MAR 355 – Sag Harbor Whaling Museum & Custom House, Sept 17, 2021

Sep 27, 2021

Art Imitates Life in a Whaley Interesting Way
by Clare Dana

I’m sure most of us have heard the saying “art imitates life” which is the observation of creative work that has been inspired by true events based on a story. While walking through the whaling museum, the art depicting the culture of whaling is clearly evident from portraits, figurines, and statues. Art is one of the main platforms to learn about a specific culture, and the use of whaling themes and whale parts in much of the art highlights how influential whaling was in defining the culture of Sag Harbor and much of New England.

One specific art form I found very intriguing was the scrimshaw. Scrimshaw is an art form that involves carving out a design or image into the tooth of a sperm whale. These images can vary from simple designs to portraits and even depictions of whaling itself. What I feel makes this so unique is the way that history can literally be carved into the artifact itself. What I mean by this is that we can view and interpret the image of these historical events (in this case whaling) on a piece or rather an artifact from the events taking place. While it is interesting, it is also quite melancholic because it is a part of the whale, and from a modern ecologically-conscious perspective we understand the toll that whaling took on whale populations and the efforts that it has taken to help rebuild those populations.

Another aspect to this scrimshaw that I find unique is how it can connect us directly to these whaling voyages and to the sailors themselves. During the deep-sea whaling period, voyages could last multiple years, creating scrimshaw was a common way to pass time on board. The sailors also carved other items from the teeth such as pie crust crimpers, sewing instruments, and small figurines that were on display at the museum. Being at sea for the extended period they were, these carved items and scrimshaw designs often depicted life at home, the parts of their lives and the people they missed. This emotional aspect can help us tune into the emotional aspect of whaling and the lives of the sailors as individuals who had a story.
Image 1: These are some of the scrimshaw pieces on display at the museum. You can see the images of both sailing and the action of hunting the whale.

Image 2:  Pie crimpers made out of the whale bone (teeth). These crimpers are very common and capture the “homey” feeling that these sailors tried to hold on to while out at sea for these long voyages. They also served as little gifts when returning home which to me is very endearing and helps you connect to their lives a little easier. 

Image 3: These are sewing instruments made of whale bone. An interesting note is that while women are usually associated with sewing during this time period, the sailors also needed to hold this skill to be able to fix sails, clothing, and other cloth materials on board. 

Harpoon History and the Whaling Grounds: How the harpoons changed and where and which whales were hunted.
by Jonah Tom-Wong

Harpoons evolved over time to be more reliable in its ability to remain in the whale. The number of harpoon’s barbs, called flue, was reduced from two to one because the narrower head allowed for deeper penetration; whereas the two-flue harpoon did not go deep and most likely fell out of the whale, the one-flue harpoon more often went deep enough to pass the layer of blubber. The toggle harpoons were used by the Native American tribes before the whalers started using them. The rotating head or the toggle head would rotate 90° to almost guarantee that the harpoon would get stuck in the whale but the early version had a difficult time preparing the harpoon. A grommet, likely a strap or metal ring, was used to hold the harpoon’s head in place so it could pierce the whale but the harpoon would often dislodge before it could properly set in the whale’s body. Later toggle harpoons were improved and made by Lewis Temple, an African American blacksmith, and were vastly superior because the toggle mechanism was contained within the harpoon head itself rather than an external component.

Figure 1 shows harpoons through the ages, oldest to newest from left to right; the description details the changes and improvements with each new model. Harpoon 3 was the first harpoon that had a head that could rotate but harpoons 4 and 5 had actual axles that the head rotated on. Harpoon 6 is the same make as harpoon 5 but oriented as if it were lodged in a whale.
The whaling industry was so vast that by 1887, most of the Atlantic Ocean had no active whaling locations. The main hunted whales around Long Island were the right whale, the sperm whale, the fin whale and occasionally the bowhead whale and humpback whale. Bowhead whales were up to the north while humpbacks were down south near the Caribbean. While initially profitable, expeditions in the 18th and 19th centuries became less profitable as whalers had to go farther and farther to find whales. Also, you know, because of oil and petroleum discoveries during these times. Why go through all the hard work and danger of whaling when you can go digging and pumping for far more in less time? And thus the whaling industry collapsed.
Figure 2 shows where ships went whaling and which whales can be caught where. It also shows abandoned whaling grounds by 1887 in white. The Atlantic whaling grounds have mostly been abandoned by 1887. This map is extremely detailed and well-made, the drawings of the whales on the other hand leave more to be desired.

Real Recyclers: 17,18, and 19th Century Long Islanders
by Molly Showers

As someone who spends a lot of effort on partaking in sustainable actions, I appreciate others who do the same. As I walked through the Sag Harbor Whaling Museum and Customs House, I was surprised to hear words such as “reuse,” “recycle,” and “sustainable” used in many conversations. I had assumed, since thinking about the human impacts on the environment was not popular (or even considered, really) that the settlers would not have practiced sustainability. I was happily mistaken.

An example of their sustainable practices would be the reuse of millstones. Millstones were the instruments that would grind the grain in a windmill. These were huge, heavy cylindrical stones, as seen in Image 1, which was taken outside of the whaling museum. Something as large as this could not go to waste, so often the residents would take the millstones no longer in use and reuse them as a porch stoop. I was told that, even today, one can still see the old millstones at the front of older houses out east. I didn’t even know how a windmill worked before that day, so learning about how the parts were repurposed was interesting.

Another example would be the try pot, which was also seen outside the whaling museum. This was used to reduce the blubber to oil while on the ship. The sailors of the time understood that they could not carry the amount of wood necessary to sustain the fires for as long as they needed, since they were such big pots, so they would use some of the whale to render the blubber. Not only does this save room on the ship, but it also uses part of the whale that may have gone to waste if it has not been used.

My favorite example of sustainable action was the entirety of the custom house. Henry Dering, the head of the custom house, originally had lived in a house that was the typical New England small style: one door, with windows to one side. Dering thought this was much too small, and he decided that he wanted the grander style of one door in the middle with windows to each side of it. Instead of buying new, as most would do today, he purchased a house like his and had it moved to his house, where the two were joined. I thought this was so cool, and a great reuse of resources! The only way one could tell that there was an addition is the step into some of the rooms, as seen in Image 2, and a staircase that was not in active use. The side that is most visible in Image 3 is the newer addition.

I understand that, even though these examples limited consumption and wasting of materials, the residents in this time were not doing this with the benefit of nature in mind. They were trying to limit the labor, resources used, and the cost. Especially in the early years of settlement, everything had to be used to its fullest extent, purely for survival purposes. I still think it was awe-inspiring that they were able to create a society with reusing and recycling as a prominent custom.
Image 1: This was the millstone originally used for grinding grain. It’s interesting to think about who carved this stone, and how they moved these heavy stones. It makes sense as to why they would want to reuse it – it’s large and sturdy.

Image 2: The step up into the room is because the heights of the two houses that were mashed together didn’t quite match. For the time and technology available, I was surprised that this small step was the only way of knowing that there were originally two houses. I would think that it would have been messier.

Image 3: This was the custom house with the new addition featured. From the outside, I never would have guessed that there were two parts to the house. I wonder what tools they used to make this move, since there was no heavy machinery at this time (like a crane or bulldozer).

Architecture of The Whaling Museum and Old Whalers’ Church in Sag Harbor
by Cyd Bloomfield
Today, architecture is a way for an individual or group to show status to their community. It can often be implied that grandiose mansions with columns and sprawling gardens have very wealthy and/or important owners. Afterall, it is expensive to maintain a large piece of property. This is not a new concept however; it holds true for many cultures across many eras. Property and wealth were/are often seen as causes of one another. Not only can looking at the architecture tell you the status of the resident, but it can also tell you when it was built. Just like fashion, architecture goes though periods where one style is more popular than another. The Whaling Museum and Old Whalers’ Church of Sag Harbor are no exceptions.

The Whaling Museum and Old Whalers’ Church were built in 1845 and 1844, respectively. This is a time in North American Colonies when Greek and Egyptian Revival Architecture was extremely popular, and the buildings’ exteriors betray this.

The Whaling Museum and Greek Revival

As you can see in the above photos of The Whaling Museum, it has almost all the characteristics of Greek Revival including large columns, symmetrical shape, porched entryway, and highly elaborate cornices and friezes. Greek Revival was a very popular style for the rich in Europe and European Colonies. This is because despite what we know about Greece now, very little about the actual culture was known (to Europeans). In the mid-18th century, there was a large archaeological expedition to Greek sites leading to several books being published and an increased public interest in Greek culture. Shortly after this was a Greek War of Independence (ending in 1832) leading to more access to Greek classical architecture. Once again, popular and intricate things require an immense amount of labor and consequently and immense amount of money. For Benjamin Huntting II and his family, this was of no import, as they had made a fortune selling whale oil. The source of The Huntington Family’s fortune is also prominently displayed in the architecture of the house.

Spades were used heavily in the design of The Huntting Home as is shown in the above photos. This is because blubber spades where one of the main tools of the whaling trade. Also in the above photos, there is an alternating crenellation of whale teeth and blubber spades: An obvious sign of how the owners of this house got wealthy.

The Old Whalers’ Church and Egyptian Revival

The above photo is of The Old Whalers’ Church today. It has many of the Greek Revival qualities spoken about in The Whaling Museum, such as elaborate cornices and blubber spade crenellation, but it is of a distinctly different style. The Egyptian Revival movement. In a similar fashion to Greek Revival, not much about Egypt was known to the general European populous until Napoleon’s conquest of Egypt in 1798. Following the pattern, new and exotic things are fashionable, leading to a Egyptian Revival movement in Europe and European Colonies.
This church did used to have a steeple, but it was unfortunately torn down in the 1938 Hurricane. The above photo is of that steeple from the National Register of Historic Places’ Digital Archive. When looking closely at the details of the steeple, it is again, obvious who the people going to this Church were, as well as what culture the inspiration was drawn from.

Custom House Office
by Mathew Amoedo

This is a photo of a  sugar cone and a marble paperweight. The paperweight speaks for itself but the sugar cone I found to be interesting. Sugar was transported in that conical shape and was often so hard that one would need a tool like a hammer to break the sugar up, as sugar cubes were not popularized until the late 1800s. 

This is a Certificate of Enrollment. This would be used as Americans to prove to the British that they were trading with that they were actually Americans. As you could imagine, they did not work very often. 

You may notice something interesting about this clock. They actually had to raise the ceiling to accommodate for the sheer height of the clock. Its height and extravagance no doubt symbolized wealth and class.

This cane was made from the vertebrae of a shark. A cane back then was not always used out of necessity. It also represented class and wealth.

This may just look like a normal chair, but it is actually quite expensive. It was made from mahogany, which again would be a sign of wealth and status. This type of chair would be referred to as a great chair due to the fact that it has arms.

Life in the Customs House
by Amanda Tepper

The Sag Harbor customs house has a rich history, for not only was it the office of Henry Paker Dering but it was also his home where his family lived and his children were raised. Getting a tour of the Dering home gave special insights into how a household was run in the late 1700s that you could not truly get in a classroom. Even though the Dering family was well off financially, this peek into Henry Paker Dering’s, his wife Anna Dering’s, and their nine children’s lives also shows how many other people lived during this time.

One part of the tour that truly stood out to me was the kitchen. Standing in the kitchen you can instantly see the absence of basically all the appliances that we have in our modern kitchens. Now you may be sitting there thinking, “well of course not, it’s the 1700s”, however seeing the kitchen in person helps to give a perspective on how much more work had to go into sustaining a family during this time. The only way of cooking something was by using a fireplace, and the only way to bake something was to take coals into a sealed off stone cubby with dough and then carefully monitor it since they lacked the modern comforts of setting an oven to a specific temperature and starting a timer. The kitchen had no running water, thus time and energy were spent daily to go to a pump and collect some. The closest thing to a refrigerator was a “pie safe” which was just a cabinet that kept flies off food. However, all this being said about how much work keeping the kitchen running alone, the Dering’s did have enslaved people and indentured servants, so household chores were not the sole weight for Anna Dering to bear. Nevertheless, many families in this era had similar setups which just makes you think about how much time every day was put into simply keeping a household running. In the end I couldn’t help but feel thankful for the luxury of our modern technology.

School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, SoMAS, at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5000, USA
Phone: 631-632-8700
somas@stonybrook.edu