Industry & Manufacturing - Overview
The Museum's collections document centuries of remarkable changes in products, manufacturing processes, and the role of industry in American life. In the bargain, they preserve artifacts of great ingenuity, intricacy, and sometimes beauty.
The carding and spinning machinery built by Samuel Slater about 1790 helped establish the New England textile industry. Nylon-manufacturing machinery in the collections helped remake the same industry more than a century later. Machine tools from the 1850s are joined by a machine that produces computer chips. Thousands of patent models document the creativity of American innovators over more than 200 years.
The collections reach far beyond tools and machines. Some 460 episodes of the television series Industry on Parade celebrate American industry in the 1950s. Numerous photographic collections are a reminder of the scale and even the glamour of American industry.
"Industry & Manufacturing - Overview" showing 292 items.
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Kanji Telephone Token
- Description (Brief)
- The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this telephone token during the early 20th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and transportation tokens. This token is a Japanese or Chinese telephone token.
- Obverse: Kanji characters.
- Reverse: Kanji characters.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1365
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1365
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
token
- Description (Brief)
- The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this transportation token during the early 20th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, and coins.
- Obverse: The legend reads: PILAR
- Reverse: The legend reads: PILAR
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1472
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1472
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
F.C. Token
- Description (Brief)
- The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this token during the early 20th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and tokens.
- Obverse: The legend reads: F.C.
- Reverse: The legend reads: ½.R.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1475
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1475
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Play Money Quarter
- Description (Brief)
- The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this play money during the early 20th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and tokens.
- Obverse: Silhouette of a girl facing left. The legend reads: PLAY MONEY/25¢
- Reverse: Image of a star. The legend reads: 25¢/PLAY MONEY
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1482
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1482
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
J.S. Five-Cent Token
- Description (Brief)
- The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this token during the early 20th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and tokens.
- Obverse: The legend reads: J.S.
- Reverse: The legend reads: GOOD FOR 5 CENTS AT THE BAR.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1483
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1483
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Mitad Token
- Description (Brief)
- The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this token second half of the 19th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and token. Mitad is Spanish for “half,” and Scovill struck a variety of tokens for Colombian businesses during this time.
- Obverse: The legend reads: MITAD
- Reverse: The legend reads: VERGARA
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1484
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1484
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Hotel Brighton Token
- Description (Brief)
- The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this token during the early 20th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and tokens.
- Obverse: The legend reads: HOTEL BRIGHTON/ 5.
- Reverse: The legend reads: HOTEL BRIGHTON/ 5.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1485
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1485
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
The New York Sun Token
- Description (Brief)
- The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this advertising token during the early 20th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and tokens.
- Obverse: Image of a sun with rays emitting from the center. The legend reads: THE NEW YORK SUN
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1486
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1486
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Germania Club Token
- Description (Brief)
- The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this token during the late 19th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and tokens.
- Obverse: Space for an engraving in the center. The legend reads: GERMANIA CLUB/Cts./BRENHAM
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1487
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1487
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Professor Johnson Advertising Token
- Description (Brief)
- The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this transportation token around 1852. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and transportation tokens.
- Obverse: Bust of Lady Liberty facing left. The legend reads: PROFESSOR JOHNSON 317 BOWERY/ 1852.
- Reverse: Image of an eagle with shield, gripping arrows in one talon and an olive branch in the other. The legend reads: UNITED STATES/ STARCH POLISH.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1489
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1489
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center