Work

Gilbreth Stopwatch

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.

Place: California

Doble Water Wheel, Patent Model

This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to William A. Doble, of San Francisco, California, February 7, 1899, no.
Description
This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to William A. Doble, of San Francisco, California, February 7, 1899, no. 619149.
The model represents a small sector of the rotor of a water wheel to which are attached three buckets, which illustrate, generally, the characteristics of the modern [1930s] tangential water-wheel bucket, i. e., the notched lip, the splitter wedge, the curved face and back, and the method of attaching the buckets to the rotor.
The feature of this particular bucket is the form of the curved faces, which are designed to disturb the jets of water as little as possible in any way except in the plane of the wheel’s rotation. The curves are developed upon the theory that the water moving at high velocity has a tendency to remain in one plane, called “kinetic stability”, so that the resultant angles of reaction caused by the reversing curves of the bucket faces are not a normal result of these curves but are divergent therefrom.
Reference:
This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1899
patent date
1899-02-07
inventor
Doble, William A.
ID Number
MC.309207
catalog number
309207
accession number
89797
patent number
619,149

Garment Tag Instruction Sheet

This is an instruction sheet for the placement of hang tags.
Description
This is an instruction sheet for the placement of hang tags. The sheet was seized during a well-publicized 1995 sweatshop raid and is part of a larger Smithsonian collection of artifacts documenting apparel industry sweatshops, focusing on the El Monte operation.
On August 2, 1995, police arrested eight operators of the clandestine El Monte garment shop and freed seventy-two Thai nationals who had been working in a form of modern slavery. Workers, recruited in Thailand, were promised good pay and good working conditions. After signing an indenture agreement for $5,000 they were smuggled into the United States with fraudulent documents. The workers were paid about $1.60 an hour with sixteen-hour workdays in horrifying conditions. They were held against their will in a razor wire enclosed complex with an armed guard and were jammed into close living quarters. By 1999, eleven companies Mervyn's, Montgomery Ward, Tomato, Bum International, L.F. Sportswear, Millers Outpost, Balmara, Beniko, F-40 California, Ms. Tops, and Topson Downs, agreed to pay more than $3.7 million dollars to the 150 workers who labored in the El Monte sweatshop. As in most cases of sweatshop production, these companies contend that they did not knowingly contract with operators who were violating the law.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1997.0336.34
accession number
1997.0336
catalog number
1997.0336.34

Rick Madrid NUMMI Hat

New United Motor Manufacturing Incorporated (NUMMI) was an auto manufacturing plant in Fremont, California, that was jointly operated by Toyota and General Motors from 1984 until 2010.
Description
New United Motor Manufacturing Incorporated (NUMMI) was an auto manufacturing plant in Fremont, California, that was jointly operated by Toyota and General Motors from 1984 until 2010. GM had operated the plant at Fremont from 1960, where the clashes between management and union workers grew so contentious that the plant closed in 1982. When it reopened as a joint venture between Toyota and GM, Japanese management techniques had been studied and implemented to emphasize collaboration and teamwork between workers and management. The objects collected from NUMMI included donations from Judy Weaver (engineering department secretary) and Rick Madrid (quality control), who submitted winning essays on the concept of teamwork.
Rick Madrid wore this hat with the NUMMI logo as part of his uniform. The hat is adorned with a variety of pins celebrating work projects, special awards, personal flair, or milestones that were achieved during Madrid’s work at the NUMMI plant.
date made
1989
ID Number
1989.0402.19
accession number
1989.0402
catalog number
1989.0402.19

Falsified passport, 1990s

This Thai passport was seized in the well-publicized 1995 El Monte, Calif., sweatshop raid.
Description
This Thai passport was seized in the well-publicized 1995 El Monte, Calif., sweatshop raid. The passport is part of a larger Smithsonian collection of artifacts documenting apparel industry sweatshops, focusing on the El Monte operation (72 workers were discovered working as slaves). With a legitimate U.S. visa, the passport looks official. In fact, the El Monte operators doctored a real passport, inserting a new photo into someone else's document, in order to smuggle workers into the country.
Recruited from Thailand, the El Monte workers were tricked into accepting employment by misrepresentations of their future working and living conditions. They were told they would sew in a clean factory, receive good pay, and have the weekends off. They were even shown photographs of company parties and outings to Disneyland. After signing contracts (indenture agreements) committing themselves to repay 120,000 baht (about $5,000 in 1997 dollars), they were smuggled into the United States on fraudulent passports.
On arrival, the sweatshop operators confiscated the passports and the workers were forced to sew 18 hours a day seven days a week. The debt, a guard force, and threats of physical harm to the workers and their families in Thailand discouraged them from escaping. Although the physical confinement of the work force was unusual, many aspects of the business, such as recruiting and smuggling workers, are relatively common. Less enslaving forms of debt peonage occur surprisingly often in some Asian immigrant communities.
Sweatshops occur in many sectors of manufacturing, but are most often associated with the garment industry. While garments are designed and marketed through big name companies, assembly is often left to contract and sub-contract operations. In these small shops, where profits are razor thin and competition is excessive, abuses are rampant.
date made
1992
ID Number
1997.0268.01
accession number
1997.0268
catalog number
1997.0268.01

Thai Passport, 1994

This Thai passport was seized in the well-publicized 1995 El Monte, Calif., sweatshop raid.
Description
This Thai passport was seized in the well-publicized 1995 El Monte, Calif., sweatshop raid. The passport is part of a larger Smithsonian collection of artifacts documenting apparel industry sweatshops, focusing on the El Monte operation (72 workers were discovered working as slaves). With a legitimate U.S. visa, the passport looks official. In fact, the El Monte operators doctored a real passport, inserting a new photo into someone else's document, in order to smuggle workers into the country.
Recruited from Thailand, the El Monte workers were tricked into accepting employment by misrepresentations of their future working and living conditions. They were told they would sew in a clean factory, receive good pay, and have the weekends off. They were even shown photographs of company parties and outings to Disneyland. After signing contracts (indenture agreements) committing themselves to repay 120,000 baht (about $5,000 in 1997 dollars), they were smuggled into the United States on fraudulent passports.
On arrival, the sweatshop operators confiscated the passports and the workers were forced to sew 18 hours a day seven days a week. The debt, a guard force, and threats of physical harm to the workers and their families in Thailand discouraged them from escaping. Although the physical confinement of the work force was unusual, many aspects of the business, such as recruiting and smuggling workers, are relatively common. Less enslaving forms of debt peonage occur surprisingly often in some Asian immigrant communities.
Sweatshops occur in many sectors of manufacturing, but are most often associated with the garment industry. While garments are designed and marketed through big name companies, assembly is often left to contract and sub-contract operations. In these small shops, where profits are razor thin and competition is excessive, abuses are rampant.
On August 2, 1995, police arrested eight operators of the clandestine El Monte garment shop and freed seventy-two Thai nationals who had been working in a form of modern slavery. Workers, recruited in Thailand, were promised good pay and good working conditions. After signing an indenture agreement for $5,000 they were smuggled into the United States with fraudulent documents. The workers were paid about $1.60 an hour with sixteen-hour workdays in horrifying conditions. They were held against their will in a razor wire enclosed complex with an armed guard and were jammed into close living quarters. By 1999, eleven companies Mervyn's, Montgomery Ward, Tomato, Bum International, L.F. Sportswear, Millers Outpost, Balmara, Beniko, F-40 California, Ms. Tops, and Topson Downs, agreed to pay more than $3.7 million dollars to the 150 workers who labored in the El Monte sweatshop. As in most cases of sweatshop production, these companies contend that they did not knowingly contract with operators who were violating the law.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1994
ID Number
1997.0268.03
accession number
1997.0268
catalog number
1997.0268.03

Document, Progressive Asset Management Press Release, 1997

Progressive Asset Management, Inc. used this document to announce that Disney has agreed to measures aimed at reducing sweatshop labor practices at the company.
Description
Progressive Asset Management, Inc. used this document to announce that Disney has agreed to measures aimed at reducing sweatshop labor practices at the company. At the Walt Disney Company ‘s 1997 annual meeting, Progressive Asset Management, Inc., brought to a vote a shareholder resolution governing suppliers’ labor practices. Although the resolution did not pass, it received surprisingly strong shareholder support (39 million shares or 8.3 percent). Subsequently, Disney pledged to issue and post a contractor code of conduct and authorize audits and inspections of all contract facilities. Disney garment contractor H. H. Cutler then pulled out of production in Haiti.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1997
ID Number
1997.3148.01
nonaccession number
1997.3148
catalog number
1997.3148.01

Cargo Hook

Hand-held cargo hooks were the indispensable tools of longshoremen working on conventional (non-containerized) freighters. In the course of loading and discharging cargo they needed to grab, lift, and move various types and sizes of bags, boxes, and bales.
Description
Hand-held cargo hooks were the indispensable tools of longshoremen working on conventional (non-containerized) freighters. In the course of loading and discharging cargo they needed to grab, lift, and move various types and sizes of bags, boxes, and bales. The hooks, held firmly in a gloved hand, extended their reach and helped them lift heavy items. Most longshoremen owned several different types of hooks for moving different materials—from burlap sacks to wooden boxes—and altered the handles to suit their grip.
This lightweight, metal hook consists of a rounded handle and a shaft that ends in a disk embedded with five short points. This is the type of hook used for lifting burlap bags filled with coffee, sugar, grain, or rice into a sling or onto a pallet. Donor Herb Mills used this hook during his career as a longshoreman in San Francisco. Mills was a member of Local 10 of the ILWU—the International Longshore and Warehouse Union—from 1963 to 1992.
date made
ca 1960
used date
ca 1960-1990
ID Number
2002.0026.03
accession number
2002.0026
catalog number
2002.0026.03

Intermittent Gravity Oiler

This is a gravity oiler similar to the Hay oiler in which the lubricating oil is contained in a glass reservoir from which it flows by its own weight through a valve in the bottom of the reservoir.
Description
This is a gravity oiler similar to the Hay oiler in which the lubricating oil is contained in a glass reservoir from which it flows by its own weight through a valve in the bottom of the reservoir. The valve through which the oil flows is a small conical valve held closed by the weight of the oil above it. A stem projects downward from the lubricator, which when pushed upward lifts the valve from its seat and allows the oil to flow. It is probable that this lubricator was designed to release a drop of oil upon the surfaces of some slow-moving machine, such as the guides of a planer when a cam or lug on the moving part engaged the valve stem and raised it.
Reference:
This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1878
patent date
1878-09-24
ID Number
MC.311184
catalog number
311184
accession number
89797
patent number
208,245

Cargo Hook

Hand-held cargo hooks were the indispensable tools of longshoremen working on conventional (non-containerized) freighters. In the course of loading and discharging cargo they needed to grab, lift, and move various types and sizes of bags, boxes, and bales.
Description
Hand-held cargo hooks were the indispensable tools of longshoremen working on conventional (non-containerized) freighters. In the course of loading and discharging cargo they needed to grab, lift, and move various types and sizes of bags, boxes, and bales. The hooks, held firmly in a gloved hand, extended their reach and helped them lift heavy items. Most longshoremen owned several different types of hooks for moving different materials—from burlap sacks to wooden boxes—and altered the handles to suit their grip.
This cargo hook, made by a Latino blacksmith named Ortega in San Pedro, CA, was the owner’s favorite for lifting various types of bulk cargo. Its handle is well worn and the forged iron hook is stamped with the name “ORTEGA.” Donor Herb Mills used this hook during his career as a longshoreman in San Francisco. Mills was a member of Local 10 of the ILWU—the International Longshore and Warehouse Union—from 1963 to 1992.
date made
ca 1960
used date
ca 1960-1990
ID Number
2002.0026.05
accession number
2002.0026
catalog number
2002.0026.05

Bag of Mung Beans, Thailand, 1990s

This bag of mung beans was sold at the El Monte company store. Shop operators forced workers to buy food and personal items from them at inflated prices.
Description
This bag of mung beans was sold at the El Monte company store. Shop operators forced workers to buy food and personal items from them at inflated prices. The beans were seized during a well-publicized 1995 sweatshop raid and is part of a larger Smithsonian collection of artifacts documenting apparel industry sweatshops, focusing on the El Monte operation.
On August 2, 1995, police officers raided a fenced seven-unit apartment complex in El Monte, California. They arrested eight operators of a clandestine garment sweatshop and freed 72 workers who were being forced to sew garments in virtual captivity. Smuggled from Thailand into the United States, the laborers’ plight brought a national spotlight to domestic sweatshop production and resulted in increased enforcement by federal and state labor agencies. The publicity of the El Monte raid also put added pressure on the apparel industry to reform its labor and business practices domestically and internationally.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
Late 20th Century
1990s
ID Number
1997.0268.18
accession number
1997.0268
catalog number
1997.0268.18

El Monte sweatshop tip letter, 1995

On August 2, 1995, police officers raided a fenced seven-unit apartment complex in El Monte, California. They arrested eight operators of a clandestine garment sweatshop and freed 72 workers who were being forced to sew garments in virtual captivity.
Description
On August 2, 1995, police officers raided a fenced seven-unit apartment complex in El Monte, California. They arrested eight operators of a clandestine garment sweatshop and freed 72 workers who were being forced to sew garments in virtual captivity. Smuggled from Thailand into the United States, the laborers’ plight brought a national spotlight to domestic sweatshop production and resulted in increased enforcement by federal and state labor agencies. The publicity of the El Monte raid also put added pressure on the apparel industry to reform its labor and business practices domestically and internationally.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1995
ID Number
1996.0292.42b
catalog number
1996.0292.42b
accession number
1996.0292

Pay Envelope

This white envelope contained the pay for Aquelina Gaspar and was seized as part of the well-publicized 1995 El Monte sweatshop raid.
Description
This white envelope contained the pay for Aquelina Gaspar and was seized as part of the well-publicized 1995 El Monte sweatshop raid. The envelope is part of a larger Smithsonian collection of artifacts documenting apparel industry sweatshops, focusing on the El Monte operation.
On August 2, 1995, police arrested eight operators of the clandestine El Monte garment shop and freed seventy-two Thai nationals who had been working in a form of modern slavery. Workers, recruited in Thailand, were promised good pay and good working conditions. After signing an indenture agreement for $5,000 they were smuggled into the United States with fraudulent documents. The workers were paid about $1.60 an hour with sixteen-hour workdays in horrifying conditions. They were held against their will in a razor wire enclosed complex with an armed guard and were jammed into close living quarters. By 1999, eleven companies Mervyn's, Montgomery Ward, Tomato, Bum International, L.F. Sportswear, Millers Outpost, Balmara, Beniko, F-40 California, Ms. Tops, and Topson Downs, agreed to pay more than $3.7 million dollars to the 150 workers who labored in the El Monte sweatshop. As in most cases of sweatshop production, these companies contend that they did not knowingly contract with operators who were violating the law.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1997.0336.28
accession number
1997.0336
catalog number
1997.0336.28

Budding Knife

This knife was used by Nathan Fay (1914-2001), the California grape grower credited with planting the first Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in the Stag's Leap District of Napa Valley.
Description
This knife was used by Nathan Fay (1914-2001), the California grape grower credited with planting the first Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in the Stag's Leap District of Napa Valley. Since Fay's first planting in 1961, the variety has become well established and the district is internationally known for its fine Cabernet Sauvignon vintages. When he donated this budding knife to the Smithsonian in 1997, Fay estimated he had used it to bud some 4,000 to 5,000 plants. He added that, in his prime, he was able to bud about 400 vines in a day, and, in his lifetime, he had probably budded some 12,000 plants.
The first step in budding new vines is to plant rootstock resistant to phylloxera, the devastating insect that attacks the roots of Vitis vinifera, the Eurasian species of grapes from which the world's best table wines are made. Although grapes native to North America are phylloxera-resistant, their fruit does not equal the kind of complex, classical wine produced by the V. vinifera species. Consequently, American viticulturalists have learned to plant "resistant" rootstock, typically hybrids of species native to the New World. It is on this rootstock that they graft the buds from V. vinifera wood.
maker
Henkels Dansk
ID Number
1997.0304.03
accession number
1997.0304
catalog number
1997.0304.03

Longshoreman’s Hardhat, about 1971

This faded yellow hardhat is made of plastic and includes a canvas chinstrap. A sticker depicting the logo of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is affixed to the front and two additional stickers—black horizontal bars—are affixed to each side of the hat.
Description
This faded yellow hardhat is made of plastic and includes a canvas chinstrap. A sticker depicting the logo of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is affixed to the front and two additional stickers—black horizontal bars—are affixed to each side of the hat. The name “MILLS” is lettered by hand on the chinstrap.
Local 10 longshoreman Herb Mills wore this hardhat while loading and unloading ships at the Port of San Francisco, home of the ILWU. He credits the hardhat with saving him from serious injury in a 1979 accident when he was discharging mobile cranes from the hold of a ship. He wore the hat while working on the waterfront until about 1992.
Longshoremen are the laborers who load and unload cargo ships. Since 1937, longshore work on the West Coast of the United States has been performed by members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).
Longshoring is dangerous work and was one of the occupations covered in the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1971. The Act's Longshoring Standard required employers to provide employees with protective hardhats to wear when working aboard vessels. The employers' group on the West Coast, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), implemented the program and began supplying longshoremen with yellow hardhats in 1972. The new policy was not readily embraced by all longshoremen, as noted in the PMA's 1973 Annual Report: "Although the West Coast has adopted a mandatory hard hat position, its enforcement is difficult. There is opposition to the requirement of wearing a hard hat in all environments of longshore operation." By 1977 the PMA was offering special awards to longshoremen who avoided head injuries by wearing their hardhats. The hardhat is now part of the longshoremen's occupational attire and is worn when working aboard vessels and in marine terminal jobs.
date made
ca 1971
used date
ca 1971-1992
ID Number
2001.0214.03
accession number
2001.0214
catalog number
2001.0214.03

Esmeralda Bordales Pay Stub

Esmeralda Bordales was an illegal immigrant working for S&K Fashion, a small apparel manufacturing operation in the Los Angeles garment district. Although her pay stub indicates that she worked 40 hours and received $ 155.30 neither are probably true.
Description
Esmeralda Bordales was an illegal immigrant working for S&K Fashion, a small apparel manufacturing operation in the Los Angeles garment district. Although her pay stub indicates that she worked 40 hours and received $ 155.30 neither are probably true. Sweatshop workers toil long hours and are almost always paid by the piece.
On August 2, 1995, police officers raided a fenced compound of seven apartments in El Monte, California. They arrested eight operators of a clandestine garment sweatshop and freed 72 illegal Thai immigrants who had been forced to sew in virtual captivity. Authorities also raided the front shop where Esmerelda worked. The 50 to 80 Latina employees in the front shop provided the theoretical source of garment production when representatives from retailers and manufacturers came to inspect facilities and the merchandise they ordered. However, even this shop was in violation of wage and hour codes. Workers, mostly women, finished the garments, put them on hangers, and added tags in preparation for delivery to stores and manufacturers.
date made
1995
ID Number
1997.0336.29
accession number
1997.0336
catalog number
1997.0336.29

Administrator Labor Commissioner ID Badge, United States, Late 20th Century

This badge belonged to Administrator Labor Commissioner Joe Razo. The gold badge is set in a leather wallet and depicts the seal of California and says "Administrator Labor Commissioner" with blue lettering.
Description
This badge belonged to Administrator Labor Commissioner Joe Razo. The gold badge is set in a leather wallet and depicts the seal of California and says "Administrator Labor Commissioner" with blue lettering. Joe Razo who was hired in 1978 and helped form the Concentrated Enforcement Program. The Department of Industrial Relations is responsible for enforcing State labor laws such as minimum wage.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
Late 20th Century
ID Number
1997.3113.01
nonaccession number
1997.3113
catalog number
1997.3113.01

Pelton Water-Wheel Bucket

This bronze bucket has a notched lip and ellipsoidal face. The bucket bowls are ground but not polished. Cast in the metal is “W. A. Doble – Pat. Sept 19, 1899.” The bucket is 7.5 inches wide, weighs about 9.5 pounds, and has the lug type of back.
Description
This bronze bucket has a notched lip and ellipsoidal face. The bucket bowls are ground but not polished. Cast in the metal is “W. A. Doble – Pat. Sept 19, 1899.” The bucket is 7.5 inches wide, weighs about 9.5 pounds, and has the lug type of back. It was made about 1912.
Reference:
This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1912
ID Number
MC.310390
catalog number
310390
accession number
117363

Cargo hook with Japanese character

Hand-held cargo hooks were the indispensable tools of longshoremen working on conventional (non-containerized) freighters. In the course of loading and discharging cargo they needed to grab, lift, and move various types and sizes of bags, boxes, and bales.
Description
Hand-held cargo hooks were the indispensable tools of longshoremen working on conventional (non-containerized) freighters. In the course of loading and discharging cargo they needed to grab, lift, and move various types and sizes of bags, boxes, and bales. The hooks, held firmly in a gloved hand, extended their reach and helped them lift heavy items. Most longshoremen owned several different types of hooks for moving different materials—from burlap sacks to wooden boxes—and altered the handles to suit their grip.
The 12-inch-long, straight handle and small, curved blade on the end of this cargo hook was especially useful for reaching into tight spots and dragging out boxes. A Japanese character is stamped into the bottom of the handle, prompting the hook's owner to refer to it as a "Japanese hook." Donor Herb Mills used this hook during his career as a longshoreman in San Francisco. Mills was a member of Local 10 of the ILWU—the International Longshore and Warehouse Union—from 1963 to 1992.
date made
ca 1960
used date
ca 1960-1990
ID Number
2002.0026.04
accession number
2002.0026
catalog number
2002.0026.04

Colgate Toothpaste, 1990s

This toothpaste was sold at the El Monte company store. Shop operators forced workers to buy food and personal items from them at inflated prices.
Description
This toothpaste was sold at the El Monte company store. Shop operators forced workers to buy food and personal items from them at inflated prices. The toothpaste was seized during a well-publicized 1995 sweatshop raid and is part of a larger Smithsonian collection of artifacts documenting apparel industry sweatshops, focusing on the El Monte operation.
On August 2, 1995, police officers raided a fenced seven-unit apartment complex in El Monte, California. They arrested eight operators of a clandestine garment sweatshop and freed 72 workers who were being forced to sew garments in virtual captivity. Smuggled from Thailand into the United States, the laborers’ plight brought a national spotlight to domestic sweatshop production and resulted in increased enforcement by federal and state labor agencies. The publicity of the El Monte raid also put added pressure on the apparel industry to reform its labor and business practices domestically and internationally.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
Late 20th Century
1990s
ID Number
1997.0268.17
accession number
1997.0268
catalog number
1997.0268.17

Apple Macintosh Microcomputer

The Apple Macintosh microcomputer introduced a graphic user interface (GUI) to the Apple line of computers. The idea had originated at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center in the 1970s, but Xerox was slow to commercialize it.
Description
The Apple Macintosh microcomputer introduced a graphic user interface (GUI) to the Apple line of computers. The idea had originated at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center in the 1970s, but Xerox was slow to commercialize it. Apple proved far more successful when it introduced the Macintosh in January 1984, with a splashy television advertisement during the Superbowl. The original price was around $2,500.
Instead of typing out names of programs on command lines, users with a GUI could click "icons," or pictures that represented the programs they wanted to run. They could also execute functions like saving, moving, or deleting files by clicking and dragging the icons around the screen with a pointing device called a mouse. Apple's version of the mouse had a single button, which became an Apple standard. The first Macintosh, exemplified by this object, had only 128K RAM, and users quickly found this insufficient. The Macintosh 512 KB, nicknamed "Fat Mac," was introduced in September 1984. It gave users four times as much memory, and allowed them to keep several major programs open simultaneously (for an example of this machine see 1985.3011.01). The vertical processor case and 9" monochrome screen were distinguishing features of all the early Macintosh line.
The Macintosh 512 KB contained a Motorola 68000 microprocessor which ran at 8 MHz. It contained 512 KB of RAM and 64 KB of ROM and initially had a 400 KB Floppy disk drive. Applications included MacWrite, a word processor, and MacPaint, a drawing program that turned the mouse into a paintbrush. Shortly after the 512 KB appeared, Apple also introduced a LaserWriter printer, which enabled desktop publishing for individuals and small businesses. Over time, Apple computers would appeal most strongly to artists and designers, while the IBM/DOS line of computers sold better in business markets.
After selling hundreds of thousands of units, Apple discontinued the "Mac Classic" line of computers in April 1986.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1984
maker
Apple Computer
ID Number
1985.0118.01
catalog number
1985.0118.01
accession number
1985.0118

Gold Dust Scoop

Wire-rimmed, three-sided, shallow, tapered rectangular or triangular tray or pan; narrows to open end. Made of one piece, cut and folded at corners. No marks.Currently not on view
Description
Wire-rimmed, three-sided, shallow, tapered rectangular or triangular tray or pan; narrows to open end. Made of one piece, cut and folded at corners. No marks.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875 - 1900
ID Number
DL.280280.0007
catalog number
280280.0007
accession number
280280

Work and Rest

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

Pitts’ and Gluyas’ Patent Model of a Steam Condenser – ca 1872

This model was filed with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for Patent Number 131,779 issued to Washington R. Pitts and George K. Gluyas of San Francisco, California, on October 1, 1872.
Description
This model was filed with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for Patent Number 131,779 issued to Washington R. Pitts and George K. Gluyas of San Francisco, California, on October 1, 1872. The claim of the inventors was a new design for an improved high pressure condenser for a steam engine. The purpose was for the steam exhausted from the engine’s cylinder to be passed through the condenser and be converted back to water and returned to the boiler for reuse.
The condenser design was intended for use on side-wheel steam boats. It would be located behind the paddle wheel where the water splashed up by the wheel would pass over the condenser and in the process cool the hot steam inside the condenser. The condenser consisted of a series of tubes passing between chambers at each end as shown in the image. Steam entered the condenser via an opening at the bottom left (not shown) and any remaining steam could be exhausted via the outlet pipe shown at the bottom right. This outlet had a valve that would cover it in normal operation since the goal was to have the steam converted to water prior to exiting. However, the engineer could open the valve as needed in operation to reduce any undue buildup of steam pressure within the condenser. The condense water exited via a series of tubes not shown at the back of the picture.
Note, that the condenser was intended to be mounted with the steam exhaust up and to the right and the condense water outlet pipes on the bottom. The chambers at each end of the condenser were divided into compartments to cause the steam to travel back and forth two times prior to reaching the exhaust. The compartments were of decreasing volume with fewer tubes contained within them (seven rows of tubes in the first diminishing to four in the last) as can be seen by the grouping and gaps between tubes in the image. The intent was to balance the amount of condense water collected throughout the condenser.
To control the flow of condense water and prevent steam pressure from blocking it, Pitts and Gluyas provided metal flanges over each of five exit holes for the water. The inventors did not claim as new the tubing, chambers and valves. Their claim was based primarily on two details. The first was division of the chambers at each into compartments having diminishing volumes. The second was the inclusion of the covers over the outlet pipes. Research of available trade literature and other sources has not revealed any commercial product that may have made use of this invention.
The patent model is constructed of brass. The end plate is inscribed “Wash’n R. Pitts and Geo. K. Gluyas, San Fran’co.” The key features of the invention are illustrated by the model to include the end chambers, tubing, condense water outlet pipes, steam inlet, and the steam outlet with rubber valve. Diagrams showing the complete design can be found in the patent document online at www.uspto.gov.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1872
patent date
1872-10-01
inventor
Pitts, Washington R.
Gluyas, George K.
ID Number
ER.309239
accession number
89797
catalog number
309239
patent number
131,779

R2-D2, from Return of the Jedi

In the fictional universe of George Lucas' Star Wars films, robots called droids (short for android) come in many shapes and serve many purposes. Two droids-R2-D2 and C-3PO-have won enormous popularity for their supporting roles in all six of the series.
Description
In the fictional universe of George Lucas' Star Wars films, robots called droids (short for android) come in many shapes and serve many purposes. Two droids-R2-D2 and C-3PO-have won enormous popularity for their supporting roles in all six of the series. In the collections of the museum are costumes of R2-D2 and C-3PO from "Return of the Jedi," released in 1983 and the third film in the Star Wars series.
Designed from artwork by Ralph McQuarrie in 1975, R2-D2 looks more like a small blue-and-white garbage can than a human being. In the films, R2-D2 is the type of droid built to interface with computers and service starships-a kind of super technician suited for tasks well beyond human capability. By turns comic and courageous, this helpmate communicates with expressive squeals and head spins, lumbers on stubby legs, and repeatedly saves the lives of human masters .
Several R2-D2 units, specialized according to function and edited into a final composite, were used for making a single movie scene. Some units were controlled remotely. Others, like this one, were costume shells, in which actor Kenny Baker sat and manipulated the droid movements.
R2-D2's sidekick and character foil, also based on art by Ralph McQuarrie, is C-3PO. Termed a protocol droid in the films, C-3PO can speak six million languages and serves the diverse cultures of Lucas' imaginary galaxy as a robotic diplomat and translator. Where R2 is terse, 3PO is talkative. Where R2 is brave, 3PO is often tentative and sometimes downright cowardly. Where R2 looks like a machine, 3PO-in spite of the distinctive gold "skin" -more closely resembles a human in movements, vision, and intelligence
In each of the Star Wars films, actor Anthony Daniels wore the C-3PO costumes. Like the R2-D2 units, more than one C-3PO costume was used for each movie.
The Star Wars films are much more than pop entertainment. Since the first of the series was released in 1977, they have been so immensely popular that they have become cultural reference points for successive American generations. And like other popular works of science fiction, they play a powerful role in shaping our vision of the future.
Likewise, the droids are more than movie stars in these influential films. They are also indicators of the place of robots in the American experience. Conceived at a time when more robots inhabited the imaginative worlds of science fiction than the real world, R2-D2 and C-3PO represent the enduring dream of having robots as personal servants, to do things we will not or cannot do for ourselves. Today, real robots are more numerous. They mostly work on industrial production lines, but researchers are working to extend the use of robots for tasks not humanly possible. It is likely we will see more of them in the future--as aids for medicine and surgery, for military and security, and even for exploring, if not a galaxy far away, at least the far reaches of our own solar system.
ID Number
1984.0302.01
catalog number
1984.0302.01
accession number
1984.0302

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