All Things Whaling - New Bedford Whaling Museum

 

With more than 750,000 pieces to its credit, the New Bedford Whaling Museum owns “the world's most comprehensive collection of art, artifacts and original documents of whaling history”. When visiting New Bedford, this was a not-to-be-missed stop on our itinerary.

The museum building, a whale weather vane mounted on its cupola, towers above most of the other buildings in the area.

We entered a two-story main hall which displayed two full size whale skeletons. Climbing the circular staircase we entered into the world of whaling.

As we moved from room to room and gallery to gallery, we were mesmerized by the scope of the museum's collection and the impact these displays had on us. Whaling, on a limited scale, has been practiced for centuries by native people for subsistence purposes. As usual, once we “civilized” folks got the hang of it, we overdid it and the result was near devastating. The literature on whaling suggests that the “collapse of the industry was due, in part, to declining productivity, occasioned by the disappearance of the whales because of over-hunting (you think?) and the deterioration of the quality of labor.”

Photos showed hundreds of barrels of casked whale oil being unloaded on the New Bedford docks, the results of a whaling season in which 10,000+ whales were killed … wholly for the profits of the oil they would render.

The 89' (27m) half-size scale model of the whaling bark, Lagoda, was outstanding. We climbed aboard and tried to imagine heading to sea in her. We, however, imagined spotting and observing these graceful, gargantuan creatures, not trying to kill them.

Well thought out displays illustrated everything from the uses of whale oil and the “trying out” process for rendering oil from blubber, to harpoons and harpooning techniques used for more effective and efficient kills.

We even sniffed vials of whale oil distinguishing the good from the bad.

An entire gallery was dedicated to scrimshaw and whalebone artifacts from around the world. The detail and craftsmanship of some of these pieces was superb.

Artwork ranged from paintings on canvas to sketches and watercolors by unnamed artists, probably sailors aboard the whale ships who captured on paper what they saw and experienced first hand.

Because of the whaling industry, New Bedford was and is a city of multi-nationalities. A balcony/gallery area one story above and surrounding the Lagoda was dedicated to the city's strong Azorean ties, as well as all the exotic places visited by the whaling ships and the mementos and souvenirs collected. We saw Tongan tapas, Fijian carvings and Polynesian fabric and they brought back warm and wonderful memories.

A surprise and revelation while at the the museum was the fact that David's revered knot guru , Clifford W. Ashley (The Ashley Book of Knots) was also a renowned artist and, wouldn't you know it, born in New Bedford. We saw many of his paintings and, in fact, there is an entire room named after him.

He was in good company with a display on Joshua Slocum who refitted his boat, Spray, here in New Bedford before leaving for his Sailing Alone Around the World voyage in 1895.

Herman Melville also set out from New Bedford on his whaling adventure aboard the “Acushnet” in 1841. Quotes from Moby-Dick and references to Melville abound in the museum.

We've visited lots of museums in many parts of the world. Some are small and excellent. Some are huge and not as good. No matter … they're always a highlight of our tours and provide lots of information, education and edification. The New Bedford Whaling Museum exceeded all our expectations. This is a world-class museum and left us thinking “WOW!”.

The City that Lit the World - New Bedford, Massachusetts

 

We may be away from Nine of Cups at the moment, but that doesn't prevent us from yearning to be near the water again. The best thing we could do is to drive to a city with a maritime history that's long and rich and take it all in. New Bedford isn't far away and made a great day trip. We could smell the salt air, walk along the working waterfront and watch the fishing boats, all the while immersing ourselves in history. What a great way to spend a sunny September day.

In the 1850s, more whaling voyages sailed from New Bedford than from all other world ports combined. From the US Colonial period till petroleum was discovered in the 1860s, high quality whale-oil, derived from whale blubber, lit most of the world. For a short, but prosperous 30 years, the whaling industry made New Bedford one of the richest cities in the world. We spent an entire day roaming and exploring.

Here's a taste of what we saw.

The New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park

Established in 1996, this historical park is an open air museum of cobblestone streets and historic buildings dedicated to preserving and interpreting America's whaling and maritime heritage. The main Visitor's Center offered lots of brochures and maps as well as a taste of what to expect in “The Whaling City.”

Nautical Mile Historic Walk

We ambled along the cobblestone streets where Frederick Douglass, Herman Melville and thousands of others walked a century and half ago. Stately buildings erected with the proceeds from the whaling industry were all around us. A well-laid out self-guided tour took us past Rodman Candleworks, the Double Bank, the Customs Building (still in use) and the Sundial Building among others, and then down to the harbor.

Interesting to note are the widow's walks on the tops of some of the old houses. Hopeful wives climbed to these high vantage points to catch a view of their husbands' ships returning safely from their voyages.

Seaman's Bethel

In 1841, Herman Melville shipped out of New Bedford on the whaleship, Acushnet. His experiences led him to the writing of the novel, Moby Dick.

Melville mentioned the non-denominational Seaman's Bethel (chapel) in his novel and sitting in Melville's pew and soaking up the energy of thousands of seamen who had visited and attended services here in the past was spiritual. The ship's prow pulpit described by Melville was not part of the original décor, but was added in 1959 to placate tourists.

New Bedford Whaling Museum

This is a world-class maritime/whaling museum. It boasts the Lagoda, the world's largest whaleship model plus an entire room of ship's models.There are outstanding scrimshaw and decorative arts displays. The five full-size whale skeletons knock your socks off. One room is thankfully dedicated to preservation as well as telling the history of pursuit to near extinction. It's a top shelf museum and well worth a visit (and another blog post).

Waterfront Visitor Center

One of America's leading fishing/scalloping fleets still runs out of New Bedford, though the fishing industry is definitely having its problems. The working waterfront and the Waterfront Visitor's Center offers a first hand look at the city's fishing industry and its historical importance.

A dead whale or a stove boat

This sculpture outside the Public Library says it all. Little boat (with harpoons) vs. big whale with an attitude. Many lives were lost in this dangerous occupation … dangerous for both the crews as well as the whales.

Nautical shops and antiques

Though we weren't in the market for any antiques or nautical items, the shop windows were enticing and drew us in just for a peek.

All Things Whale

From weathervanes to diners, New Bedford is all about whales. The City that Lit the World is also known as the Whaling City and it lives up to its name.

Big Milk Bottle

Let's not forget the bizarre … every city has something that just doesn't fit. Here's a Big Milk Bottle on Acushnet Avenue at G&S Pizza. What's up with that?