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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blanket
- Description
- Blanket
- Ca. 1850
- The step diamond pattern in the center indicates a Saltillo style serape or poncho popular and common from New Mexico to Guatemala. Thousands of head of sheep were brought in with the Spanish colonization and were well suited to the environment. Wool manufacture become an important part of the local economy. Local Indians already created weavings made from cotton and other plant products. The Spanish incorporated wool manufacturing techniques and encouraged the Indians to do more weaving. The industry died off when new trade brought in cotton cloth, but was revived again when the railroads brought in the tourist trade.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1880
- associated dates
- 1973 07 00 / 1973 07 00
- 1973 07 00 / 1973 07 00
- ID Number
- CL.307460.04
- accession number
- 307460
- catalog number
- 307460.04
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
