ANTIQUE 19TH C Temple's Toggle WHALING HARPOON FROM THE

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ESTATE FRESH! IT HAS WEAR FROM AGE AND IS DAMAGE FREE. IT MEASURES ABOUT 88" LONG. THE IRON SECTION MEASURES ABOUT 33" LONG AND THE WOOD SHAFT MEASURES 1 3/4" X 1 5/8". RESEARCHING THIS I FOUND TO BE QUITE FUN. THE BRASS PLATE IS MARKED MORGAN FOR THE WALING SHIP MORGAN. WHAT I FIND MOST INTERESTING IS THE INVENTOR. Lewis Temple 1800-1854 Lewis Temple was born in 1800 as a slave in Richmond, Virginia. He obtained his freedom and moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1929 w he worked as a blacksmith . He was the inventor of a whaling harpoon called the "Temple's Toggle" and the "Temple's Iron." He worked as a blacksmith and had lots of friends that were whaler's who bought harpoons and had lots of conversations with them. He learned that the harpoons used by the whalers were not very affective in holding a struggling whale. In 1848 he invented a new type of harpoon, with a movable head that prevented the whale from slipping loose. He never patented his invention he was able to make a good living from his harpoon sales. Temple died in May 1854 at the age of 54 after falling at a construction site and never recovering from his injuries. Mr TEMPLE was an African American and was an ex slave. THE SHIP THIS HARPOON CAME FROM Charles W. Morgan was a U.S. whaling ship during the 1800'S. Ships of this type usually harvested the blubber of whales for whale oil, which was commonly used in lamps during the time period.In the 1840s, a Quaker whaling merchant named Charles W. Morgan ordered a whale ship from the shipbuilders Jethro and Zachariah Hillman of New Bedford, Massachusetts.The hull and deck of Morgan reflected the industry which she was built to serve. A typical whale ship has three functions: to serve as a mother ship to a fleet of small whaleboats, which are stored on the davits when not in use, to serve as a factory and a refinery ship with try works for extracting oil from the whale blubber, to serve as oil tankers. Morgan's maiden voyage began on September 6, 1841. She sailed around Cape Horn and cruised the Pacific Ocean. Following Morgan's three year and four month voyage, she came home with 2,400 barrels of whale oil and 10,000 lbs of whalebone, known as baleen, which was worth around USD$56,000.In her 80 years of service, she would make 37 voyages ranging in length from nine months to five years. Charles W. Morgan , in total, brought home 54,483 barrels of whale oil and 152,934 pounds of whalebone. She sailed in the Indian and South Atlantic Oceans, surviving ice and snow storms. Her crew survived a cannibal attack in the South Pacific. Between 1888 and 1904 she was based in San Francisco. Morgan had more than 1,000 whale men of all races and nationalities in her lifetime. Her crew included not only Americans, but sailors from Cape Verde, New Zealand, the Seychelles, Guadeloupe, and Norfolk Island. The ship's crew averaged around 33 men per voyage. As with other whale ships in the 1800'S, Morgan often was home to the captain's family. Charles W. Morgan was used in 3 movies: the 1916 movie Miss Petticoats, the 1922 Down to the Sea in Ships, and in the 1930'S in Java Head.On the night of June 30, 1924, the Charles W. Morgan caught fire when the flaming wreck of the steamer Sankaty , which had drifted across the Acushnet River from New Bedford harbor in flames, collided with it. Badly charred, Morgan narrowly escaped destructionThe whaling days came to an end with the perfection of refining petroleum. Morgan was under the care of Whaling Enshrined, Inc. until 1941, when she was transferred to Mystic Seaport, w she still stands to this day. POSTAGE IN THE USA IS A FLAT RATE OF $24.00 PLUS POSTAL INSURANCE. PLEASE NOTE THAT CONNECTICUT BUYERS ARE REQUIRED TO PAY A 6% SALES TAX ON THEIR PURCHASE. INTERNATIONAL BUYERS HIGHER RATES APPLY! FOR INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING PLEASE READ BELOW: DUE TO PAYPAL TRACKING REQUIREMENTS ANY ITEM THAT SELLS FOR OVER $50.00 USD MAY NEED TO BE SHIPPED USPS EXPRESS INSURED WHICH IS ... read more

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