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: 1800sCollected: 1960-07-26

Related Event: Expansion and Reform

Subject:

See more items in: Work and Industry: Maritime, Cultures & Communities, Work, Industry & Manufacturing, Natural Resources, Transportation, On the Water exhibit, Art

Exhibition: On the Water

Exhibition Location: National Museum of American History

Related Web Publication: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater

Related Publication: On the Water online exhibition

Credit Line: Gift of Avis and Rockwell Gardiner

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: DL.61.0049Catalog Number: 61.49Accession Number: 231930Catalog Number: 61.0049

Object Name: scrimshawscrimshaw yardstick

Physical Description: ivory (overall material)bone (overall material)Measurements: overall: 34 1/4 in; 86.995 cm

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ac-6cc9-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_1341778

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