Natural Resources

Whaler's Allen's Gun Harpoon

Description

In the later 19th century, guns with explosive charges shooting the harpoons took the place of hand tools for catching and killing whales. They were much safer, for they could be shot at a whale from greater distances than a hand lance could be applied. They also penetrated the whale’s skin deeper and were harder for the animal to dislodge.

Gun harpoons were also far more efficient, for the steam whalers could approach the prey directly and did not need labor-intensive whaleboats and their highly trained crews any longer.

Designed to be fired from a shoulder gun, this nonexplosive style of harpoon was invented by Oliver Allen of Norwich, Conn. to fasten to whales prior to killing.

date made

mid-1800s

harpoons replaced hand tools

late 19th century

patentee

Allen, Oliver

inventor

Allen, Oliver

ID Number

AG.056230

catalog number

056230

accession number

012333

patent number

5949

Data Source

National Museum of American History

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

Whaleship Skimmer

Description

After a whale’s blubber was melted down into oil in the try-pots, a few solids, like skin and gristle, remained floating on the surface of the oil. These were removed with a skimmer. The tool’s long handle helped keep the crew from being burned or splashed with hot oil. The leftover oily pieces of flesh, or “fritters,” were then tossed under the pots and recycled into fuel to keep the fires burning.

date made

1880s

ID Number

1990.0018.066

catalog number

1990.0018.066

accession number

1990.0018

Data Source

National Museum of American History

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

Whaler's Head Spade

Description

Once a whale was caught, killed, and brought alongside the mother ship, the outer flesh and fat layer, or blubber, was peeled off the carcass. Then the remains were drawn onto the vessel’s deck for further processing.

The heavy head spade was used for decapitating the whale, by chopping through the vertebrae at the base of the animal’s skull. Then the head and bone could be further processed.

ID Number

1990.0018.102

catalog number

1990.0018.102

accession number

1990.0018

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Whaler's Carved Bailer Handle

Description

Whalemen used long-handled bailers to remove hot whale oil from large try-pots into cooling tanks, and from those tanks into storage barrels. They had long handles to prevent the handler from being splashed or burned with molten oil.

This example’s wooden handle has figures of whales whittled into its surface to indicate the number and species of mammals that crossed its greasy path. The “B.H.” refers to bowhead, “S” for sperm, “H.B.” for humpback, and “W” for right whale.

date made

1828

ID Number

AG.055809

catalog number

55809

accession number

12284

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Whaler's Whalebone Scraper

Description

This odd tool was used to scrape the flesh off the bones from a freshly caught whale. It was the last step in processing the whale’s body before the bone was partially dried on deck and then stowed below in the cargo hold. Once the ship was back in port, the bone was placed on end in large yards to dry further.

The bone and baleen—rows of bony strips in a whale’s upper jaw that filter food from seawater—from a whaling voyage could yield as much as $50,000, or even greater profits than the oil itself. Baleen served a wide variety of purposes from buggy whips to umbrella ribs to women’s corset stays.

date made

1880s

ID Number

AG.057778

catalog number

057778

accession number

012278

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Whale Hoist Patent Model

Description

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.

Date made

1862

patentee

Roys, Thomas W.

ID Number

AG.332326

catalog number

332326

accession number

94380

patent number

35476

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Whaler's Monkey Belt

Description

After a whale was captured and killed, its carcass was towed by the whaleboat to the side of the mother ship for processing. Cutting up the whale was done by crewmen standing on a wooden plank, or cutting stage, rigged out over the side of the ship so that they could stand directly over the body. Crewmen used this canvas “monkey belt” to secure themselves while they stripped the whale of its blubber. It was dangerous and slippery work. If a sailor slid into the water he risked drowning or being attacked by sharks looking for an easy meal.

date made

1883

ID Number

AG.057716

catalog number

057716

accession number

2009.0184

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Whaler's Blubber Fork

Description

Once a whale was killed and its blubber was cut up and hauled aboard the ship for processing, the chunks of flesh were moved around the slippery vessel with long-handled, two-tined blubber forks. These forks were used to pitch the pieces of minced blubber into the hot try-pots to boil it down into oil. The long handles prevented sore backs from too much bending over and protected the men from getting too close to the boiling oil.

date made

mid-1800s

ID Number

AG.055818

catalog number

055818

accession number

012285

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Whale Harpoons, or Temple Toggle Irons

Description

While the African American blacksmith and former slave Lewis Temple did not invent the harpoon toggle, his invention made it better. The first barb at the tip of the toggle iron was designed to penetrate the whale’s flesh. The second barb also went straight in. A small wooden peg holding the lower barb in place would then break when the whale pulled away, allowing the barbed head to swivel away from the shaft. The new T-shape of the barb prevented the dart from pulling out of its wound.

It was a harpooner’s responsibility to keep his tools sharp and well lubricated, to ensure that the toggle swiveled freely. Sometimes the men fashioned covers for the heads of their harpoons to keep them clean and dry until needed for use.

One of these irons, or gigs, is shown in the closed position for entering the whale’s flesh; the other is toggled open to show how much harder it was to pull out.

Date made

1882

inventor

Temple, Lewis

ID Number

AG.056244

catalog number

056244

accession number

012284

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Scrimshaw Whale Bone Food Chopper

Description

Simply carved and without any engraving, this food chopper, or mincer, was made in two pieces from a sperm whale’s jawbone. Its blunted, curved blade was used to chop soft foods such as bread dough, fruits, sausage, and animal fats. This example was donated by former Secretary of the Institution Spencer F. Baird (1823–1887) to the Smithsonian, where it became one of the earliest objects in the maritime collections.

date made

1800s

purchased

1876-11-30

ID Number

AG.024909

catalog number

24909

accession number

2009.0157

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Whalebone and Bone Umbrella

Description

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.

Date made

ca 1835-1865

user

Hobbs, George

ID Number

AG.169283.01

accession number

169283

catalog number

169283.01

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Whale Bone Seam Rubber

Description

Seam rubbers were part of a sail maker’s tool kit. They were used to smooth and flatten the seams of heavy canvas sailcloth, where two pieces were joined or the edges were hemmed before they were sewn. This unusually large example was probably carved from the panbone, part of a whale’s jaw.

date made

1800s

ID Number

AG.025793

accession number

4957

catalog number

025793

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Bone Dice

Description

Gambling usually was banned aboard whaling ships, on the grounds that it could cause too much strife among the crew. But “bones” or dice were easily concealed from a ship’s officers, and crews found out-of-the-way places to spend their free time wagering their earnings, tobacco, or other assets.

date made

1800s

ID Number

AG.024849.1

accession number

1875.4423

catalog number

24849.1

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Logbook, Whaling Bark Virginia of New Bedford

Description

This logbook chronicles six months of a whaling voyage to the Pacific whaling grounds by the bark Virginia of New Bedford, Mass. The voyage began in late August 1840.

Most official ship logbooks record wind, weather, and sail changes, directions and ports reached and cleared. This one was filled with extra details and a few drawings by its keeper, Thomas M. Peakes. On 16 December 1840, two whales were caught and processed. The figures inside the whale stamps for those events show the number of barrels of oil taken from each whale. The last word, “Amanda,” reveals the writer’s homesickness. Her name appears often, as do the words “home sweet home.”

On 31 January 1841, crewman Henry N. North fell overboard and almost perished before being rescued. Towards the end of March 1841, log keeper Peakes was injured himself and had to go ashore at Talcahuano, Chile. Virginia’s ship’s log ended here, after noting that a kindly local widow took Peakes into her home to help him regain his health. After a three-week recovery, Peakes shipped out for home on the whaler Montano.

date made

1840

ID Number

AG.056866

catalog number

56866

accession number

2009.0183

12306

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Whaler's Mincing Knife

Description

Whaling crews used mincing knives to cut the blubber strips into thin slices down to, but not through, the thick whale skin. This process increased the surface area of the blubber and helped it melt faster in the try-pots. Cut in this fashion, the sections of whale blubber and skin were known as “bible leaves” because they resembled the pages of a book.

date made

1876

collected

1876

ID Number

AG.025912

accession number

005019

catalog number

025912

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Whaler's Boarding Knife

Description

The work of carving blubber from a whale carcass and hauling the long, narrow strips of flesh, called “blanket pieces,” aboard the ship onto the deck was called “boarding.” The boarding knife was an extremely sharp, double-edged sword blade at the end of a short wooden pole. It served a variety of purposes, from cutting a hole in the whale’s flesh for the blubber hook, to cutting the long strips of flesh into shorter sections for further processing.

These tools were kept extremely sharp to cut the whale’s flesh easily. With the decks and tools so slippery from the whale processing, using them was reserved for the ship’s officers.

date made

1876

collected

1876

ID Number

AG.026608

catalog number

026608

accession number

4927

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Whalebone Thimble Eye

Description

This rope-strapped thimble carved from whalebone would have had a light rope through the eye for rigging, perhaps on a whaleboat.

These miniature items also served as children’s toys or curiosities back home. Toys in the form of miniature working ship parts were easy and quick for sailors to carve, and they did not require much skill to make. They also served as potent reminders of where and what the men were doing during their long absences from their friends and families.

date made

1800s

ID Number

AG.025801

catalog number

025801

accession number

2009.0182

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Whaler's Cutting Spade

Description

After a whale was captured, killed, and brought alongside the mother ship, its carcass had to be processed. First, a heavy hook was set into its skin and the hook’s line was taken aboard. Set on a long wooden handle, the cutting spade was used to cut “blanket pieces,” or long, thick, wide slices of skin and blubber from the body. The whale’s flesh was then hauled aboard for further processing. This example is marked “J.D. Cast Steel.”

date made

mid-1800s

ID Number

AG.237778

catalog number

237778

accession number

045474

Data Source

National Museum of American History