Whaler's Carved Bailer Handle
date: label: date made
content: 1828
notes: label: Description
content: Whalemen used long-handled bailers to remove hot whale oil from large try-pots into cooling tanks, and from those tanks into storage barrels. They had long handles to prevent the handler from being splashed or burned with molten oil.
label: Description
content: This example’s wooden handle has figures of whales whittled into its surface to indicate the number and species of mammals that crossed its greasy path. The “B.H.” refers to bowhead, “S” for sperm, “H.B.” for humpback, and “W” for right whale.
topic: label: Subject
content: Whaling
label: Subject
content: Fishing
label: related event
content: Expansion and Reform
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
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Jonathan Bourne
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AG.055809
label: catalog number
content: 55809
label: accession number
content: 12284
objectType: label: Object Name
content: handle (pole)
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 83 3/4 in x 2 in x 5 in; 212.725 cm x 5.08 cm x 12.7 cm