Sept 30: East Hampton Maritime Museum

Women and Whaling
by Jade Blennau

Whaling was the first, “cash crop” of Long Island. This was because whale oil was the most profitable resource that the colonists could tap. The whales, hosted by the surrounding ocean were the livelihood of the community. In the whaling community of East Hampton whaling was a large part of everyday life. Although men exclusively were the fishermen and hunters of the sea, women played key roles in the community’s structure and functioning.

A newborn girl born in East Hampton can expect a life centered around her whaling community. Young girls are born to families of older parents with only 2-3 children. This small number of children was due to women being married and having children around the age of 27. This was due to the lifestyle these communities led and the training a housewife needed to keep up with her family. Wives learned to cook, clean, sew, care for children and make fabrics in order to support their families.

Growing up, women found their future husbands in the center of town after a whaling vessel had returned with a catch. Men, covered in whale blood and guts, showed off their manhood and wealth through their state of filth. To be whaler within the community was something to be proud of and showed you could provide for a family. As the wife of a whaler it was expected that your husband was to be away on journeys from anywhere from days to months at a time. This meant the responsibility of caring for your family was purely in your hands. This important role shows how women were a vital part of their communities functioning.

Men made their wives presents from whalebone, also known as scrimshaw as a token to remember them by. Here, we see piecrust crimpers, pincushion holders and household tools made by whaling husbands. These items were common throughout homes and used extensively by women of whaling communities.


Claus Hoie of East Hampton
by Sarah McTague

The East Hampton Maritime Museum was full to the brim with pieces of history dating far back into lives of those from East Hampton and Long Island. One room’s walls holds beautiful paintings depicting marine life and the times of whaling off of places such as East Hampton, created by a man named Claus Hoie. This incredible painter uses watercolor to create his works of art, some to reproduce scenes of whaling that were actually recorded in log books.

Hoie actually came from a Norwegian seafaring family, and had been a lover of the ocean since very early life. He served as a Merchant Marine, meaning he helped transport imports and exports across the seas, but being a part of the Norwegian-American battalion, did fight in World War II. After, he settled down at Ecole des Beaux Arts in France, where he officially started his art career. His paintings began to be centered on his sea faring life, depicting not only his own experiences at sea, but also those of the past, such as Long Island whalers. Experiencing life such as he did and being able to show that on canvas is truly incredible. His style is one that I have never encountered before, but you can see the passion that this man had for the sea. Hoie unfortunately passed away in 2007, in East Hampton with his wife, Helen Hoie, but had created a large portfolio of work, which are displayed are in large amount of museums worldwide. He had captured a piece of history with his work, and will continue to inspire many too to love and respect the sea, even decades after he had put a paintbrush on a canvas.



Long Island Whaling at the Easthampton Maritime Museum
by Andrew Vernon

On our trip to Easthampton we stopped at the Maritime Museum, which housed a multitude of models, replicas, and artifacts from the history of seafaring Long Island. One such piece of history here was whaling ships and the shore whaling techniques of the area. While gathering around the whaling vessel our class learned about this history.

In the early days of Easthampton and the surrounding towns, the people there recognized the importance of whale oil and whaling quickly became a staple of life. Kids in town would spot a whale offshore and would alert the town, who would then send out men in a relatively small surf boat (pictured below). The boat would be rowed out to the whale, where it would be harpooned. If landed successfully, the harpoon, attached to a rope, would drag the boat behind the whale until it was tired out. This dangerous and grueling process was known as a drogue, or more commonly in the area as a Nantucket sleigh ride. Once the whale was subdued, an attempt would be made to kill the whale, either targeting the heart or the lungs. In order to confirm that the whale was dead, the whalers would check for blood coming out of the animal’s blowhole, which is where the phrase “fire in the hole” came from. The dead whale would then be towed back to shore, where it would be processed by the townsfolk.

The Artifacts of the HMS Culloden
by Helena Nierer

In the basement of the East Hampton Maritime Museum is an exhibit that differs greatly from the rest of the museum. While the rest of the museum focuses mostly of the lives of the people that live in East Hampton and the marine animals the people used to make their livings. However if one makes their way down to the basement, they are greeted with a variety of different artifacts and two large cannons. These artifacts and canons were taken from the HMS Culloden, a British ship that sank off the coast of Montauk. While the HMS Culloden is only one of many ships that have sunk off southern Long Island, it is an important part of the history of Long Island, especially out on the east end of the Island.

This is one of the two cannons that were brought up from the HMS Culloden. The cannon balls around the first cannon are all cannonballs for the different size cannons on the ship. Although they can’t be seen from this angle, each had the size written on them.

This is the second cannon that was brought up from the HMS Culloden. This cannon was one of the cannons that would have been found below deck. It was really heavy, so it was only rolled up to the opening so it could be fired.

The metals on the wall were taken from the hull of the boat. Most boats at the time had metal placed at the bottom because they were made of wood, which would eventually pick up different wood eating parasites.

This picture is a plastic replica of how the different artifacts were brought up. The HMS Culloden actually beached itself during the storm. Because of that, the shipwreck is fairly close to shore, making it easy to just dive down and collect a variety of things from the shipwreck.

These pictures aren’t actually from the ship, but are about the HMS Culloden. The large paper on the left is actually a list of all the activities that took place during the last day. The smaller paper on the right is a paper advertising the trial of the captain of the HMS Culloden. The trial was a public affair that anyone could attend. 

East Hampton
by Jennifer Stahl

On a September gloomy day our class took a smooth trip to East Hampton. I always knew the Hamptons were known for their beautiful beaches, great surf and high class reputation but I never knew how much history the Hamptons and Long Island holds. We first stopped at Main beach in East Hamptons which held the highest ranking on the Top 10 Best beaches list. Our second and most important stop in East Hampton was the East Hampton Maritime Museum. The main focus of this trip was learn about how the Indians and the English used the food sources surrounding them which included whaling and fishing.

(The picture above shows the type of boat the Englishmen would use to go out to sea. As you can see in the picture the boat is made out of wood which could pose a threat being out in the salt water for long periods of time. They would have tools such as harpoons, rope and a water jug in order to be successful in catching the whale)

Whaling isn’t an easy process but it is important for costal societies on Long Island. After the men have caught their whale they bring it to shore, the men who caught the whale show off to the local women while others start “filleting” the catch. The men start with peeling the skin and blubber from the whale, they mince the mail to create more surface area. Not only do they use the meat of the whale but they use the blubber, the bone and the baleen.

(The picture above shows the type of tools that were used to peel the skin and blubber as well as mincing the whale. Not only is the blubber and meat used but the bone and baleen of the whale is also used, the bone is mostly commonly used for jewelry)

(The blubber of the whale will be put into this type of pot to be boiled and turned into an oil, this is the job of the young girls and women. The oil that is left over after the boiling processes will be shipped to England.)


East Hampton
by John Dimarzo

Image shows the inside of an 18th century shore whaling boat. 8-10 men at a time would go out at the appearance of a whale offshore, usually during the late summer/early autumn months. The trip could take up to a few days.

The image above shows different styles of harpoon used throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Towards the beginning of this period, the harpooners were often native americans, as they had more skill. once the first harpoon was in the whale, the whale could drag the boat for days at a time, known as a “Nantucket Sleighride”.

This is a large, intact whale skull. This bone provides scale for the size of the whales hunted during the shore whaling period (2-3 schoolbus lengths). Seeing the skull next to the surf boat used to hunt the whales (above) is a good way to appreciate the scale and the level of risk involved.

Once whales were brought ashore (dragged behind the same small surf boat pictured above), they were stripped of their blubber, the main asset the whale possesses. This blubber was taken in strips, then minced and boiled down in a large pot (above) to create oil for use in the community, but more importantly for sale back to England. Long Islanders were known to push up the bottoms of the standardized barrels in order to sell more barrels of oil.

The photos above show examples of the art of scrimshaw. One of the two American arts (also see quilting), scrimshaw involves making decorative yet usually functional items. Among the most common scrimshaw items were pie crimpers (top image).