Natural Resources
The natural resources collections offer centuries of evidence about how Americans have used the bounty of the American continent and coastal waters. Artifacts related to flood control, dam construction, and irrigation illustrate the nation's attempts to manage the natural world. Oil-drilling, iron-mining, and steel-making artifacts show the connection between natural resources and industrial strength.
Forestry is represented by saws, axes, a smokejumper's suit, and many other objects. Hooks, nets, and other gear from New England fisheries of the late 1800s are among the fishing artifacts, as well as more recent acquisitions from the Pacific Northwest and Chesapeake Bay. Whaling artifacts include harpoons, lances, scrimshaw etchings in whalebone, and several paintings of a whaler's work at sea. The modern environmental movement has contributed buttons and other protest artifacts on issues from scenic rivers to biodiversity.
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Honeywell Kills People
- Location
- Currently not on view
- referenced
- Honeywell Inc.
- maker
- Horn Company, Philadelphia
- Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam
- ID Number
- 2018.0158.316
- accession number
- 2018.0158
- catalog number
- 2018.0158.316
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Pennsylvania Electrotype Company
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1920
- ca 1940
- graphic artist
- Pennsylvania Electrotype Company
- ID Number
- 2013.0065.05
- accession number
- 2013.0065
- catalog number
- 2013.0065.05
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Ship Launching Bottle
- Description
- In celebration of Memorial Day on May 30, 1919, the Hog Island Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, launched five freighters in 48 minutes. This bottle was smashed against the bow of the Luxpalile by Laura Andrew, wife of the ship-construction manager at Hog Island, as she christened the last ship. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels spoke to 50,000 spectators before the launchings, and declared that Hog Island would become the center of American shipbuilding. “Never again will the United States be guilty of the folly of trusting its foreign commerce to foreign bottoms,” he said, referring to the country’s reliance on Allies’ vessels during World War I because its merchant fleet was so small. “We will not quit the shipbuilding industry. We will put it on a solid and firm and sound basis. We will build big ships and bigger ships . . . . The genius, statesmanship, and skill of America must be united in the development of a merchant marine,” Daniels concluded as the first ship was launched.
- The shipyard at Hog Island was part of a model project during World War I to produce prefabricated ships. Before then, builders touted their abilities to construct a variety of customized vessels within a single shipyard. But the growing demand for a larger merchant fleet convinced some that yards should specialize in a few standard types. Inspired by automaker Henry Ford’s production of Eagle-class submarine chasers, a template system was developed for the construction of identical parts that would be assembled elsewhere, such as at shipyards like Hog Island.
- Subcontractors prefabricated 95 percent of each “Hog Islander,” the nickname for vessels built at the shipyard, and shipped the materials to one of Hog Island’s storage sites located along 80 miles of Pennsylvania Railroad tracks. From there, the parts would be assembled by some of Hog Island’s 30,000 workers and placed on one of 50 slipways, the ramps used to construct and later launch a ship. This theoretical procedure, however, never matched the realities of the operation. Hog Island’s sheer size and dependence on numerous subcontractors likely contributed to its failure to complete even one of the 122 vessels in time to be used during the war. A postwar recession forced Hog Island to close in 1921, but builders learned from the experiment. New shipyards were only a quarter of the size of Hog Island, and many avoided substantial use of subcontractors. But the greatest consequence was the proven success of prefabricating ships. The Liberty and Victory ships, critical for Allied victories in World War II, were inspired by the standardization of Hog Island.
- date made
- ca. 1919
- Hog Island Shipyard Freighter launching
- 1919-05-30
- Hog Island Shipyard closed
- 1921
- christened ship
- Andrew, Laura
- Secretary of the Navy
- Daniels, Josephus
- ID Number
- TR.335562
- catalog number
- 335562
- accession number
- 1977.0003
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Victor® Original Rat Trap
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 2000
- maker
- Woodstream Corporation
- ID Number
- 2003.0338.10
- accession number
- 2003.0338
- catalog number
- 2003.0338.10
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
chimney, lamp
- Description
- This lamp chimney was purposely left unfinshed as part of a series of lamp chimneys that illustrate the various stages of manufacture of lamp chimneys at Macbeth-Evans Glass Company. This particular one is listed as "Number 2 Pearl Top" and demonstrates how a lamp chimney looks in the factory before it is sent for crimping.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- circa 1899-1915
- 1914-1915
- about 1914
- ID Number
- CE.214
- catalog number
- 214
- accession number
- 57114
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Jar of Blue Glass Rods
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1914
- maker
- Macbeth-Evans Glass Company
- ID Number
- CE.252ab
- catalog number
- 252ab
- accession number
- 57114
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Fanciful Electric Light Shade
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- est. 1899
- 1914-1915
- maker
- Macbeth-Evans Glass Company
- ID Number
- CE.914
- catalog number
- 914
- accession number
- 58571
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Sellers Self-Acting Injector
- Description
- This is a self-adjusting and restarting injector similar to the Schutte Injector, but it does not have the steam jet for lifting water to the injector. It has the floating combining tube of the earlier injectors and the combination of two tubes in the same axial line with apertures between them, as with the Schutte Injector, which develop a vacuum in the feed pipe and make the injector automatically restarting.
- 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
- 1900-1927
- ID Number
- MC.309560
- catalog number
- 309560
- accession number
- 104292
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Baker Steam Engine, Patent Model
- Description
- This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to John G. Baker, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 10, 1878, no. 207936.
- The model represents a small vertical single-acting engine in which the connecting rod is attached to the piston by a ball-and-socket joint, and the space enclosed within the cylinder and the face of the piston is alternately opened to the exhaust and to the steam pipes by rotating the piston laterally in the cylinder. The piston is rotated by a simple bent rod, one end of which turns and slides in an opening in the connecting rod, and the other end slides and turns in a socket in the skirt of the piston. Turning the piston causes two longitudinal grooves in the piston to register periodically with exhaust and steam ports in the cylinder wall.
- 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
- 1878
- patent date
- 1878-09-10
- inventor
- Baker, John G.
- ID Number
- MC.309246
- catalog number
- 309246
- accession number
- 89797
- patent number
- 207,936
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Giffard-Sellers Injector, Patent Model
- Description
- This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to William Sellers, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 21, 1863, no. 39313.
- William Sellers, who introduced the Giffard injector into the United States in 1860, immediately invented useful improvements in its construction. This model incorporates an improvement in the packing between the steam and water chambers and effects a material reduction in the length of the whole injector.
- 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
- 1860
- patent date
- 1863-07-21
- inventor
- Sellers, William
- ID Number
- MC.309367
- catalog number
- 309367
- accession number
- 89797
- patent number
- 39,313
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Victor® Quick Set Rat Trap
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 2000
- maker
- Woodstream Corporation
- ID Number
- 2003.0338.06
- accession number
- 2003.0338
- catalog number
- 2003.0338.06
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
One of the first examples of optical glass manufactured in the USA
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- est. 1899
- 1914
- ID Number
- CE.239
- catalog number
- 239
- accession number
- 57114
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
chimney, lamp
- Description
- This lamp chimney is part of a series of lamp chimneys created to show the different stages of manufacture at the Macbeth-evans Glass Company. This particular one has a flared top opening with 1/4" beaded rim.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- about 1914
- maker
- Macbeth-Evans Glass Company
- ID Number
- CE.211
- catalog number
- 211
- accession number
- 57114
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Lamp chimney left unfinsihed to demonstrate a particular stage of manufacture
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- est. 1899
- 1914
- ID Number
- CE.222
- catalog number
- 222
- accession number
- 57114
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Bacharach Steam Engine Indicator
- Description
- Bacharach Industrial Instrument Co. manufactured this steam engine indicator. It consists of a large steel piston with three grooves; a vented brass cylinder; an external, double wound spring, which can be changed; an aluminum drum with a small spiral spring and single record; and a small brass stylus. Accompanying the indicator is a box with three springs and some small tools. The pulley and bracket are missing.
- An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine.
- A mechanical indicator consists of a piston, spring, stylus, and recording system. The gas pressure of the cylinder deflects the piston and pushes against the spring, creating a linear relationship between the gas pressure and the deflection of the piston against the spring. The deflection is recorded by the stylus on a rotating drum that is connected to the piston. Most indicators incorporate a mechanical linkage to amplify the movement of the piston to increase the scale of the record.
- When the ratio of the frequency of the pressure variation to the natural frequency of the system is small, then the dynamic deflection is equal to the static deflection. To design a system with a high natural frequency, the mass of the piston, spring, stylus, and mechanical linkage must be small, but the stiffness of the spring must be high. The indicator is subjected to high temperatures and pressures and rapid oscillations, imposing a limitation on the reduction in mass. Too stiff a spring will result in a small displacement of the indicator piston and a record too small to measure with accuracy. Multiplication of the displacement will introduce mechanical ad dynamic errors.
- The parameters of the problem for designing an accurate and trouble free recorder are such that there is no easy or simple solution. Studying the variety of indicators in the collection shows how different inventors made different compromises in their designs.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- early 20th century
- maker
- Bacharach Industrial Instrument Co.
- ID Number
- MC.325992
- catalog number
- 325992
- accession number
- 308486
- serial number
- 50597
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Patterned, Electric Light Shade
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1915
- maker
- Macbeth-Evans Glass Company
- ID Number
- CE.889
- catalog number
- 889
- accession number
- 58571
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Luders Steam Boiler, Patent Model
- Description
- This model was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office with the application for the patent issued to Herman W. Luders, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 31, 1869, no. 94226.
- The model represents a boiler having inclined water tubes projecting through forward and back brick walls, which form the furnace and boiler setting. The ends of the tubes projecting from the setting front and back are joined in sets of three by short horizontal cross tubes to large, vertical, upright pillar tubes on either side of the top of the setting. A third longitudinal drum is placed between the other two drums, and all three are joined by one cross drum above them. The short horizontal tubes at the back are cast in longitudinal sections and connected by ball-and-socket joints designed to permit the free expansion and contraction of the tubes.
- 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
- 1869
- patent date
- 1869-08-31
- inventor
- Luders, Herman W.
- ID Number
- MC.309211
- catalog number
- 309211
- accession number
- 89797
- patent number
- 94,226
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Jar of Green Glass Rods
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1914
- maker
- Macbeth-Evans Glass Company
- ID Number
- CE.256ab
- catalog number
- 256ab
- accession number
- 57114
- 57114
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Victor® Rat Zapper™ 2000
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 2000
- patent date
- 1993-12-14
- 1999-09-07
- maker
- Woodstream Corporation
- ID Number
- 2003.0338.07
- accession number
- 2003.0338
- catalog number
- 2003.0338.07
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Robertshaw Mfg. Co.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca. 1950
- maker
- Robertshaw Manufacturing Company
- ID Number
- 2011.0244.18
- accession number
- 2011.0244
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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