Whale Harpoons, or Temple Toggle Irons
date: label: Date made
content: 1882
name: label: inventor
content: Temple, Lewis
notes: label: Description
content: 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.
label: Description
content: 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.
label: Description
content: 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.
topic: label: used
content: Whaling
label: related event
content: The Development of the Industrial United States
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Fisheries
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Work
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content: Natural Resources
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content: Transportation
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content: On the Water exhibit
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Brown, James Temple. The Whale Fishery and Its Appliances
label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Jonathan Bourne through J. T. Brown
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AG.056244
label: catalog number
content: 056244
label: accession number
content: 012284
objectType: label: Object Name
content: harpoon
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wrought iron (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 39 1/4 in; x 99.695 cm