Whaler's Whalebone Scraper
date: label: date made
content: 1880s
notes: label: Description
content: This odd tool was used to scrape the flesh off the bones from a freshly caught whale. It was the last step in processing the whale’s body before the bone was partially dried on deck and then stowed below in the cargo hold. Once the ship was back in port, the bone was placed on end in large yards to dry further.
label: Description
content: The bone and baleen—rows of bony strips in a whale’s upper jaw that filter food from seawater—from a whaling voyage could yield as much as $50,000, or even greater profits than the oil itself. Baleen served a wide variety of purposes from buggy whips to umbrella ribs to women’s corset stays.
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: Massachusetts, New Bedford
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: 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: F. S. Allen, through J. T. Brown
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AG.057778
label: catalog number
content: 057778
label: accession number
content: 012278
objectType: label: Object Name
content: scraper, whalebone
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (handle material)
label: Physical Description
content: iron (blade material)
label: Physical Description
content: iron (shank material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 11 1/2 in x 5 in; 29.21 cm x 12.7 cm