Work - Overview
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.
"Work - Overview" showing 3398 items.
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Whalebone Ruler
- Description
- “Straight edges” or rulers were used aboard ships as writing guides on the unlined pages of letters, journals and logbooks. The back side of this long stick is marked in 2-1/4, 4-1/2 and 9-inch sections, indicating another usage, probably by the ship’s cooper to measure the level of liquid (water, wine, beer or whale oil) in his wooden casks.
- date made
- 1800s
- collected
- 1960-07-26
- ID Number
- TR*61.49
- catalog number
- TR*61.49
- accession number
- 231930
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Shipyard Volunteers Button
- Description
- A push to recruit 250,000 additional shipyard workers for the Hog Island shipyard in early 1918 led the Emergency Fleet Corporation to create the “U.S. Shipyard Volunteers.” Men who signed up to work in the yards were exempted from the military draft.
- In May 1918, shortly after the initiative began, New York led the drive with more than 81,800 volunteers, followed by Illinois and Massachusetts.
- date made
- ca 1919
- ID Number
- TR*63540.02
- accession number
- 63540
- catalog number
- 308554
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Ship Model, Bugeye Lillie Sterling
- Description
- The bugeye was a type of sailing work boat unique to the Chesapeake Bay. Designed for oyster dredging, it was also used for hauling freight in the Bay’s shallow waters. This model, like the bugeye it represents, was built in 1885 by E. James Tull, a boatbuilder in Pocomoke City, Maryland. Tull displayed this model of the Lillie Sterling at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair as part of an exhibit organized by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. He won a medal for the vessel’s practical design.
- Bugeyes were first built after the Civil War, when the Maryland state legislature repealed an 1820 ban on oyster dredging. Dredges--heavy iron frames holding long mesh bags--were introduced in the bay by New Englanders seeking to replenish northern oyster beds with Chesapeake oysters. Maryland lawmakers banned dredging and restricted oyster harvesting to residents of the state. But as markets expanded in the 1860s, the ban was lifted to allow dredging in certain areas of the bay. Fearful that dredging would deplete the bay’s oysters, lawmakers sought to limit the dredge’s efficiency by restricting its use to sailing vessels. This law ensured that sailing craft, not steamers, would dominate the Chesapeake’s oyster industry. To this day, oyster dredging is still carried out by sail-powered boats in Maryland.
- The first bugeyes were large log canoes, built of seven or nine logs that were hollowed out, shaped, and pinned together lengthwise. They were built with full decks, which provided a working platform for the crew to empty the dredges and sort through the catch. By the 1880s, bugeyes like the Lillie Sterling were constructed with full framing and planking instead of logs. Although bugeyes were widely used in the oyster trade for several decades, they were gradually replaced by skipjacks, an easier and cheaper vessel to build. The origin of the name "bugeye" remains unknown.
- date made
- 1885
- maker
- Tull, E. James
- ID Number
- TR*76256
- accession number
- 28022
- catalog number
- 76256
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Scrimshaw Whale Bone Food Chopper
- Description
- Simply carved and without any engraving, this food chopper, or mincer, was made in two pieces from a sperm whale’s jawbone. Its blunted, curved blade was used to chop soft foods such as bread dough, fruits, sausage, and animal fats. This example was donated by former Secretary of the Institution Spencer F. Baird (1823–1887) to the Smithsonian, where it became one of the earliest objects in the maritime collections.
- date made
- 1800s
- purchased
- 1876-11-30
- ID Number
- AG*024909
- catalog number
- 24909
- accession number
- 2009.0157
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Whalebone and Bone Umbrella
- Description
- The bony substance from the mouths of whales known as baleen is formed of keratin, like human hair and nails. It hangs in long, parallel sheets from the upper jaws of the blue, right, and minke whales, as well as other lesser-known species. Its hairy fringe filters food from seawater.
- Dried out, baleen’s strength and flexibility made it ideal for buggy whips, corset busks, and umbrella ribs before the advent of plastic. A whale’s bone could actually be worth more than its oil. This man’s large umbrella has a wooden shaft, heavy hinged baleen ribs made in short sections, and an ivory handle. Marked “G. Hobbs, Barre,” it belonged to the donor’s grandfather, who lived in Barre, Massachusetts, until around the end of the Civil War.
- Date made
- ca 1835-1865
- user
- Hobbs, George
- ID Number
- AG*169283.01
- accession number
- 169283
- catalog number
- 169283.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Sperm Whale Tooth Watch Stand
- Description
- Scrimshaw known to have been made specifically for men is comparatively rare. This unfinished tooth was hollowed out at the back to carry a gentleman’s pocket watch inside, perhaps set on a wardrobe, a bureau or a dressing table overnight.
- Patriotic imagery was very popular on American scrimshaw. At the top is a large eagle in flight clutching arrows and an olive branch; the hole for the watch is framed by a simple scalloped line. The space at the bottom was probably reserved for the owner’s initials or possibly a date, and the two holes were likely drilled for ivory buttons. The piece was unfinished when it was donated in 1875 by J. H. Clark of Newport, R.I.
- date made
- 19th century
- Associated Date
- collected
- ID Number
- DL*024905
- catalog number
- 024905
- accession number
- 4331
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- No Image Available
Reeves Vacuum Cleaner Company Suction Sweeper
- Description
- This hand-powered vacuum cleaner, made for cleaning dirt from household carpets and floors, was one of many innovations introduced in the early years of the 20th century to bring greater cleanliness to the home. Manufactured by the Reeves Vacuum Cleaner Co., Milford, Conn., about 1910, it consists of two overlapping metal tubes with a suction nozzle attached to one end. On the other end is a wooden handle, which can be pumped up and down to create a vacuum in the tube to suck up dust. Rosa Weinstein of Washington, D.C., donated the sweeper to the Museum.
- Household managers had other options as well. For most of the 19th century, housewives and servants routinely swept floors and carpets with corn brooms. Once or twice a year, household members would haul rugs out of doors and beat accumulated dust out of them with rug beaters. Many households continued these practices well into the 20th century.
- Others turned to new methods, worried that sweeping simply dispersed dust through the air. The germ theory of disease came into wide acceptance late in the 19th century, and popular understanding of it often exaggerated the connection between dust and illness. Some households adopted carpet sweepers, such as the one patented by Melville Bissell in 1876, with adjustable brushes to gather the dust up as you go. Other innovations, like the Reeves vacuum, used vacuum power to capture dirt and dust. Portable electric vacuum cleaners became available early in the 20th century, but American homes only gradually became electrified, especially in rural areas, and not everyone chose the electric vacuum over alternative ways of cleaning. In 1950, when nearly every American home did have electricity, about fifty-one percent of those households owned an electric vacuum.
- maker
- Reeves Vacuum Cleaner Company
- ID Number
- 1984.0994.01
- accession number
- 1984.0994
- catalog number
- 1984.0994.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- No Image Available
Foot-Powered Milking Machine
- Description
- The Mehring Company began developing mechanized milkers in 1892 as a way to improve the speed and sanitation of cow milking. The machines continued to be manufactured through the early 1920s, and more than 3000 were sold. Although William Mehring was from Maryland, most of the milkers he manufactured were sold in New Zealand and South America. The foot-powered milker was designed as an improvement to the earlier hand-powered model, and could milk two cows at once with less exertion from the operator.
- The machine consists of a foot treadle connected to several hoses that could be attached to a cow’s udders. When the foot treadle was rocked forward and backward, it produced a suction in the hoses, which would squeeze milk out of the udders and deposit it into a bucket that hung on the milker. The hoses were valve-controlled, so that the operator could stop suction on an individual teat without disconnecting the machine. An 1896 pamphlet advertises that the milker allows one man to milk up to twenty cows per hour, and since physical exertion was minimal, women and children could also help with the milking, making the chore even less time-consuming.
- In addition to improved efficiency, Mehring advertised the sanitation of his machines. The milk can no longer sat on a dirty stable floor, and air exposure was minimal since the milk went from cow to bucket through a sanitary hose. Thus, the milk was not contaminated with the dirt, hair, and germs that plagued milk from traditionally-milked cows.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- AG*58A03
- catalog number
- 58A03
- accession number
- 220004
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- No Image Available
Type Writer
- Description
- Remington put its writing machines on the market in 1874 at a price of $125. The new Type Writer owed some of its identity to the sewing machines that Remington had recently added to its product line. The writing machine came mounted on a sewing machine stand, with a treadle to operate the carriage return and advance the paper on the platen. Even the Type Writer's shiny black case, elaborately decorated with floral designs and emblems, resembled the factory's sewing machines.
- This machine is Remington's first model. With it, a writer could type only capital letters. A second model, available in 1878, permitted writing in both upper and lower case. From the beginning, the keyboard was arranged in the enduring QWERTY pattern. The designers adopted the layout to prevent the mechanical type bars, arranged in a circle inside the machine, from clashing in operation.
- Although the Remington-made Type Writer was not the first mechanical writing machine, it was the earliest to have commercial success. At first Type Writers sold poorly, although author Mark Twain bought one immediately and described his "new fangled writing machine" in a letter to his brother. Gradually, Remington had success in creating a market for the machines and even spurred competitors to make their own versions. The modern typewriter industry was born.
- The introduction and spread of the typewriter accompanied a revolution in the business world. The last twenty-five years of the 19th century witnessed the growth of corporations and the reinvention of the business office. Mechanized work in the office replaced hand work, as specialized machines of all sorts speeded up paper transactions. New designs for furniture specific to the office appeared. The physical appearance of the office building, the composition of the work force, and the very organization of work itself changed. In opening acceptable— but low-level—white-collar work for women, the typewriter became an agent of social change.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1874-1878
- patentee
- Sholes, C. Latham
- Glidden, Carlos
- maker
- E. Remington & Sons
- ID Number
- ME*276068
- catalog number
- 276068
- accession number
- 54877
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- No Image Available
Barbed Wire
- Description
- In the days of open range, cattle grazed freely over unfenced fields. Fencing especially disturbed western cattlemen who depended upon the open range, including private holdings, for grazing. Farmers fenced animals out of their crops, but as farm size increased and agriculture spread across the west, farmers needed a cheap substitute for scarce wood and stone. In 1874 Illinois farmers Joseph Farwell Glidden, Jacob Haish, and Isaac Ellwood almost simultaneously developed methods of attaching barbs to wire, a type of fencing that effectively kept cattle out of cropland. Despite patent fights and fierce competition, the barbed wire industry was launched and over time reconfigured rural geography. Both film and fiction depicted the often violent disagreement over fencing.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1874
- maker
- Glidden, Joseph F.
- ID Number
- AG*66A1.046
- accession number
- 089797
- catalog number
- 66A1.046
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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