Transportation

• 

  Tourist Home Sign, 1930

  Description

  Before motels were common, homeowners earned extra income by renting rooms by the night to motorists who were passing through town. Tourist homes offered a more comfortable alternative to autocamps and roadside cabins. They had a homelike atmosphere and domestic comforts that equaled travelers’ home furnishings. Some even served meals. In the evening, hosts and guests often engaged in conversation in the living room. The most successful tourist homes grew into roadside inns, but most stopped serving travelers when chain motels spread across the United States. This hand-painted wooden sign welcomed motorists at a tourist home in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, a rural community 25 miles from New York City.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  ID Number

  1984.0936.01

  accession number

  1984.0936

  catalog number

  1984.0936.01

  84.0936.01

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Pullman Porter's Blanket

  Description

  Part of a Pullman porter's job was to make up the sleeping berths in his assigned sleeping car, and to provide extra blankets to passengers requesting them. The standard Pullman blanket in the 20th century was dyed a salmon color, which became almost a trademark of the company. When a blanket became worn or damaged in service, it was assigned to those blankets reserved for porters' use.

  This wool blanket in use between the 1930s and the 1950s, was used by African American railroad porters. According to Pullman service rules, a porter's blanket was never to be given to a passenger. Ostensibly to avoid mixing these with the passengers' blankets, the porters' blankets were dyed blue. This was to comply with statutes in the South that dealt with the segregation of blacks and whites. The Pullman service rules were applied nationwide throughout the Pullman system, not just in the South. Dyeing the blanket blue made it easy to tell which blankets were used by passengers and which blankets were used by the African American porters and attendants. A dyed-blue Pullman blanket is today extremely rare, given its negative racial symbolism.

  Date made

  1930-1950

  user

  Pullman Palace Car Company

  ID Number

  1986.0133.01

  accession number

  1986.0133

  catalog number

  1986.0133.01

  86.0133.01

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

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  Rivet Gun

  Description

  This small pneumatic rivet gun was made by Ingersoll Rand during the 1950s. Rivet guns like this one were pneumatically powered by the shop’s compressed air system. and used in locomotive work for smaller rivets and for sealing boiler tube using the "shaping" swage (the swage is the small tool inserted into the business end of the gun, so that the gun can do its work). This gun was also used in welding work, often with a cutting swage to break old welds in thin steel. Additionally, a variety of different "swages" could be used to hammer home rivets with different shaped heads, to cut pieces from thin steel sheets (with a cutting swage, like a fast moving chisel), or to shape the ends of tubes and flues on the inside of boilers ("curling" the ends of tubes with a shaping swage).

  Part of a small array of hand tools displayed in "America On The Move" - such tools were used in the inspection and repair of steam locomotives. Light repairs on steam locomotives were usually done in roundhouses at the many small locomotive terminals throughout a railroad's system; heavy repairs were done in a large, centralized repair shop serving the whole system (often referred to as the "Back Shop").

  date made

  1950s

  used date

  1920s-Present

  maker

  Ingersoll Rand

  ID Number

  1994.3119.04

  nonaccession number

  1994.3119

  catalog number

  1994.3119.04

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Buddy "L" Concrete Mixer Toy

  Description

  The Moline Pressed Steel Company of East Moline, Illinois produced this Buddy “L” toy concrete mixer during the 1930s. The concrete mixer is made of pressed steel with cast-iron wheels and an iron handle. The toy claimed to actually mix concrete, as the loading scoop could raise and lower and the drum could turn. Buddy “L” toys were named after the son of the manufacturer, and became popular during the 1920s. The company also made toy cars, dump trucks, delivery vans, fire engines, and construction equipment. The manufacturer marketed the toys to boys, claiming “They appeal to boys because they really work.”

  date made

  ca 1926

  ID Number

  ER.314637.12612

  accession number

  314637

  catalog number

  314637.12612

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  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

• 

  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.

  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

• 

  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.

  Date made

  ca 1910

  ID Number

  MC.316501

  catalog number

  316501

  accession number

  224662

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  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.

  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

• 

  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.

  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

• 

  Model of Richard Trevithick's 1804 Locomotive

  Description

  This is a 1/2 inch scale model of Richard Trevithick’s 1804 locomotive, which is considered the world’s first steam-powered railway vehicle. It shows four wheels, horizontal boiler, a single cylinder and gearing on its side.

  In the early years of the nineteenth century, Richard Trevithick, British inventor and engineer, experimented with high-pressure steam boilers, constructing several stationary steam engines and two steam-powered roadway carriages. In 1803, the owner of the Penydarren Iron Works of Merthy & Tydfill, Wales, requested a railway engine for his tram road. Completed in February of 1804, the engine hauled a five-car train loaded with 70 men and 10 tons of iron on its first trip, and later hauled a 25-ton train. Pulling a load, its normal speed was around 5 miles per hour, but the engine alone could reach 16 miles per hour. Despite its successful operation, the locomotive proved too heavy, breaking the brittle cast-iron plate rails of the tram road. It was retired and used as a stationary engine.

  Location

  Currently on loan

  date made

  1888

  date refurbished

  1963

  date made

  ca. 1804

  Trevithick's locomotive constructed

  1804

  ID Number

  TR.180058

  catalog number

  180058

  accession number

  021090

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  French Horsehair Trunk

  Description

  This horsehair-covered trunk has a domed top, iron straps, loop handles, and two iron latches. The initials R and D are stenciled onto the ends, and the number 10 appears beneath the handles. The trunk was brought from France in 1881 by an unknown Dominican sister when she joined a group of four nuns from Oullins, France. They had established a strictly cloistered life at Newark, New Jersey, the previous year, having been invited to the United States by the archbishop of New York.

  Their religious observances included rising at midnight for Matins and Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, as well as abstinence, fasting, sleeping on board beds, and enduring the cold. After two years, the community of Dominican sisters numbered fifteen. In April 1884, the group moved to a new home at the Monastery of Saint Dominic, in Newark, and within nine years, all 47 rooms in the new monastery were occupied.

  This trunk remained at the monastery until 1974, when it was purchased by the Smithsonian as an example of immigration, faith, and shared experiences in the United States. It was displayed in the Museum’s Bicentennial exhibition, A Nation of Nations, from 1976 to 1988.

  Date made

  1880

  ID Number

  CL.314563.02

  catalog number

  314563.02

  accession number

  314563

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

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  James W. Baldwin

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1861

  artist

  Bard, James

  maker

  Bard, James

  ID Number

  DL.65.0814A

  catalog number

  65.0814

  accession number

  256396

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  toy, motorcycle

  Location

  Currently not on view

  ID Number

  1971.295669.204

  accession number

  295669

  catalog number

  295669.204

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  toy, auto

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  1900 - 1905

  maker

  Kenton Hardware Company

  ID Number

  1971.295669.908

  accession number

  295669

  catalog number

  295669.908

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  View of Mississippi River, from the Bridge

  Description (Brief)

  "The Mississippi River" and "New Orleans, La." printed on recto; steamships docked at levee

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  late 1800s

  ID Number

  2012.3033.0102

  nonaccession number

  2012.3033

  catalog number

  2012.3033.0102

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Fog Signal Patent Model

  Description

  This patent model accompanied William B. Barker's patent for a fog signal that received patent number 216,820 on June 24, 1879. The patent contains a dial, marked off with the points of the compass, on which the operator designates his ship's heading. A pedal activated the fog horn that announced both the ships presence and heading. The horn sounded a repeating pattern of three or four blasts. The pattern "long, short, short," for example, would reveal that the vessel was headed on a bearing between north and northeast. "Short, short, short, long" meant a heading between west and southwest.

  Collisions in fog led to the loss of many ships and many lives before the widespread adoption of shipboard radar in the 1950s. English sea captain Charles Kennedy commented in 1889, "Each time a collision occurs, the question immediately arises, Can nothing be done to avert these terrible disasters? This has caused many a thoughtful man to make it a subject for study." Kennedy saw William Barker's fog-signal code at an exhibit in Liverpool, England, in 1879. "Being then in command of the White Star steamer 'Germanic,' I was instructed by the company to inspect [Barker's code] and make my report accordingly. I did so thoroughly, and, being convinced of its utility, I strongly favored its adoption." Although Barker's code gained the approval of the British Admiralty and Board of Trade, it was not adopted by any nation as a life-saving measure. "Several codes have since been introduced by others," Kennedy continued, "but they were too complicated, and more liable to cause mishaps than to prevent them." Barker the inventor may be the same William Barker of Hoboken who appears in the 1880 United States Census. A machinist, he was born in Massachusetts in 1841 to English parents; he and his wife Mary had two sons. Although Captain Kennedy refers to him in 1889 as "Captain Barker," the man's seafaring experience is unknown.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  Date made

  1879

  patent date

  1879-06-24

  patentee

  Barker, William B.

  inventor

  Barker, William B.

  ID Number

  1999.0086.04

  catalog number

  1999.0086.04

  accession number

  1999.0086

  patent number

  216,820

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  San Francisco trolley car

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  ca 1970s

  ID Number

  2018.0068.0008

  accession number

  2018.0068

  catalog number

  2018.0068.0008

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Scrimshaw Sperm Whale Tooth, 20th Century

  Description

  This finely-engraved sperm whale tooth celebrates the port of Salem, MA in the mid-19th century. On the front is a full-rigged three-masted ship sailing in a heavy sea; a large cloud dominates the scene. Below is a banner bearing the inscription "WITCH OF THE WAVE/The Pride of Salem". The back of the tooth is covered with an isometric view of Derby Wharf in Salem, Massachusetts, with two ships tied up at the wharf and a third approaching from the right.

  Elias Hasket Derby (1739-1799) of Salem, MA was America's first millionaire, and his family's wharf dominated Salem's waterfront for generations. Salem was the largest and most important New England port in the United States until the War of 1812, when Boston took over that honor.

  Measuring 220 feet long by 40 feet in beam and 1,498 tons, Witch of the Wave was an extreme clipper ship built in 1851 for the California Gold Rush and the China tea trade. On its first voyage from China to London, Witch transported 19,000 chests of the finest teas for sale. In the mid-1850s, Witch so impressed the Batavia merchants in that port that it was purchased by Dutch merchants. It sailed out of Amsterdam until 1871, when it dropped out of the record.

  Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.

  In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect the dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create intricate, fine-lined carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.

  Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or it could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  20th century

  ID Number

  1978.0052.15

  accession number

  1978.0052

  catalog number

  1978.52.15

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

• 

  Scrimshaw Sperm Whale Tooth, 19th-20th Centuries

  Description

  This large, highly polished sperm whale tooth is carved on both sides. The obverse is etched with a large full-rigged three-masted ship sailing towards the observer with all sails set. Atop the mainmast is a homeward bound pennant, and fifteen gunports are aligned along the starboard side of the ship. Below the sailing ship is etched in upper case letters "MONMOUTH-L.Is." (for Long Island). The reverse has a large heart with a keyhole in the center, with a forked pennant swirling around it marked "SARAH THE KEY IS WITH THEE 1864". Below the name "Wm. BAYLES" is etched along the same line as the lettering on the other side. There were no whalers named Monmouth in the records, and William Bayles does not appear in the New Bedford Whaling Museum Whaling Crew List Database.

  Location

  Currently not on view

  date made

  19th-20th century

  ID Number

  1978.0052.25

  accession number

  1978.0052

  catalog number

  1978.52.25

  Data Source

  National Museum of American History

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