In early 2008, I acquired a vintage, 5-inch & 6.2-ounce whale tooth, carved to the shape of an eagle head. Most serious scrimshaw collectors own a carved eagle head, and I was quite pleased to find one for a very reasonable price. Unfortunately, my purchase had been coated with a dark brown paint. [...]

This guide outlines one basic method used to estimate the age of authentic whale teeth. Scrimshaw collectors are always interested in knowing whether a whale tooth is:
Antique = more than 100-years old (>100-yo);
Vintage = (50-yo to 100-yo); or
Modern = less than 50-years old (<50-yo).
Other, more complicated factors (NOT discussed here) are involved in narrowing or [...]

Part 2 of 3
Two more types of scrimshaw “reproductions” are re-shaped cow bone and re-shaped hippo teeth, etched and inked to resemble scrimshawed whale teeth. Both are inexpensive and free from international regulation.
The first example is actually two machine-shaped sections of cow bone, clamshell-assembled, with a noticeable seam, skirt-to-skirt, across the tip. This [...]

Infant mortality in antebellum (pre-Civil War) America was quite high, especially in tight-knit New England cities, where contagions could be easily spread from child-to-child. Poor diet, scarce & crude medical care, extreme weather, and other factors contributed to childhood deaths that often approached 1 in 4, before the age of 10.
Several studies document & graph [...]