Whaleship Skimmer
date: label: date made
content: 1880s
notes: label: Description
content: 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.
topic: 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: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1990.0018.066
label: catalog number
content: 1990.0018.066
label: accession number
content: 1990.0018
objectType: label: Object Name
content: skimmer
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (part: bowl material)
label: Physical Description
content: ferrous metal (part: handle material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 1/4 in x 8 1/2 in x 192 1/4 in; 8.255 cm x 21.59 cm x 488.315 cm