Transportation
Americans have always been a people on the move—on rails, roads, and waterways (for travel through the air, visit the National Air and Space Museum). In the transportation collections, railroad objects range from tools, tracks, and many train models to the massive 1401, a 280-ton locomotive built in 1926. Road vehicles include coaches, buggies, wagons, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and automobiles—from the days before the Model T to modern race cars. The accessories of travel are part of the collections, too, from streetlights, gas pumps, and traffic signals to goggles and overcoats.
In the maritime collections, more than 7,000 design plans and scores of ship models show the evolution of sailing ships and other vessels. Other items range from scrimshaw, photographs, and marine paintings to life jackets from the Titanic.
1,842
Page 1 of 185
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Road Scraper Patent Model, 1892
- Description
- This is a patent model for a road scraper assigned to the Western Wheeled Scraper Company in 1892.
- As the good roads movement gathered strength in the 1890s, inventors generated a host of patent applications for machines that improved roads using horse-drawn scrapers and graders.
- date made
- 1892
- patent date
- 1982-12-16
- patentee
- Western Wheeled Scraper Company
- ID Number
- MC.251194
- catalog number
- 251194
- accession number
- 48865
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Road Scraper Patent Model
- Description
- John D. Libey of Lima, Indiana submitted this model with his patent for a scraper that received patent number 529,925 on November 27, 1894. Designed for road work, the scraper could be operated by one man. A two-horse team pulled the scraper that picked up a yard of earth and took it away.
- As the good roads movement gathered strength in the 1890s, a host of patent applications were received for machines that, using horses, helped maintain the surfaces of the nation's roadways.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1894
- patent date
- 1894-11-27
- ID Number
- MC.311047
- catalog number
- 311047
- accession number
- 136522
- patent number
- 529925
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Model of a Cement Mixer
- Description
- This model was built for its inventors (two brothers from Montana) by a Chicago firm, run by J. T. H. Paterson, Proprietor. Raw materials were loaded into one side and mixed concrete unloaded on the other.
- Regal Model and Tool Works (122 S. Clarke Street, Chicago, Illinois, J. T. H. Paterson, Proprietor) built this model for two inventors, who were brothers from Montana. This cement mixer was patented.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- ca 1910
- ID Number
- MC.316501
- catalog number
- 316501
- accession number
- 224662
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Road Scraper Patent Model
- Description
- Hiram W. Ball submitted this model with his patent for an “improvement in road scrapers” that received patent number 221,273 on November 4, 1879. The horse drawn drag scraper incorporated a catch that allowed the scoop to dump its load without having to raise the handle.
- As the good roads movement gathered strength in the 1890s, a host of patent applications were received for machines that, using horses, helped maintain the surfaces of the nation's roadways.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1879
- patent date
- 1879-11-04
- inventor; patent holder
- Ball, Hiram W.
- inventor
- Ball, Hiram W.
- ID Number
- MC.319432
- catalog number
- 319432
- accession number
- 237906
- patent number
- 221,273
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Dague's Road Scraper Model
- Description
- This model depicts a road scraper manufactured by Dague's Grader Company, Danville, Illinois, and patented on the 30th Dec 1879 by E. D. Dague.
- This model is a demonstration model, presumably used as a selling tool. Company advertising claimed that “Dague's Celebrated Road Scraper and Leveller ...will do more work than FOUR ordinary Dump Scrapers, and will Leave the Surface Level, and only requires the services of One Man and one pair of horse to operate it with ease.”
- As the good roads movement gathered strength in the 1890s, a host of patent applications were received for machines that, using horses, helped maintain the surfaces of the nation's roadways.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1879
- patent date
- 1879-12-30
- maker
- Dague, E. D.
- ID Number
- MC.321175
- catalog number
- 321175
- accession number
- 243133
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Weber Road Scraper
- Description
- George J. Weber submitted this model for an “improvement in wheeled scrapers” that received patent number 216,588 on June 17, 1879. The road scraper was horse drawn and self-dumping.
- As the good roads movement gathered strength in the 1890s, a host of patent applications were received for machines that, using horses, helped maintain the surfaces of the nation's roadways.
- date made
- 1879
- patent date
- 1879-06-17
- inventor
- Weber, George J.
- ID Number
- MC.329174
- catalog number
- 329174
- accession number
- 277275
- patent number
- 216,588
- 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
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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
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Bone Fid
- Description
- Made of hard wood, bone, or ivory and tapering to a point, fids were used mostly for ropework, such as splicing. On deck, they were also used for breaking knots that might be frozen from overtightening, wet weather, or other conditions. In a pinch, one could also serve as a temporary belaying pin to tie off a line, or even as a weapon.
- date made
- 1800s
- ID Number
- AG.025650
- catalog number
- 025650
- accession number
- 4798
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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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
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