Whalebone Ruler
date: label: date made
content: 1800s
label: collected
content: 1960-07-26
notes: label: Description
content: “Straight edges” or rulers were used aboard ships as writing guides on the unlined pages of letters, journals and logbooks. The back side of this long stick is marked in 2-1/4, 4-1/2 and 9-inch sections, indicating another usage, probably by the ship’s cooper to measure the level of liquid (water, wine, beer or whale oil) in his wooden casks.
topic: label: related event
content: Expansion and Reform
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Work
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content: Industry & Manufacturing
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content: Natural Resources
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content: Transportation
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content: On the Water exhibit
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content: Art
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 Avis and Rockwell Gardiner
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.61.0049
label: catalog number
content: 61.49
label: accession number
content: 231930
label: catalog number
content: 61.0049
objectType: label: Object Name
content: scrimshaw
label: Object Name
content: scrimshaw yardstick
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: ivory (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: bone (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 34 1/4 in; 86.995 cm