Hand-inking lever press, made by William Clark and Joshua Daughaday, Philadelphia, 1876.The Model press was invented and patented in 1874 by William Clark, Philadelphia, who went into business for its production with Joshau Daughaday, a publisher.
Description (Brief)
Hand-inking lever press, made by William Clark and Joshua Daughaday, Philadelphia, 1876.
The Model press was invented and patented in 1874 by William Clark, Philadelphia, who went into business for its production with Joshau Daughaday, a publisher. The press was intended for tradesmen and amateurs (including children), two groups outside the ordinary printing trade. It came in a range of sizes and models, from hand-inking card presses to full-sized job presses, and was produced well into the twentieth century.
Donated by Mr. & Mrs. Herbert Gilder, 1996
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1890
maker
Daughaday, William
Clark, William
Clark, William
ID Number
1996.0034.01
accession number
1996.0034
catalog number
1996.0034.01
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a bed-and-platen machine, in which the paper and inking rollers were carried on endless chains; the invention was granted number 16221.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a bed-and-platen machine, in which the paper and inking rollers were carried on endless chains; the invention was granted number 16221.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1856
patent date
1856-12-09
maker
Sargent, Charles G.
Keach, Abram
ID Number
GA.89797.016221
patent number
016221
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.016221
This patent model demonstrates an invention for improvements to a web perfecting rotary press, with cutters and folding apparatus. The patent model was granted patent number 221704.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for improvements to a web perfecting rotary press, with cutters and folding apparatus. The patent model was granted patent number 221704.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1879
patent date
1879-11-18
maker
Scott, Walter
ID Number
GA.89797.221704
accession number
89797
patent number
221704
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a flatbed cylinder press, with a steam heating system and improved plate-wiping mechanism; the invention was granted patent number 16952.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a flatbed cylinder press, with a steam heating system and improved plate-wiping mechanism; the invention was granted patent number 16952.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1857
patent date
1857-03-31
maker
Stewart, Linus
McClelland, John
ID Number
GA.89797.016952
patent number
016952
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.016952
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a stop cylinder press with inking apparatus and sheet fly; the invention was granted patent number 9408.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a stop cylinder press with inking apparatus and sheet fly; the invention was granted patent number 9408.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1852
patent date
1852-11-16
maker
Northrup, Joel G.
ID Number
GA.89797.009408
patent number
009408
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.009408
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a flatbed cylinder printing press which was granted patent number 18744. The small hand-cranked cylinder press included a movable feed table. Paper was fed not to the cylinder but to a flat frisket.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a flatbed cylinder printing press which was granted patent number 18744. The small hand-cranked cylinder press included a movable feed table. Paper was fed not to the cylinder but to a flat frisket. After printing, the frisket flipped up to drop the sheet on the delivery board. Inking was by hand.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1857
patent date
1857-12-01
patentee
Henry, John
ID Number
GA.89797.018744
accession number
089797
patent number
018744
catalog number
GA*89797.018744
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a sheet-handling system for printing both sides of a rotary press; the invention was granted patent number 24875. According to Stephen D. Tucker’s History of R.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a sheet-handling system for printing both sides of a rotary press; the invention was granted patent number 24875. According to Stephen D. Tucker’s History of R. Hoe & Company, this apparatus did not work well and was never brought into use.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1859
patent date
1859-07-26
patentee
Hoe, Richard March
maker
Hoe, Richard March
ID Number
GA.89797.024875
accession number
089797
patent number
024875
catalog number
GA*89797.024875
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a portable hand press which was granted patent number 16718. The cylinder and handle of this portable roller press are fastened on the end of a long sliding shaft.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a portable hand press which was granted patent number 16718. The cylinder and handle of this portable roller press are fastened on the end of a long sliding shaft. In the 1870s, patentee Nathaniel Chamberlain, as he spelled his name then, ran a Boston business specializing in office stamps for banks and counting houses.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1857
patent date
1857-03-03
patentee
Chamberlin, Nathaniel L.
ID Number
GA.89797.016718
accession number
089797
patent number
016718
catalog number
GA*89797.016718
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a platen printing press which was granted patent number 7413. The platen jobbing press was manufactured as Hawkes's Lion.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a platen printing press which was granted patent number 7413. The platen jobbing press was manufactured as Hawkes's Lion.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1850
patent date
1850-06-04
maker
Hawkes, Charles W.
ID Number
GA.89797.007413
patent number
7413
accession number
89797
catalog number
GA*89797.007413
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a plate attached to an endless chain that was carried past stations for automatic inking, wiping, and printing; the invention was granted patent number 12213. There was provision for applying bands of different colors.
Description (Brief)
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a plate attached to an endless chain that was carried past stations for automatic inking, wiping, and printing; the invention was granted patent number 12213. There was provision for applying bands of different colors. According to Tucker, this press was built by R. Hoe & Co. for D. Steffens in 1858. Robert Neale, an American, was living in London when he took out this patent. He patented the press there in 1853.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1855
patent date
1855-01-09
maker
Neale, Robert
ID Number
GA.89797.012213
patent number
012213
accession number
089797
catalog number
GA*89797.012213

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