In 1974 economist Art Laffer sketched a new direction for the Republican Party on this napkin. Displeased with President Gerald Ford’s decision to raise taxes to control inflation, four men got together at a Washington, DC restaurant to think about alternatives. Laffer was joined by journalist Jude Wanniski and politicians Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld. Laffer argued that lowering taxes would increase economic activity. Wanniski popularized the theory, and politicians Don Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney carried it out.
The cloth napkin was taken as a souvenir by Jude Wanniski. The napkin reads “If you tax a product less results/If you subsidize a product more results./We've been taxing work, output and income and subsidizing non-work, leisure and un-/employment./The consequences are obvious!” with an image of the laffer curve in the middle. The bottom of the napkin reads To Don Rumsfeld/at our Two Continents/Rendezvous/ 9/13/74/Art B. Laffer"
This model was filed with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for Patent Number 2,013 issued to John Ireland Howe on March 24, 1841. Howe’s invention was a design for an automated common pin making machine. The goal of the design was to improve upon his earlier patented pin making machine which had not found commercial success. His design was mechanically very complex; the patent document comprised 20 pages of detailed text and five of diagrams. Howe had been a physician working in the New York Alms House where he had observed the inmates making pins by hand. He began to experiment with machinery for automating the process and sought the help of Robert Hoe, a printing press builder, to provide mechanical expertise. His design was for a machine that would take a roll of wire, cut the wire for each pin to proper length, sharpen and polish the pointed end of the pin, and finally form the other end into a metal head. The machine consisted of a series of individual chucks (devices much like on lathes) mounted radially on a vertical shaft that rotated inside a horizontal circular frame. Around the circumference of the frame were mounted various tools that shaped the pins. As the vertical shaft rotated, it brought the chucks into alignment with the tools. One type of tool was the point forming file, or mill. The chuck, which was rotating along the axis of the pin, would make the pin tip contact the file thus grinding it into shape. The file was also rotating as well as moving forward, backwards, and side-to-side in a complex manner so as to produce a point which was round, smooth, free from angles, and slightly convex in shape. Howe made provisions for multiple such tools to progressively shape the point. The other major tool was the head forming mechanism. A carrier removed the pin from its chuck and inserted its blunt end into a set of gripping jaws that held it into a set of dies. The dies formed a thickened section of metal at the end of the pin. A second carrier extracted the pin and inserted the thickened section into a second set of dies which then flattened and formed the final pin head. The machines made from the patent design enabled the Howe Manufacturing Company become one of the largest pin manufacturers in the United States.
The patent model is constructed primarily of metal and is about one foot square and one foot tall. It represents the essential elements of the design such as the rotating set of chucks mounted on the vertical shaft, the sharpening mills, and the head making mechanisms. It shows how the rotating table brings the pins to the point sharpening mills. While it is uncertain that the model would be capable of actual pin production, it appears that turning the attached hand crank would cause the machine to go through the motions of actual pin production.
Apron; weaver's, blue and white striped cotton ticking. Half apron. Apron has one large pocket, 13.875" (35cm) deep; inside is a 1.25" (3.2cm) wide strip sewn with channels to hold reed hooks. The reverse has two pockets 6" (15cm) deep along the bottom edge of the apron. A strip, 16.75" (45cm) and 19" (48.2cm) is sewn at its center to each top corner of the apron; they appear to have been used to tie on the apron.
Girls built America. Girls’ work gave other women leisure time, they made industries more profitable, their cheap labor sparked a consumer revolution, and their activism reshaped labor laws. Through their labor and activism, they made workplaces safer for everyone.
Not all girls had a childhood because they had to work.
Young girls often worked as spinners or bobbin girls. Spinners ran machines that twisted fiber into yarn. Bobbin girls replaced full bobbins of yarn with empty ones. Often, girls wore aprons such as this one to protect their clothes.
This medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1853. 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 various consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and medals.
Obverse: Image of the New York Crystal Palace. Legend: BUILDING FOR THE EXHIBITION OF THE INDUSTRY OF ALL NATIONS/ NEW YORK/ MDCCCLIII.
Reverse: Wreath with two different branches. Legend: THE FIRST PILLAR WAS ERECTED OCTOBER 30th 1852/ OPENED MAY 2nd/ 1853/ MESSrs GARSTENSEN & GILDEMIESTER/ ARHCITECHTS.
Sandpaper for industrial use was one of the first products of The Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (later known as 3M). The company expanded into the nascent do-it-yourself consumer market in the 1930s advertising sandpaper for furniture repair and other uses. The 3M trademarked plaid design was first introduced in 1945.
The Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company was founded in 1902 as a mining operation, but soon began to use its minerals to make sandpaper. 3M is known for its culture of innovation which encourages employees of disparate background to work together. The company manufactures a wide variety of products focusing on films and coatings. Products range from masking tape and reflective sheeting to synthetic fabrics and sticky notes.
The hard candy coated shell of M&M’s kept them from melting, which made them perfect for soldiers’ rations during World War II. The American Red Cross would regularly send care parcels to prisoners of war during World War II, and the care packages included M&M’s contained in a clear cellophane bag.
These tool checks (or chits) were used to check out tools from the tool locker at Ford’s Rouge River manufacturing plant. The number on the chit matched an employee's badge number, in this case X6550 (for the badge see 2013.0323.01). Once the chit was traded for a tool, the employee was responsible for it until the tool was returned for the chit. The triangular brass chit reads “ROUGE/FORD/X6560” with a hole in the top to hang on the tool’s hook.
These tool checks (or chits) were used to check out tools from the tool locker at Ford’s Rouge River manufacturing plant. The number on the chit matched an employee's badge number, in this case X6550 (for the badge see 2013.0323.01). Once the chit was traded for a tool, the employee was responsible for it until the tool was returned for the chit. The triangular brass chit reads “ROUGE/FORD/X6560” with a hole in the top to hang on the tool’s hook.
These tool checks (or chits) were used to check out tools from the tool locker at Ford’s Rouge River manufacturing plant. The number on the chit matched an employee's badge number, in this case X6550 (for the badge see 2013.0323.01). Once the chit was traded for a tool, the employee was responsible for it until the tool was returned for the chit. The triangular brass chit reads “ROUGE/FORD/X6560” with a hole in the top to hang on the tool’s hook.
These are a set of 93 identical paper labels for M&M’s dating from around 1941. M&M’s were first packaged in paper tubes, created by rolling up these labels. The black and white paper reads "5¢ um m m 5¢."
These tool checks (or chits) were used to check out tools from the tool locker at Ford’s Rouge River manufacturing plant. The number on the chit matched an employee's badge number, in this case X6550 (for the badge see 2013.0323.01). Once the chit was traded for a tool, the employee was responsible for it until the tool was returned for the chit. The triangular brass chit reads “ROUGE/FORD/X6560” with a hole in the top to hang on the tool’s hook.
This Walmart smock was worn by employee Valeda Snyder during the early 2000s. Valeda Snyder began her Walmart career at the Walmart Store 14 in Lebanon, Missouri in 1960. She was the first employee to work for Walmart for over 50 years and was part of a national advertising campaign celebrating her 50 years of service. Objects related to Walmart were collected for the American Enterprise exhibit to highlight how America’s largest retailer expanded to sell groceries, including organic offerings, amounting to 25% of all grocery sales in the United States by 2006.
During the cyclical downturn of 2008, home foreclosures skyrocketed as people lost jobs, low teaser rate adjustable rate mortgages re-set, and the housing bubble burst. Realtor Kevin Berman of Bankers Realty Services used this foreclosure sign in the Fort Lauderdale area during between 2008 and 2012.
Pressure sensitive tape was pioneered by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (later renamed 3M). In the early 1920s 3M engineer Richard Drew saw automotive painters struggling to mask out areas as they did two tone paint jobs. He told his bosses at 3M and was given permission to work on an adhesive tape that would hold well but release cleanly. The result was adhesive tape brought to market in 1925. Changing base film, Drew and 3M created cellulose tape in 1930, and later transparent tape. Prior to being sold in its iconic snail dispenser with serrated edge, tape was dispensed in a tin can.
The Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company was founded in 1902 as a mining operation, but soon began to use its minerals to make sandpaper. 3M is known for its culture of innovation which encourages employees of disparate background to work together. The company manufactures a wide variety of products focusing on films and coatings. Products range from masking tape and reflective sheeting to synthetic fabrics and sticky notes.
This HP monitor was part of Bill Gross’s Bloomberg workstation at Pacific Investment Management (PIMCO). Gross served as one of the founders of PIMCO when it was incorporated in 1971, and went on to manage some of the largest hedge funds in the United States as PIMCO grew to manage over 1 trillion dollars in assets by 2014. He is most famous for predicting the housing bubble of 2008. He got out of mortgage backed securities and wisely invested in government bonds.
Financial managers process massive amounts of information to make their financial decisions. They often consult many electronic sources including proprietary systems like Bloomberg terminals. The monitor was accessioned along with Gross’s Bloomberg keyboard seen in object 2014.0012.02 and two BeanieBaby’s seen in 2014.0012.08 & .09.