This stoneware butter crock was made by John Burger, who operated a pottery in Rochester, New York, between 1839 and 1870. It is one gallon in capacity with a maker’s mark just below the rim. Its floral design is rendered in cobalt blue, and the interior is brown glazed.
John Burger came from Alsace-Lorraine in France, and first worked at a pottery in Lyons on the Erie Canal. In 1839 he moved to Rochester and joined Nathan Clark and Company as manager of the pottery. In 1855 Burger became the owner of the pottery and continued in the business of making stoneware for domestic uses—preserve jars, churns, pitchers and batter pitchers, cream pots, jugs, molasses jugs, water fountains, beer bottles, stove tubes, and the butter pot seen here. He was joined in the business by his sons in the 1860s. Decorative floral motifs of this kind were common by the 1850s.
Early in the 19th century, the potters themselves executed the designs, but later they employed women to paint the pottery’s motifs onto the vessels. Women’s skills in writing and in decorative techniques expressed in the home prepared them to execute designs with fluency and without any formal art education.
all United States lighthouses outfitted with Fresnel lenses
1860s
lens used during a severe hurricane at Bolivar Point
1917-08-16 - 1917-08-17
donated to Smithsonian
1933
inventor
Fresnel, Augustin Jean
ID Number
TR.335567
catalog number
335567
accession number
1977.0626
Description
In the early nineteenth century, lighthouses in the United States were considered inferior to those in France and England. American mariners complained about the quality of the light emanating from local lighthouse towers, arguing that European lighthouses were more effective at shining bright beams of light over long distances. While American lighthouses relied on lamps and mirrors to direct mariners, European lighthouses were equipped with compact lenses that could shine for miles.
In 1822, French scientist Augustin-Jean Fresnel was studying optics and light waves. He discovered that by arranging a series of lenses and prisms into the shape of a beehive, the strength of lighthouse beams could be improved. His lens—known as the Fresnel lens—diffused light into beams that could be visible for miles. Fresnel designed his lenses in several different sizes, or orders. The first order lens, meant for use in coastal lighthouses, was the largest and the strongest lens. The sixth order lens was the smallest, designed for use in small harbors and ports.
By the 1860s, all of the lighthouses in the United States were fitted with Fresnel lenses. This lens came from a lighthouse on Bolivar Point, near Galveston, Texas. Galveston was the largest and busiest port in nineteenth-century Texas. Having a lighthouse here was imperative – the mouth of the bay provided entry to Houston and Texas City, as well as inland waterways. The Bolivar Point Light Station had second and third order Fresnel lenses over the years; this third order lens was installed in 1907. Its light could be seen from 17 miles away.
On 16-17 August 1915, a severe hurricane hit Galveston. As the storm grew worse, fifty to sixty people took refuge in the Bolivar Point Light Station. Around 9:15 PM, the light’s turning mechanism broke, forcing assistant lighthouse keeper J.B. Brooks to turn the Fresnel lens by hand. By 10 PM, the vibrations from the hurricane were so violent that Brooks began to worry the lens might shatter. He ceased turning the lens, trimmed the lamp wicks and worked to maintain a steady light through the night. The next morning, Brooks left the lighthouse to find Bolivar Point nearly swept away by the water.
Bolivar Point Light Station used this Fresnel lens until 1933. It was donated to the Smithsonian Institution by the National Park Service.
This handmade wooden trunk has a hinged wooden lid, a metal keyhole plate, and rope handles on the sides. The top and front of the trunk are decorated with hand-painted red and white tulips and roses. The initials “ABAD” are painted in white scrollwork above the date “1867” on the face of the trunk. The trunk was found around 1910 in the attic of the donor’s grandparents in Jamestown, New York. An elderly Swedish couple, who had been renting the upstairs, left the trunk behind when they moved out of the house.
Although the Swedes who came to the United States with their belongings in this trunk are not known, they were part of a mass migration out of Sweden that began in the 1860s. A combination of population pressure, limited agricultural land, and political and religious unrest had driven many Swedes to the United States since the 1840s. But disease and famine beginning in the late 1860s forced many more to leave Sweden. Between 1868 and 1914, more than a million Swedes emigrated, mostly to America. After arriving in New York, many went west to farmland in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Swedes also settled in urban areas such as Chicago and Minneapolis.
US Congress awarded an annual transatlantic mail contract to Collins
1847
Collins Line service started
1850
Collins Line service ended
1858
Atlantic acquired by the government for Civil War service
1858
Atlantic scrapped
1871
Collins steamship line
New York and Liverpool United States Mail Steamship Company
ship owner
Collins, Edward Knight
ship owner and Knight's competitor
Cunard, Samuel
built SS <I>Atlantic</I>
Dramatic Line of Atlantic Sailing Packets
maker
Louis Honore Frederick Gamain
ID Number
TR.336491
accession number
1978.0362
catalog number
336491
Description
In 1840, Canadian Samuel Cunard inaugurated regular transatlantic steamship service from Liverpool, England to North America. Within a few years, he had two competitors, one of whom was American Edward Knight Collins (1802-1878), owner of the Dramatic Line of Atlantic sailing packets.
Collins had been lobbying the U.S. government for nearly a decade for the subsidy of an American overseas steamship mail service, and in 1847 Congress authorized an annual transatlantic mail contract for $385,000. Won by Collins, the contract called for five steamships and bimonthly mail service from New York to Liverpool.
Collins founded the New York and Liverpool United States Mail Steamship Company (known as the Collins Line) and commissioned the four sister steamships Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic and Baltic. When service started in 1850, the Collins ships were the fastest, largest, and most magnificently appointed steamships in the world, with stained glass skylights, steam heat in the public rooms and 3,500-bottle wine cellars.
This painting shows the arrival of the Collins liner Atlantic in May 1850 after her maiden voyage from New York to Liverpool. Measuring 282 feet long and 2,856 tons, the Atlantic set a speed record on this passage, while consuming 87 tons of coal per day. Although the Collins line ceased operations in February 1858, the Atlantic was acquired by the U.S. Government for Civil War service. After the war it was operated by other owners until scrapped in 1871.
The 102-foot three-masted scow schooner Milton was built by Ellsworth & Davidson at Milwaukee, Wis., in 1867. It spent 20 years hauling lumber on Lake Michigan, along with hundreds of other small boats nicknamed the “mosquito fleet.” Built to carry as much cargo as possible, many of these flat-bottom boats did not sail very well.
The Milton collided with the ship W.H. Hinsdale at Milwaukee in December 1867, causing about $100 in damage to each vessel. It also ran aground twice during its career.
On 8 September 1885, while transporting a cargo of cedar posts and cordwood, the Milton sank off Two Rivers, Wis., during an autumn storm. The entire crew of five men was lost—three of them brothers.
Even whalemen with little or no artistic talent could carve highly detailed scenes, through use of the pinprick technique. In this method, a picture was cut from a contemporary magazine and then pasted or dampened to stick to the polished surface of a sperm whale's tooth. A sharp pin was then pushed through the lines of the image, which was then removed. This left lines of dots; when these were connected with engraved lines, they formed a copy of the original picture. Most commonly, lamp black (soot) was then rubbed into the engraved lines to make them stand out from the background of the tooth, although colored pigments like those on this tooth also could be applied for variety. The high fashion of this lady's garments bracket a date just a few years after the end of the Civil War.
The bony substance from the mouths of whales known as baleen is formed of keratin, like human hair and nails. It hangs in long, parallel sheets from the upper jaws of the blue, right, and minke whales, as well as other lesser-known species. Its hairy fringe filters food from seawater.
Dried out, baleen’s strength and flexibility made it ideal for buggy whips, corset busks, and umbrella ribs before the advent of plastic. A whale’s bone could actually be worth more than its oil. This man’s large umbrella has a wooden shaft, heavy hinged baleen ribs made in short sections, and an ivory handle. Marked “G. Hobbs, Barre,” it belonged to the donor’s grandfather, who lived in Barre, Massachusetts, until around the end of the Civil War.
After some species of whales were killed, their carcasses sank. Other species, like the right whale, floated. A whale that sank represented a major loss to the whaleship crews, who had risked their lives to capture the creatures.
To prevent this sort of loss and maximize a whaleship’s efficiency, Thomas Roys of the whaling port of Southampton, on Long Island, N.Y., patented an apparatus for “Raising Dead Whales From the Bottom of the Sea.” There is little evidence that many American whalers tried the device or that it found widespread use in the industry.
The extreme clipper ship Challenge was built at New York by the famous shipbuilder William H. Webb. At its launch in May 1851, the $150,000 Challenge was the largest merchant ship ever built, measuring 227 feet in length by 42 feet in beam and 2006 tons. The high length:beam ratio of 5.4:1 was what made the three-decker an extreme clipper, and it set a few speed records over the course of its working life.
The Challenge was expected to set a record on its maiden voyage, and Capt. Robert H. Waterman was offered a $10,000 bonus if he could drive the ship to San Francisco in under 90 days. He pushed his 60-man crew hard, but poor weather and a mutiny by 50 crewmen off Rio slowed the Challenge to a 108-day trip. The mutiny and the unrelated death of seven crew on that maiden voyage gave the ship a bad reputation. Capt. Waterman was relieved of his command after reaching San Francisco, but the next master had to pay a signing bonus of $200 to lure new crewmen aboard for a China trip. Another mutiny on this second leg of the maiden voyage occurred as well—testament to how driven these men were to sail hard and fast.
Over the next decade as a China clipper, an additional mutiny, widespread crew illnesses, frequent dismastings and leaks, and other events cemented the bad reputation of the vessel. It was sold to its captain for $9,350 in 1861. The Challenge changed hands a few more times before sinking off the Brittany coast in February 1877.
This wooden surgical case with brass fittings has three main compartments, one of which is a tray that lifts out from the lower case. The interior of the case is molded so that each instrument has its own compartment. The entire interior is lined with purple velvet. The exterior of the lid has an oval escutcheon which is marked, "U.S.A./ Hosp. Dept." The set includes 45 instruments, three of which are not original to the set. At least six instruments are missing, including four knives and a bandage scissors.
During the Civil War the United States Army contracted with several surgical instrument makers, including Herman Hernstein to provide surgical sets for the Union troops.
As a young boy in Germany Hermann Hernstein was apprenticed to a surgical instrument maker. He came to the United States in 1841 and settled in New York City. Within a few years, he had established his own shop.
According to Edmonson much of Hernstein’s inventory was imported from Europe.
Description
Surgical kits were not required on merchant vessels, but the larger and better-equipped ships often carried them. These were used for everything from pulling teeth to the amputation of limbs, and everything in between. Like the medicine chests, these kits too were often sold with simple pamphlets, with instructions and diagrams on how to use them in emergencies. The captain or first mate most commonly carried out any needed procedures.