In celebration of the New York Academy of Medicine’s #ColorOurCollections campaign this week, many museums, libraries, and archives hopped on the adult coloring bandwagon and created coloring books to share on Twitter. We’ve been participating by posting various images throughout the week for people to color, from Rosie the Riveter to the Faulkner murals. Now … Continue reading #ColorOurCollections
When I was a kid growing up in Beverly, MA, every morning I would walk by the site of the cotton mill visited by George Washington. That mill, the Beverly Cotton Manufactory, even predated Eli Whitney’s cotton gin, which was patented 220 years ago today! Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin Patent Drawing, 03/14/1794 From Records of the … Continue reading Patent of the Month: Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin
Stills similar to the one represented in this drawing were used to make distilled liquors and were commonly used in America during the early 19th-century. And their "descendants" are still being found in the mountains of rural America! A preview of an exhibit planned for 2015 here at the National Archives: “Spirited Republic.” Eli Barnum … Continue reading Patent of the Month: Still Design, 1808
The National Archives contains many archival gems. To share some of my favorites, I am starting a new feature for the blog, Patent of the Month. Eye Protector for Chickens Eye Protector for Chickens, Patent 730918, June 16, 1903. Records of the Patent and Trademark Office. National Archives and Records Administration (Page 2) Eye Protector … Continue reading Patent of the Month
You may think that the National Archives is an unlikely place to learn the secrets of Michael Jackson's dance moves -- but you're wrong! Within Record Group 241, Records of the Patent and Trademark Office, patent 5,255,452 gives us the secrets behind one move in particular -- Michael's "lean" as done in the music video, … Continue reading How to be a “Smooth Criminal”
