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 243 items.
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Abraham Lincoln Campaign Badge
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign badge was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1860. 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, and campaign badges.
- This badge features a photograph of Abraham Lincoln in a brass oval frame. The badge was likely attached to a pin so it could be worn.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Lincoln, Abraham
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1068
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1068
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Ulysses S. Grant Campaign Badge
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign badge was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company around 1868. 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, and campaign badges.
- The badge features a tintype photograph of Ulysses S. Grant set into a brass frame, which would have originally been attached to a pin and displayed on clothing.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Grant, Ulysses S.
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1069
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1069
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Abraham Lincoln Campaign Badge
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign badge was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1860. 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, and campaign badges.
- This badge features a tintype photograph of Abraham Lincoln, and the photo is labeled “A. Lincoln.” above Lincoln’s head. The badge likely had a pin originally on its back, so the badge could be worn and displayed.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Lincoln, Abraham
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1079
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1079
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Abraham Lincoln Campaign Medal
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company around 1860. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that 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, and campaign badges.
- Obverse: Bust depiction of Abraham Lincoln facing forward. The legend reads: ABRAM LINCOLN/ FREE LAND, FREE SPEECH & FREE MEN.
- Reverse: An image of an eagle with the U.S. shield, clutching arrows and an olive branch in its talons. The legend reads: UNION OF THE STATES.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Lincoln, Abraham
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1085
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1085
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Ulysses S. Grant Campaign Badge
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign badge was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1868. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that 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, and campaign badges.
- This badge features a tintype photograph of Ulysses S. Grant set into a circular brass frame.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Grant, Ulysses S.
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1091
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1091
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Ulysses S. Grant Campaign Star
- Description (Brief)
- This star-shaped badge was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1868. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that 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, and campaign badges.
- This badge features a tintype photograph of Ulysses S. Grant set into a star-shaped brass badge. This badge likely would have originally had a pin on the back so it could be worn.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Grant, Ulysses S.
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1096
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1096
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Ulysses S. Grant Badge
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign badge was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1868. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that 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, and campaign badges.
- This badge features a tintype photograph of Ulysses S. Grant set into a circular brass frame.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Grant, Ulysses S.
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1100
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1100
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Abraham Lincoln Campaign Badge
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign badge was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1860. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that 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, and campaign badges. This badge likely had a pin originally on its back, so it could be worn on an article of clothing.
- Obverse: Tintype photograph of Abraham Lincoln. The photo is labeled “A. Lincoln.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Lincoln, Abraham
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1106
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1106
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Abraham Lincoln Campaign Badge
- Description (Brief)
- This presidential campaign badge was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1864. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that 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, and campaign badges.
- Obverse: Tintype photograph of Abraham Lincoln set into a circular bronze frame, the image is labeled “A. LINCOLN.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Lincoln, Abraham
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1114
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1114
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Washington and Jefferson Medal
- Description (Brief)
- This medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut in the 1860s. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that 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 campaign medals. This medal has a hole in the top so that it could be worn. The medal bears the name “Bolen” referring to J.A. Bolden, a die caster from Springfield, Massachusetts.
- Obverse: Bust image of George Washington facing right. Legend reads: Washington.
- Reverse: Bust of Thomas Jefferson facing right. Legend reads: Jefferson.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- depicted
- Washington, George
- Jefferson, Thomas
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1121
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1121
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center