Whaler's Mincing Knife
Whaler's Mincing Knife
Usage conditions apply
- Description
- Whaling crews used mincing knives to cut the blubber strips into thin slices down to, but not through, the thick whale skin. This process increased the surface area of the blubber and helped it melt faster in the try-pots. Cut in this fashion, the sections of whale blubber and skin were known as “bible leaves” because they resembled the pages of a book.
- Object Name
- mincing-knife
- date made
- 1876
- collected
- 1876
- Place Made
- United States: Massachusetts, New Bedford
- Physical Description
- cast steel (blade material)
- iron (back-frame material)
- hard wood (handles material)
- steel (feruls material)
- wood (sheath material)
- Measurements
- overall: 36 1/2 in; x 92.71 cm
- blade: 24 in x 3 1/2 in; 60.96 cm x 8.89 cm
- sheath: 25 in; x 63.5 cm
- ID Number
- AG.025912
- accession number
- 005019
- catalog number
- 025912
- subject
- Whaling
- The Development of the Industrial United States
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Fisheries
- Work
- Cultures & Communities
- Natural Resources
- On the Water exhibit
- Transportation
- Exhibition
- On the Water
- Exhibition Location
- National Museum of American History
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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