Whalebone and Bone Umbrella
date: label: Date made
content: ca 1835-1865
name: label: user
content: Hobbs, George
notes: label: Description
content: The bony substance from the mouths of whales known as baleen is formed of keratin, like human hair and nails. It hangs in long, parallel sheets from the upper jaws of the blue, right, and minke whales, as well as other lesser-known species. Its hairy fringe filters food from seawater.
label: Description
content: Dried out, baleen’s strength and flexibility made it ideal for buggy whips, corset busks, and umbrella ribs before the advent of plastic. A whale’s bone could actually be worth more than its oil. This man’s large umbrella has a wooden shaft, heavy hinged baleen ribs made in short sections, and an ivory handle. Marked “G. Hobbs, Barre,” it belonged to the donor’s grandfather, who lived in Barre, Massachusetts, until around the end of the Civil War.
place: label: used
content: United States: Massachusetts, Barre
topic: label: Subject
content: Whaling
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: Clothing & Accessories
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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
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content: Domestic Furnishings
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 A. M. Harrington
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AG.169283.01
label: accession number
content: 169283
label: catalog number
content: 169283.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: umbrella frame, whalebone rib
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: whale bone (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ivory (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall open:: 103 cm x 5.5 cm; 40 9/16 in x 2 3/16 in