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.
Page 5 of 340
Circassian Walnut Frame
- Description (Brief)
- This frame was made by William F. Bucher of Washington, D.C. as part of his collection of framed tree photographs. The frame is made of Circassian walnut veneer on an ash frame with macassar ebony back bead. Bucher, a cabinetmaker, framed each photograph in wood of the same species as the tree depicted in the print. Bucher explained the philosophy behind his collection in a 1931 letter to the Museum: “’Old World' trees have gathered about them so much folklore and poetry, I thought it would be interesting to show by pictures and wood, that many of our American trees have attained by their own merits, an equal right to a place in the 'hall of fame.’”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- AG*115767.15
- catalog number
- AG*115767.15
- accession number
- 115767
- maker number
- 18
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Cotton Planter
- Description
- Jim Nelson of Greenwood, SC, made this cotton planter before the turn of the twentieth century. Like many farmers, Nelson tinkered with available material. There were numerous patents for cotton planters, and factory-made planters were available.
- Nelson's planter is all-wood except for the furrow opener and the furrow closer and a rim that goes around the wheel at the center of the drum. The drum is made of soft wood and measures 20 inches in diameter and 13 inches by width. In operation, the drum was filled with cotton seeds that fell through 13 openings as the drum revolved. The two metal pieces used as a furrow opener are 13 ½ inches high by 3 ½ inches wide, and the furrow coverers measure 8 ½ inches high by 1 ½ inch wide. Both are bolted to the wooden frame and controlled by a cord on the handles.
- Ruben F. Vaughn bought the planter in 1902 and used it until he donated it to the National Museum of American History in 1937.
- Date made
- ca 1900
- maker
- Nelson, Jim
- ID Number
- AG*37A1
- catalog number
- 37A1
- accession number
- 145557
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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
- 1883
- maker
- Goss, Joseph
- ID Number
- AG*66A1.045
- accession number
- 089797
- catalog number
- 66A1.045
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Alfred Press
- Description (Brief)
- The machinist Augustus Alfred constructed this press in his Connecticut shop around 1850. Like many Americans of the time, Alfred did a lot of different work. He was a part-time clock maker, part-time farmer, and part-time machinist. Alfred likely built this particular press to form lightweight watch parts and other metal pieces required for his work. This press has a hand-actuated 38 inch flywheel with four inch stroke, a slide guiding system, and was belt-driven at some point in its history.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Alfred, Augustus
- ID Number
- AG*MHI-M-7884
- catalog number
- MHI-M-7884
- accession number
- 235982
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Soviet poster, Making Hand Grenades
- Description
- During World War II, after the breakdown of the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, the Soviet news agency TASS issued a series of propaganda posters. Topics included anti-Nazi caricatures and Socialist Realist art encouraging the war effort. Beginning in June 1941, the Union of Soviet Artists established a publishing collective to produce the posters on an almost daily basis. Because they were displayed in the windows of the news agency's Moscow office, they are known as TASS window posters. It is estimated that about 1,500 different posters were produced between 1941 and 1945.
- Well-known artists and poets worked on the designs and captions, and most of the posters were produced in limited editions using the stencil process for both graphics and text. Many posters were completed and reproduced within 24 hours, making them very responsive to political issues and war news. Copies were distributed abroad by VOKS, the Soviet Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. Their messages helped present the USSR favorably to its new allies, including the U.S. The Museum has six of these posters received in 1943 through VOKS. Other collections outside Russia include the University of Nottingham in England and Columbia and Cornell universities in the U.S.
- TASS window poster No. 512 shows a man and a woman making hand grenades. In vivid Socialist Realist style, the poster both encourages and supports the war effort.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1942-1943
- 1942
- artist attribution
- Vyalov, Konstantin Aleksandrovich
- author
- Mashistzov, A.
- ID Number
- GA*18849
- accession number
- 164567
- catalog number
- 18849
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Soviet poster, Making Shells
- Description
- During World War II, after the breakdown of the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, the Soviet news agency TASS issued a series of propaganda posters. Topics included anti-Nazi caricatures and Socialist Realist art encouraging the war effort. Beginning in June 1941, the Union of Soviet Artists established a publishing collective to produce the posters on an almost daily basis. Because they were displayed in the windows of the news agency's Moscow office, they are known as TASS window posters. It is estimated that about 1,500 different posters were produced between 1941 and 1945.
- Well-known artists and poets worked on the designs and captions, and most of the posters were produced in limited editions using the stencil process for both graphics and text. Many posters were completed and reproduced within 24 hours, making them very responsive to political issues and war news. Copies were distributed abroad by VOKS, the Soviet Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. Their messages helped present the USSR favorably to its new allies, including the U.S. The Museum has six of these posters received in 1943 through VOKS. Other collections outside Russia include the University of Nottingham in England and Columbia and Cornell universities in the U.S.
- TASS window poster No. 693 shows a male Soviet worker in vivid Socialist Realist style. An image of calendar pages behind him encourages increased production of shells for the war effort.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1942-1943
- ID Number
- GA*19083.02
- accession number
- 167088
- catalog number
- 19083.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Columbian Press
- Description
- The Columbian iron hand press was invented in 1813 by George Clymer (1754–1834), a Philadelphia mechanic. From about 1800 Clymer built wooden presses and versions of new iron presses from Europe. The extravagant design, incorporating levers and counterweights, was quite original, but Clymer did not find a market in the United States. Perhaps printers were not ready to give up their old wooden presses. He moved to England in 1818 and acquired a partner. By the 1840s their presses were being manufactured by several dozen firms across Europe, including Ritchie & Son of Edinburgh, which made this press about 1860. It is a super-royal Columbian and its platen size is 21 by 29 inches.
- Clymer's Columbian presses were widely used in European printing offices during the 19th century, and today they are found in a number of European museums. Although Clymer made several dozen presses before leaving Philadelphia, no American Columbians are known to survive. The only Columbians in the U.S. today were made in Europe and brought over here some time later. American printers preferred the Washington iron hand press, which occupied the place in 19th-century American printing offices that the Columbian and Albion presses held in Britain.
- The Columbian press is covered with symbols, including its name as a reference to the United States. An American eagle in full relief serves as a counterweight at the top of the frame. He holds in his talons Jove's thunderbolts combined with the olive branch of peace and the cornucopia of plenty. The press was adopted in 1819 as the emblem of Washington, D.C.'s Columbia Typographical Society, a local union of journeyman printers, and it represented their republican sentiments both in the larger political sense and as their expression of pride and independence in their craft. The Society met at the "Press and Eagle" Tavern, and members carried banners emblazoned with images of the Columbian press in their parades.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- ca 1860
- maker
- Ritchie & Son
- ID Number
- GA*21028
- accession number
- 237265
- catalog number
- 21028
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
John H. Gage Iron Planer, c. 1837
- Description (Brief)
- John H. Gage made this iron planer in his shop located in Nashua, New Hampshire. Gage’s shop is considered to be the first shop in the nation devoted to the manufacture of machinist's tools. On a planer the cutting tool stays stationary while the workpiece moves back and forth. This configuration allows for precise work on large jobs. The table’s bed length is 44 and 5/16 inches long and 11 and 7/16 inches wide. The table is driven by a 2 inch diameter screw of 1.25 inch pitch.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Gage, John H.
- ID Number
- MC*315150
- catalog number
- 315150
- accession number
- 217241
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Robbins & Lawrence Engine Lathe, 1852
- Description (Brief)
- The Robbins and Lawrence Company of Windsor, Vermont built this metal-turning lathe in the 1850’s. The Robbins and Lawrence Armory and Machine shop was founded in 1846, and became a National Historic Landmark in 1966. The lathe bears a patent plate stamped with the name of Frederick W. Howe, the shop superintendent who was responsible for many of the company’s innovations in machine-tool design. A metal-turning lathe, such as this one, would be an important addition to any machine shop due to its ability to shape metal into a variety of cylindrical surfaces. The bed of the lathe has a length of 100 inches, with 16 inches of swing.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- MC*316022
- catalog number
- 316022
- accession number
- 216953
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Counter Shaft and Belt Shifter
- Description (Brief)
- Since early machine tools were not individually powered, many machine shops were run from a single source. The single power source would power the main line, and by connecting counter shafts to the main line with flat leather belts, and the belts to individual machines, shops provided power for multiple machines from a single source.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- MC*317969
- catalog number
- 317969
- accession number
- 228785
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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