Whaler's Mincing Knife
date: label: date made
content: 1876
label: collected
content: 1876
notes: label: Description
content: Whaling crews used mincing knives to cut the blubber strips into thin slices down to, but not through, the thick whale skin. This process increased the surface area of the blubber and helped it melt faster in the try-pots. Cut in this fashion, the sections of whale blubber and skin were known as “bible leaves” because they resembled the pages of a book.
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: Brown, James Temple. The Whale Fishery and Its Appliances
label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AG.025912
label: accession number
content: 005019
label: catalog number
content: 025912
objectType: label: Object Name
content: mincing-knife
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cast steel (blade material)
label: Physical Description
content: iron (back-frame material)
label: Physical Description
content: hard wood (handles material)
label: Physical Description
content: steel (feruls material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (sheath material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 36 1/2 in; x 92.71 cm
label: Measurements
content: blade: 24 in x 3 1/2 in; 60.96 cm x 8.89 cm
label: Measurements
content: sheath: 25 in; x 63.5 cm