Wooden-handled Harpoon
notes: label: Description
content: In the 18th and early 19th centuries, simple sharp-barbed harpoons on long wooden shafts were used to “dart” or fasten to the whales from whaleboats. Two darts were thrown, in case one broke loose. Then, sometime in the early 19th century, the toggle iron was developed, possibly by African American blacksmith Lewis Temple in New Bedford, MA.
label: Description
content: Once embedded in the whale’s flesh, the sharp point of a toggle iron rotated, or toggled sideways, making it harder to pull out. Normally, at least six sharp darting irons were carried aboard individual whaleboats to ensure that lost or broken ones could be replaced without returning to the mother ship.
place: label: collected
content: United States: Massachusetts, New Bedford
topic: label: Subject
content: Whaling
label: Subject
content: Fishing
label: related event
content: Expansion and Reform
label: related event
content: Civil War and Reconstruction
label: related event
content: The Development of the Industrial United States
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
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content: Work
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content: Industry & Manufacturing
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content: Transportation
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
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: J. H. Bartlett & Son
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.072824
label: catalog number
content: 072824
label: accession number
content: 10616
objectType: label: Object Name
content: harpoon
label: Other Terms
content: harpoon; Maritime
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: rope (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 109 3/4 in; x 278.765 cm