Industry & Manufacturing
The Museum's collections document centuries of remarkable changes in products, manufacturing processes, and the role of industry in American life. In the bargain, they preserve artifacts of great ingenuity, intricacy, and sometimes beauty.
The carding and spinning machinery built by Samuel Slater about 1790 helped establish the New England textile industry. Nylon-manufacturing machinery in the collections helped remake the same industry more than a century later. Machine tools from the 1850s are joined by a machine that produces computer chips. Thousands of patent models document the creativity of American innovators over more than 200 years.
The collections reach far beyond tools and machines. Some 460 episodes of the television series Industry on Parade celebrate American industry in the 1950s. Numerous photographic collections are a reminder of the scale and even the glamour of American industry.
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Meissen coffee pot and cover
- Description
- MARKS: Crossed swrods in underglaze blue; "17" impressed.
- PURCHASED FROM: M.J.Ullmann, New York, 1948.
- This coffeepot is part of the Smithsonian’s Hans Syz Collection of Meissen Porcelain. Dr. Syz (1894-1991) began his collection in the early years of World War II, when he purchased eighteenth-century Meissen table wares from the Art Exchange run by the New York dealer Adolf Beckhardt (1889-1962). Dr. Syz, a Swiss immigrant to the United States, collected Meissen porcelain while engaged in a professional career in psychoanalysis and the research of human behavior. He believed that cultural artifacts have an important role to play in enhancing our awareness and understanding of human creativity and its communication among peoples. His collection grew to represent this conviction.
- The invention of Meissen porcelain, declared over three hundred years ago early in 1709, was a collective achievement that represents an early modern precursor to industrial chemistry and materials science. The porcelains we see in our museum collections, made in the small town of Meissen in Germany, were the result of an intense period of empirical research. Generally associated with artistic achievement of a high order, Meissen porcelain was also a technological achievement in the development of inorganic, non-metallic materials.
- This pear-shaped coffeepot, reminiscent of metal prototypes, has a wishbone handle with a domed lid that has a pine kernel on the top. The insects and flowers painted on the pot are in the style of prints published after the original botanical and insect studies by the Flemish artist Joris (Georg) Hoefnagel (1542-1601). Joris Hoefnagel, who became court painter to the Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, employed his nineteen year old son Jacob to engrave the plates for the publication in 1592 of the Archetypa Studiaque Patris Georgii Hoefnagelii. After his father’s death Jacob Hoefnagel succeeded him as court painter to Rudolf II.
- Prints after the Hoefnagel originals were so much in demand among artists and craftworkers, that the Nuremberg publishers purchased the copperplates and produced several further editions in the seventeenth century. The Nuremberg printmaker and publisher, Christoph Weigel (1654-1725), produced another edition in the early eighteenth century, which explains why a visual source from the late sixteenth century appears on Meissen porcelain nearly one hundred and fifty years later. (See Cassidy-Geiger, M., Graphic Sources for Meissen Porcelain, in Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 31, 1996, pp.99-126). However, when this coffeepot was made in 1740 the Hoefnagel style of trompe l’oeil was about to give way to the fashion for painting sprays of German flowers (deutsche blumen) on Meissen porcelain. This development indicated the beginnings of a preference for decorative motifs with local significance that struck a chord with an awakening sense of German national identity. By 1740, when this coffee pot was made, Meissen had a large, well-trained painting staff run by Johann Gregor Höroldt. Painters tended to specialize in figurative subjects, fruits and flowers, birds and animals, battle scenes, landscapes, harbor scenes, all of which were part of the repertoire by the middle of the eighteenth century. This coffeepot made in 1740 marks the transition from early modern sources of imagery to contemporary sources.
- The seventeenth and eighteenth century expansion in the manufacture of consumer goods made more desirable and fashionable with ornamentation promoted the production of printed images and pattern books to which artisans could refer for their designs. The manufacturers of ceramics and printed textiles, interior painters and wallpaper makers, furniture makers, and embroiderers made use of these sources for surface decoration. When available, undecorated porcelain was taken into the workshops of professional enamel painters, the so-called Hausmaler or home painters. Amateur enamellers also painted white porcelain when they could acquire some.
- On the history of the introduction of tea, coffee, and chocolate to Europe see Bowman, P.B., 1995, In Praise of Hot Liquors: The Study of Chocolate, Coffee and Tea-drinking 1600-1850.
- On ornament see Snodin, M.,Howard, M., 1996, Ornament: A Social History Since 1450, especially the chapter “Ornament and the Printed Image”.
- Syz, H., Rückert, R., Miller, J. J. II., 1979, Catalogue of the Hans Syz Collection: Meissen Porcelain and Hausmalerei, pp. 358-359.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1740
- 1740
- maker
- Meissen Manufactory
- ID Number
- 1983.0565.49
- collector/donor number
- 797
- accession number
- 1983.0565
- catalog number
- 1983.0565.49
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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"We Can Do It!"
- Description
- Artist J. Howard Miller produced this work-incentive poster for the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company. Though displayed only briefly in Westinghouse factories, the poster in later year has become one of the most famous icons of World War II.
- As women were encouraged to take wartime jobs in defense industries, they became a celebrated symbol of female patriotism. But when the war ended, many industries forced women to relinquish their skilled jobs to returning veterans.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- ca 1942
- commissioner
- Westinghouse Electric Corporation
- distributor
- War Production Coordinating Committee
- maker
- Miller, J. Howard
- ID Number
- 1985.0851.05
- accession number
- 1985.0851
- catalog number
- 1985.0851.05
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Save American Industry
- Description
- A poster advertising "Save American Industry and Jobs Day" on June 21, 1986.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1986
- associated date
- June 21, 1986
- finder
- Smithsonian Institution
- maker
- Allied Printing Trades Council
- ID Number
- 1986.0646.05
- accession number
- 1986.0646
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Save American Industry & Jobs Day
- Description
- A poster advertising, "Save American Industry and Jobs Day" on June 21, 1986.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1986
- associated date
- June 21, 1986
- finder
- Smithsonian Institution
- maker
- Allied Printing Trades Council
- ID Number
- 1986.0646.06
- accession number
- 1986.0646
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Embroidered Lace-Knit Glove or Mitt
- Description
- This black machine knitted net fingerless glove is embellished with embroidered flowers on both the front and the back. The flower spray is backed with fabric inside the glove. Pink silk thread is used for the French knots and bud centers, while coils of gold and silver laminated threads are couched onto a background fabric for flowers, stems and leaves. Every flower center is decorated with a cut green glass bead. The glove has probably never been worn.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1880-1910
- used date
- 1900-1910
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- TE.E351638.000
- catalog number
- E351638.000
- accession number
- 115408
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Blue Bull's Eye for a Railroad Lantern
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- est. 1899
- 1914-1915
- circa 1899-1915
- maker
- Macbeth-Evans Glass Company
- ID Number
- CE.919
- catalog number
- 919
- accession number
- 58571
- catalog number
- MT919
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Levi Strauss, 1991 Terms of Engagement (English)
- Description
- Levi Strauss & Co. pioneered supplier workplace codes of conduct with its Terms of Engagement in 1991. This pamphlet was published in English. Levi’s commitment to workplace responsibility was tested in 1992 when a news report revealed that a supplier in Saipan was abusing its workforce. Mostly immigrants, the workers were working as much as eleven-hours a day, seven days a week, for as little as $1.65 an hour with no overtime pay (the minimum wage in Saipan was $2.15 an hour). The story was especially embarrassing because the Northern Mariana Islands, a protectorate of the United States, was allowed to label the goods Made in the USA. Levi’s canceled their contract.
- date made
- 1995
- ID Number
- 1998.3024.01
- catalog number
- 1998.3024.01
- nonaccession number
- 1998.3024
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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"What Hath God Wrought" Telegraph Message
- Description
- Printed in Morse code, transcribed and signed by Samuel Morse himself, this message was transmitted from Baltimore to Washington, D.C., over the nation's first long-distance telegraph line.
- In 1843, Congress allocated $30,000 for Morse to build an electric telegraph line between Washington and Baltimore. Morse and his partner, Alfred Vail, completed the forty-mile line in May 1844. For the first transmissions, they used a quotation from the Bible, Numbers 23:23: "What hath God wrought." Morse, in the Capitol, sent the message to Vail at Mt. Claire Station in Baltimore. This paper tape is Vail’s return message confirming what was received.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1844-05-25
- 1844-05-24
- associated date
- 1844-05-24
- donated
- 1900-04-18
- associated person
- Morse, Samuel Finley Breese
- maker
- Morse, Samuel Finley Breese
- ID Number
- EM.001028
- catalog number
- 001028
- accession number
- 65555
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Miner's Electric Cap Lamp
- Description
- This electric cap mining lamp was made by the Witherbee Igniter Co. of Springfield, Massachusetts in the early 1900’s. Witherbee started as a manufacturer of magnetos to ignite internal combustion engines. Witherbee became the Wico Electronic Company and also manufactured batteries, which were used in a variety of applications such as this electric cap lamp. The lamp’s battery casing bears the stamped insignia of the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Mines with the text “PERMISSIBLE / PORTABLE / ELECTRIC MINIE LAMP / APPROVAL No. 14.” The lamp consists of a battery encased in a self-locking steel case worn on the miner’s belt. A flexible cord traveled to the cap lamp, which would be worn on the miner’s helmet.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-8150
- accession number
- 239148
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-8150
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Hanging Tunnel Lamp
- Description
- This hanging tunnel lamp was made by an unknown maker during the 17th century. The hanging tunnel extremely popular in Germany and in the United States as German’s immigrated to America. The lamp consists of a large font with a hinged door with room for a wick. These hinged lids allowed for larger fonts with less fuel spilling. The chain could also swivel, allowing the miner to easily point his light in the desired direction.
- Electric cap lamp inventor Grant Wheat’s personal collection of mining lamps was donated to the museum in 1962. Many of these objects were depicted in his “Story of Underground Lighting” published in the “Proceedings of the Illinois Mining Institute” in 1945. This lamp is 16th in his chronological development of underground lighting, and Wheat claims that it is a “300 year old ‘Betty type’ lamp used in the silver mines of Mexico.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-8167
- accession number
- 239148
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-8167
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Miner’s Cap
- Description (Brief)
- This canvas miner’s cap has a leather brim, with a leather and metal lamp bracket attached to the front. The lamp bracket could have held either an oil-wick lamp or a carbide lamp. The leather part of the bracket is stamped with the text “PATENTED LAMPHOLDER/”DOUBLE SAFETY”/GUARDS FOREHEAD.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-8218
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-8218
- accession number
- 241803
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Miner's Cap Lamp
- Description (Brief)
- This lamp is an oil-wick cap lamp. The oil-wick cap lamp was first invented in Scotland in 1850 and remained in use until the 1920’s. The font contained a mix of fat and oil for fuel, and a wick was inserted into the spout. The resulting light was much brighter and more efficient than the candles it replaced. The hook enabled the lamp to be worn on a cap, or hooked onto any other suitable location.
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-8467
- accession number
- 253945
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-8467
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Miner’s Safety Lamp
- Description (Brief)
- This is a safety lamp manufactured by the Friemann and Wolf Company of Zwickau, Germany in the late 19th century. The Friemann and Wolf Company was a prominent lamp manufacturer that exported their lamps to the U.S. until World War I, when buying German products became unpopular. This lamp is one of the most popular Wolf designs, employing a glass enclosure, wire gauze on the top-interior, and a metal bonnet exterior to protect the flame.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-8771
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-8771
- accession number
- 265669
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Miner's Electric Cap Lamp
- Description (Brief)
- This Model "K" lamp was manufactured in 1931 by the Edison Storage Battery Company. The Edison Cap Lamp consisted of a battery encased in a self-locking steel case worn on the miner’s belt. A flexible cord traveled to the cap lamp, and its entrance into the battery was protected by a flexible steel cover. The battery could power the six-candlepower lamps for 12 hours and was recharged at the end of a miner’s shift.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-8948
- accession number
- 236603
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-8948
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Miner’s Cap Lamp
- Description (Brief)
- This oil-wick cap lamp was made by an unknown maker during the second half of the 19th century. The oil-wick cap lamp was first invented in Scotland in 1850 and in use until the 1920’s. The font contained a mix of fat and oil for fuel, and a wick was inserted into the spout. The resulting flame was much brighter and more efficient than the candles it replaced. The hook enabled the lamp to be worn on a cap.
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MT-3368
- accession number
- 239341
- catalog number
- MHI-MT-3368
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Stoneware jug
- Description
- Israel Seymour operated a pottery in Troy, New York from about 1809 to 1865. This beautifully formed jug is a fine example of much of the stoneware made by New York potters--simple utilitarian pieces, without adornment, that met the needs of the people who used them.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1824-1850
- maker
- Seymour, Israel
- ID Number
- CE.319884.79
- catalog number
- 319884.079
- accession number
- 319884
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Patent model for printers' quoins
- Description (Brief)
- This patent model demonstrates an invention for a three-part quoin, the parts being held together by a key passing through a slot in the central wedge; the invention was granted patent number 148308. Roughened sides of the quoin prevented slippage on other furniture.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1874
- patent date
- 1874-03-10
- maker
- Lame, Samuel C.
- Briggs, Ferdinand Sherwin
- ID Number
- 1996.0062.11
- patent number
- 148308
- accession number
- 1996.0062
- catalog number
- 1996.0062.11
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Miner's Safety Lamp
- Description (Brief)
- This lamp was manufactured by the J. Davies & Son Ltd. from Baltimore, Maryland in the late 19th century. The “safety” mining lamp was a tremendous step forward in preventing mining disasters. Encasing the flame in glass or metal gauze prevented the combustible gases (called firedamp) from exploding, as would happen with the open flames of carbide or oil-wick lamps. This lamp’s exterior metal coating is called a “bonnet” and was a big improvement in safety lamp design.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-7721
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-7721
- accession number
- 235039
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Miner's Safety Lamp
- Description (Brief)
- This lamp's manufacturer is unknown, but based on its design, it was most likely made in the late 19th century. The safety mining lamp was a tremendous step forward in preventing mining disasters. Encasing the flame in glass or metal gauze prevented the combustible mining gases (called firedamp) from exploding, as would happen with the open flames of carbide or oil-wick lamps.
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-7722
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-7722
- accession number
- 235039
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Miner's Cap Lamp
- Description (Brief)
- This lamp's manufacturer is unknown, but based on its design it was most likely made in the latter half of the 19th century. This is an oil-wick cap lamp, where the font contained a fuel consisting of lard and oil, the proportions subject to what was most affordable and available to miners at the time. The hook enabled the lamp to be worn on a cap and the spout bezel protected the cap from wick drippings.
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-7727
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-7727
- accession number
- 235038
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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- Work and Industry: Manufacturing 4815
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