Object Details
- Description
- Boat spades served two purposes on a whaleboat. In the earlier days, they were used to cut the tendons of a whale’s fin or tail to help immobilize it. This was an extremely dangerous operation, for it required the crew of the whaleboat to steer right up against a wounded, unpredictable whale.
- This practice was abandoned in the later days of whaling, at which point the boat spade was used to cut holes through the lips or heavy skin of a dead whale. This permitted ropes to be passed through, for towing the carcass to the mother ship for processing.
- Credit Line
- J. H. Bartlett & Son
- 1800s
- ID Number
- TR.072827
- catalog number
- 072827
- accession number
- 1881.10616
- Object Name
- spade
- spade, blubber
- Other Terms
- spade; Maritime; Boat
- Physical Description
- metal (overall material)
- wood (overall material)
- rope (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 85 3/4 in; x 217.805 cm
- Related Publication
- National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
- Related Web Publication
- http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Maritime
- Work
- Industry & Manufacturing
- Transportation
- Exhibition
- On the Water
- Exhibition Location
- National Museum of American History
- National Museum of American History
- used
- Whaling
- Subject
- Fishing
- related event
- Expansion and Reform
- Civil War and Reconstruction
- The Development of the Industrial United States
- Record ID
- nmah_844154
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a6-8c6e-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
