Energy & Power
The Museum's collections on energy and power illuminate the role of fire, steam, wind, water, electricity, and the atom in the nation's history. The artifacts include wood-burning stoves, water turbines, and windmills, as well as steam, gas, and diesel engines. Oil-exploration and coal-mining equipment form part of these collections, along with a computer that controlled a power plant and even bubble chambers—a tool of physicists to study protons, electrons, and other charged particles.
A special strength of the collections lies in objects related to the history of electrical power, including generators, batteries, cables, transformers, and early photovoltaic cells. A group of Thomas Edison's earliest light bulbs are a precious treasure. Hundreds of other objects represent the innumerable uses of electricity, from streetlights and railway signals to microwave ovens and satellite equipment.
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Patent Model of a Typesetting Machine
- Description (Brief)
- This patent model demonstrates an invention for improvements to typesetting machines, specifically in the control of type traveling from storage channels to assembly point. The invention was granted patent number 244723. Both Patentees Lorenz and Johnson had a financial interest in the Burr typesetting machine (see Lorenz's earlier patents).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1881
- patent date
- 1881-07-19
- maker
- Lorenz, William A.
- Johnson, Louis K.
- ID Number
- GA.89797.244723
- patent number
- 244723
- accession number
- 089797
- catalog number
- GA*89797.244723
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Electrically Welded Specimen, Bicycle Top Tubing
- Description
- This bicycle’s welded steel top tube was created using Elihu Thomson’s electric welding apparatus (see object number MC*181724). Welding samples demonstrated potential industrial applications of electric welding, and illustrations of these samples were published in journals, brochures, and advertisements. Elihu Thomson’s invention of electric welding in 1885 resulted in numerous applications including the manufacture of automobile parts, tools, screws, ball bearings, and wire lines. Thomson’s welding apparatus passed an electric current through two pieces of metal pressed together. Resistance to the current at the contact point between the metal pieces created heat and welded the metals together.
- Scientist and inventor Elihu Thomson (1853-1937) played a prominent role in the industrialization and electrification of America with over 700 patents in his name. His inventions and patents helped change the nature of industry in the United States and included the “uniflow” steam engine, automobile muffler, producing fused quartz, stereoscopic x-ray pictures, electric arc lamps, lightning arrestors, and perhaps most notably—the process of electrical welding. Thomson and partner Edwin Houston established the Thomson-Houston Electric Company in 1883. In 1892 Thomson-Houston merged with the Edison Electric Company to form General Electric.
- date made
- 1886
- maker
- Thomson, Elihu
- ID Number
- EM.181672
- catalog number
- 181672
- accession number
- 33015
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Display of Edison experimental light bulb filament
- Date made
- 1881
- maker
- Hammer, William J.
- Edison, Thomas Alva
- ID Number
- EM.320526
- catalog number
- 320526
- accession number
- 241402
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Harrison Lubricator, Patent Model
- Description
- This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to A. L. Harrison, of Bristol, Connecticut, March 2, 1880, no. 225124.
- The model represents a steam-engine lubricator in which the oil is contained in a reservoir fitted with a balanced diaphragm upon both sides of which the steam pressure in the main acts. The unbalanced pressure required to force oil into the steam is atmospheric pressure obtained by the use of a vacuum chamber when the engine is operating condensing, or the hydrostatic pressure of a water column when the engine is operating noncondensing.
- The lubricator consists of an oval chamber divided by a flexible diaphragm. The space above the diaphragm contains the oil and is connected through a glycerine-filled sign glass to the steam chest or cylinder of the engine. The space below the diaphragm is connected to the steam pipe from the boiler, so that steam pressure acts on both sides of the diaphragm. A rod attached to the center of the diaphragm passes through suitable stuffing boxes to a piston in a cylinder below the diaphragm chamber. The space above the piston is connected to the condenser of the engine so that atmospheric pressure will exert an unbalanced force upon the under side of the piston, and through it upon the diaphragm, sufficient to force the oil out of the lubricator into the engine. When used with a noncondensing engine a water column in the steam pipe connecting to the under side of the diaphragm provides an unbalanced hydrostatic pressure on the diaphragm.
- Reference:
- This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1880
- patent date
- 1880-03-02
- inventor
- Harrison, Andrew L.
- ID Number
- MC.308704
- catalog number
- 308704
- accession number
- 89797
- patent number
- 225,124
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Patent model for printing or decorating the surface of celluloid
- Description (Brief)
- This patent model demonstrates an invention for printing and decorating the surface of celluloid. A celluloid sheet was printed, and then heated under pressure against a polished sheet to finish the surface. The invention was granted patent number 346376. Model consists of two photogravure specimens.
- The patent rights were assigned to the Celluloid Manufacturing Company, New York. Marshall Clifford Lefferts (born 1848) first worked with the American Telegraph Company. In 1870 he joined with the new Celluloid Manufacturing Company, of which he became president in 1890.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1886
- patent date
- 1886-07-27
- patentee
- Lefferts, Marshall C.
- ID Number
- GA.89797.346376
- accession number
- 089797
- patent number
- 346376
- catalog number
- GA*89797.346376
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Leuchsenring Rotary Water Engine, Patent Model
- Description
- This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to Robert Leuchsenring, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, March 9, 1880, no. 225226.
- This is a form of engine in which a drum-shaped rotor turns in a casing, which is eccentric to the center of the drum, so that the drum runs against one part of the casing and a crescent-shaped annular space is formed between the casing and the drum. Water is admitted tangentially to the drum to one side of and away from the point at which the drum and casing meet. The water impinges upon abutments on the drum, turns the drum, and discharges from the engine about two-thirds of the way around the casing. The abutments on the drum slide into the drum to pass the casing and are held against the casings by springs.
- Reference:
- This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1880
- patent date
- 1880-03-09
- inventor
- Leuchsenring, Robert
- ID Number
- MC.308709
- catalog number
- 308709
- accession number
- 89797
- patent number
- 225,226
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Patent Model of a Book-stitching Machine
- Description (Brief)
- This patent model demonstrates an invention for improvements to the method of feeding sheets to a book-sewing mechanism; the invention was granted patent number 250987. David Smyth (1833-1907), was a prolific inventor in many fields of manufacturing before patenting his first book-sewing machine in 1868. Ultimately his machines redefined bookbinding, in the term Smyth-sewn. The model is incomplete.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1881
- patent date
- 1881-12-13
- maker
- Smyth, David McConnel
- ID Number
- GA.89797.250987
- patent number
- 250987
- accession number
- 089797
- catalog number
- GA*89797.250987
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Wheelock Valve and Valve Seat Model
- Description
- This is a nicely made model of the valve and valve seat patented by Jerome Wheelock, of Worcester, Massachusetts, September 22, 1885, no. 326820.
- The model represents a wide gridiron slide valve assembled on a skeletonized taper plug, which serves as the valve seat and supports the rock shaft connected to the slide by links or “toggles.” The whole assembly is designed to fit into a taper hole bored into the cylinder block and connected by suitable ports to the cylinder. The advantage of this arrangement over ordinary plug valves is that it does not require that a valve seat be formed within the large cylinder casting, and it permits the delicate fitting of the valve to the valve seat to be performed at a work bench or upon a machine away from the engine.
- The complete Wheelock valve gear (U.S. patent number 326819) consists of one steam valve and one exhaust valve at each end of a cylinder with the rock arms of the exhaust valves permanently connected to the eccentric, so that the valve is at rest during part of the travel of the eccentric, while the steam valves are connected through a detachable latch so that they may be detached and closed quickly at any point during the stroke of the piston.
- Reference:
- This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1885
- ID Number
- MC.310251
- catalog number
- 310251
- accession number
- 108073
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Royal Worcester reticulated teapot
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1886
- maker
- Worcester Royal Porcelain Company
- ID Number
- CE.P-1103Bab
- catalog number
- P-1103Bab
- accession number
- 225282
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Hay Gravity-Feed Oiler, Patent Model
- Description
- This oiler was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to Peter D. Hay (assignor to the Michigan Lubricator Co.), of Detroit, Michigan, June 9, 1888, no. 384762.
- The model represents a sight-feed oiler in which the oil is contained in a cylindrical glass reservoir and flows by gravity through a needle valve to the bearing into which the oiler is screwed. The needle of the needle valve when closed is held against its seat by a light spring. It is opened by lifting the needle and giving it a short turn so that a pin on the shaft rises out of a slot and rests on the top edge of a brass thumb nut screwed into the central pot of the oiler. This nut may be run up or down on its threads and so determine the amount by which the needle will be raised and held from its seat and so control the rate at which oil is fed from the reservoir. The nut carries a spring-held pin that rests in shallow recesses in the top of the oiler and holds the nut in the position in which it is set and will not permit the nut to be jarred around by the vibration of the machine to which it is attached.
- Reference:
- This description comes from the 1939 Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States Museum Bulletin 173 by Frank A. Taylor.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1888
- patent date
- 1888-06-19
- inventor
- Hay, Peter D.
- ID Number
- MC.309248
- catalog number
- 309248
- accession number
- 89797
- patent number
- 384,762
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Whaler's Harpoon with Toggle Head
- Description
- The first step in catching a whale was throwing at least two sharp harpoons into its back, to ensure that the whaleboat was securely fastened to its prey. Harpoon shafts were made of soft wrought iron, so that they would bend and not break off when twisted, which risked losing the wounded whale.
- A line at the bottom of the harpoon’s wooden handle attached it to the whaleboat. Once in the whale’s flesh, the sharp toggle tip swiveled sideways, making it harder for the tip of the weapon to pull out. Whales normally dove deep after the first prick, to try and escape the sharp jab from the surface of the ocean. This harpoon shaft was twisted by a descending whale.
- date made
- 1882
- maker
- D. & D.
- ID Number
- AG.056237
- catalog number
- 056237
- accession number
- 012284
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Whaler's Fluke Lance
- Description
- The most dangerous act in the dangerous business of whaling was “spading flukes.” The whaleboat drew up close alongside a desperate, unpredictable whale on the water surface, and a crewman used a boat spade or fluke lance to sever the whale’s tail tendons. This effectively immobilized the prey, for the whale couldn’t swim without its tail.
- According to James Temple Brown, who wrote the 1883 catalog of the Smithsonian’s whaling collection, the fluke lance was exceedingly rare and was regarded as “a monstrosity by all the fraternity”. This rare inscribed example was used aboard the starboard whaleboat of the bark Sea Fox.
- Date made
- ca 1880-1889
- authored whaling reference material
- Brown, James Temple
- maker
- Driggs, James D.
- ID Number
- TR.056358
- catalog number
- 056358
- accession number
- 012298
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Patent Model of a Lithographic Scraper Press
- Description (Brief)
- This patent model demonstrates an invention for a lithographic scraper press which was granted patent number 228271. The patent describes a method of mounting a scraper to a swinging arm to produce more even pressure in "Photo-Mechanical Presses.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1880
- patent date
- 1880-06-01
- maker
- Parks, John A.
- ID Number
- GA.89797.228271
- patent number
- 228271
- accession number
- 089797
- catalog number
- GA*89797.228271
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Electrically Welded Specimen, Bicycle Pedal
- Description
- This bicycle’s welded steel pedal was created using Elihu Thomson’s electric welding apparatus (see object number MC*181724). Welding samples demonstrated the potential industrial applications of electric welding, and illustrations of these samples were published in journals, brochures, and advertisements. Elihu Thomson’s invention of electric welding in 1885 resulted in numerous industrial applications including the manufacture of automobile parts, tools, screws, ball bearings, and wire lines. Thomson’s welding apparatus pressed two pieces of metal together while an electric current ran through the metal. Resistance to the current at the contact point between the metal pieces created heat and welded the metals together.
- Scientist and inventor Elihu Thomson (1853-1937) played a prominent role in the industrialization and electrification of America with over 700 patents in his name. His inventions and patents helped change the nature of industry in the United States and included the “uniflow” steam engine, automobile muffler, producing fused quartz, stereoscopic x-ray pictures, electric arc lamps, lightning arrestors, and perhaps most notably—the process of electrical welding. Thomson and partner Edwin Houston established a variety of companies to manage his industrial interests. In 1892, his Thomson-Houston Electric Company merged with the Edison Electric Company to form General Electric.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1886
- maker
- Thomson, Elihu
- ID Number
- EM.181681
- catalog number
- 181681
- accession number
- 33015
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Whaler's Hand Lance
- Description
- After harpoons fastened the whale and whaleboat together, a whale was given plenty of time and rope to dive, try to swim away, and otherwise wear itself out. Once the exhausted animal returned to the surface to breathe, the whaleboat approached it, and a hand lance, also known as a killing iron, was used to actually dispatch the animal.
- Hand lances had long shafts, to allow the point to penetrate deep into the whale’s body in search of the thick neck arteries. The tips of the killing irons were leaf or oval shaped and extremely sharp, so that they cut on the way in and on the way out, and were easier to remove and stab repeatedly. Cutting the neck arteries prevented the animal from deep diving and hastened its bleeding to death.
- This nickel-plated example was manufactured and donated by Luther Cole of Fairhaven, Mass.
- Date made
- 1880s
- maker
- Cole, Luther
- ID Number
- AG.056357
- accession number
- 012326
- catalog number
- 056357
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Fire at the Atlantic Refining Company
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1884-05-23
- ID Number
- PG.66.24.36
- catalog number
- 66.24.36
- accession number
- 263090
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Plate 95. Mechanicsville, Virginia
- Description
- Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by John Reekie, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
- A pretentious title for a collection of about a dozen ordinary Virginia houses, including blacksmith shop and store; yet what memories crowd upon the mind at the mention of its name. Memories of the grand old Army of the Potomac, in its youthful flush, digging, hewing, and battling courageously with the Confederates, and their deadly ally, the Chickahominy; of tropical rains that in a day would transform luxuriant meadows into lakes, and make surging floods where before were stagnant pools; of bridges, built through swamps by armed battalions, and of that storm of battle which ended at Malvern Hill. Early in June, 1862, as the Army of the Potomac extended its wings along both banks of the Chickahominy, Mechanicsville fell into our possession. There was a struggle at Beaver Dam Creek and on the neighboring fields, the defenders finally retreating in disorder down the pike, and over the bridge, towards Richmond, three and a half miles distant. The skirmishers sacked the store and dwellings, the blacksmith's forge was immediately put in use by the cavalry and artillery, and the surgeons took possession of the houses for hospitals.
- The pickets of each army watched the bridge with jealous eyes till the Union lines were withdrawn, on the 26th of June, and the enemy retaking the village, forced an engagement at Beaver Dam Creek, where they were repulsed by Fitz John Porter's troops. The two-story house, with a fence, seen in the photograph, is on the turnpike to Richmond. In front of this house a barricade was thrown across the road, which was defended by two howitzers, planted to sweep the pike in case a dash should be made by the enemy for the recovery of the place.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1865-04
- maker
- Gardner, Alexander
- ID Number
- 1986.0711.0283.45
- accession number
- 1986.0711
- catalog number
- 1986.0711.0283.45
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Knife
- Description
- A knife was an essential tool on a whaleboat, where the quick cutting of a tangled line snagged on a man’s ankle or on an object in the boat could mean the difference between life or death.
- Date made
- 1880s
- ID Number
- TR.103026
- catalog number
- 103026
- accession number
- 12328
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Benjamin Harrison Inaugural Medal
- Description (Brief)
- This inaugural medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1889. 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 medals.
- Obverse: Bust of Benjamin Harrison facing left. The legend reads: BENJAMIN HARRISON PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.
- Reverse: Image of the United States Capitol with the legend: INAUGURATED MARCH 4, 1889.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1889
- depicted
- Harrison, Benjamin
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1230
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1230
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Major General Franz Sigel 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 buttons, daguerreotype mats, and medals. Sigel was a German officer who immigrated to the United States and served as a Colonel and Major General of the 3rd Missouri Infantry during the Civil War.
- Obverse: Bust of Franz Sigel facing forward. The legend reads: MAJ. GEN. FRANZ SIGEL/ MISSOURI. VIRGINIA.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1860
- depicted
- Sigel, Franz
- maker
- Scovill Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 1981.0296.1151
- accession number
- 1981.0296
- catalog number
- 1981.0296.1151
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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