Women's Workroom: Swift
Whaling Industry: Then vs. Now
The swift in the museum is an intricate tool made with whale baleen, one of many parts of the whale used for household and personal goods in the 19th century.
What is a swift anyway?
A swift is a tool used by knitters and other textile artists to unthread yarn from a hank so it can be hand-wound (or machine-wound) into a ball for use. This is specifically an umbrella swift from the 19th century; the name comes from the way in which the expansion and contraction of the swift mirrors an umbrella. The middle rod of the swift has a small cup at the very top that would be used to hold the rest of the ball of yarn being worked with if needed. The swift was a lot more convenient than its precursors like the niddy-noddy, distaff, and weasel (also in the Women's Workroom) because it was a hands-free device and granted textile artists the ability to focus on their work. The umbrella swift was also favored because it was more portable and folded up neatly when not in use. Much of our evidence suggests that at least Andrew Wylie & family did a lot of making, mending, and altering clothing but they were also privileged enough to be able to buy new clothing and accessories each season if needed.
Why were whales so coveted?
Many native communities all over the world hunted whales for sustenance for hundreds of years before whaling became a vast commercialized enterprise; it all began when an English sailor observed a Native American whale hunt in the territory that is now Maine. Harvesting most, if not all, parts of the whale for different commodities may have originated from the native practice of using all parts of a resource for many different things; the commodification of it, however, was new. Blubber from whales was used to create whale oil, a cleaner-burning, odorless alternative to other oils at the time as well as a lubricant for machinery. Whale oil could also be formed into "spermaceti candles", named after the spermaceti organ in the head cavity of sperm whales that produces the aforementioned whale oil. The bones, baleen, and teeth from whales would also be processed into things like pie crust crimpers, corsets, and fashion items like parasols and glove stretchers (as well as scrimshaw folk art). Whales and whale products often had an air of exoticism around them because marine life was largely unknown during this time and products made of whale materials were not as easily accessible to Americans outside of the east coast. There was also no concept of overexploitation, so when demand rose and the whale population on the east coast diminished, whalers moved on to begin overfishing new areas.
DID YOU KNOW? Rolling dice is often referred to as "rolling bones" because early dice were made from the ankle bones of hoofed animals! Dice were eventually made from whalebone as well when the whaling industry gained popularity.
So... what happened to the whales?
As we know now, whales were not an unlimited resource; by the late 1800s certain species of whales were hunted almost to extinction. According to the graphs above, species like the Fin whale, Sperm whale, and Blue whale were fished the most. Other whale species were still being hunted but the most frequently hunted species were coveted because of the specific commodities that could be created from their byproducts. Despite the increasing knowledge about extinction at this time, whales and whale products became a symbol of national and economic wealth for many countries. At the height of the "whale craze" in the late 1870s, the baleen from one singular bowhead whale could net $50,000+ in profits (around 1,500,000+ today) and was an extremely lucrative business at that time. In today's world, whale products like ambergris (intestinal material) are similarly valuable because only sperm whales produce it and it is rather rare to find. A major difference is that ambergris is less valuable for use in commercial items like perfumes when it is harvested directly from a live whale; ambergris with a longer aging time smells better and when processed into perfume, makes the scent stick around longer.
DID YOU KNOW? Whaling was one of the first racially integrated industries in the United States.
But we fixed the problem right?
While Greenpeace and the U.S. fought to ban whaling internationally in 1986, unfortunately certain countries objected and continued whaling. This still continues today with Japan, Norway, and Iceland having killed 40,000 whales since the ban was put into place; whale oil, cartilage, and blubber are still used medicinally and the meat is often eaten by tourists. Many countries although members of the International Whaling Commission continue to kill whales under the guise of scientific research or simply because they choose to ignore the ban. Japan actually left the IWC in 2019 to avoid any repercussions for their large-scale whaling operations. As of 2022, Iceland has stated that they will cease whaling operations in 2024 because it isn't nearly as lucrative as it used to be and the controversy surrounding it has caused Icelandic businesses to lose money due to boycotts. Although the threat of whaling has diminished over the years, whales now have many more problems to face in the form of climate change. Because of the melting of the ice caps and new unpredictable wind and currents, whales now have to migrate much farther for food. In addition, pollution of the oceans means that whales are often eating trash, microplastics, and other harmful substances. Industries that utilize the ocean like shipping, oil, and gas often cross over whale nursing grounds and prevents whales from communicating and often damages their hearing. Since 2016, 40% of whale deaths in the U.S. have been due to commercial fishing; whales often get tangled up in fishing nets and/or hit by boats.
So what can we do about it?
The WWF is currently constructing an initiative called the "Protecting Whales and Dolphins Initiative" which would serve to tackle the larger threats to whales like commercial shipping and drilling. This initiative has 3 goals:
- Improve awareness of what is being accidentally caught in commerical fishing gear.
- Reduce noise and violence caused by shipping vessels and other large vessels.
- Improve protection of whale feeding, breeding, resting, and migration areas.
Additional information about the swift:
What's so interesting about this swift?
This swift is made of whale baleen (often mistakenly referred to as whalebone) and whale ivory! Many similar swifts made of baleen originated on the east coast where sailors would have had access to whales. There was a large culture on the east coast that developed in centered around scrimshaw-makers: sailors that made folk art and crafts from various whale parts such as teeth, baleen, and bone. (Baleen is made of keratin, same as your hair and fingernails!) These swifts were delicately made and would often take a sailor months or years to complete; they were also some of the first examples of scrimshaw folk art. Many whalers would copy/trace pictures from publications for design inspiration in their carvings; these designs would typically be themed around women, home, family, patriotism, and of course, whaling. Only the most experienced scrimshanders would attempt to create a swift as even the most basic designs have approximately 100 moving parts.
Would the Wylie family have had something like this?
Maybe! Although the Wylies mended and altered old clothing, we don't have any evidence that they would have produced their own wool yarn. However, they probably did buy yarn in hanks and would have needed to ball it for use. Swifts are art but also a status symbol; someone who was able to get a swift like this in the midwest from the east coast at this time would have to have been fairly wealthy. Swifts would have gotten more expensive around the late 1800s because at that point whales were hunted nearly to extinction. We do know that Theophilus' wife Rebecca knit several items so she would have needed a swift or some other kind of yarn winder to keep the yarn untangled while she worked with it. We also have several correspondences in our collection between Rebecca and her two daughters Maggie and Louisa where they ask for yarn or she offers to send them some yarn. Rebecca most likely taught the girls to knit when they were living at Wylie House.