We came specifically for an exhibit that is leaving soon, yet found ourselves incredible impressed with all this museum has to offer.
"The Tahoe Maritime Center-Museum & Gardens would like to introduce Lake Tahoe to its most colorful exhibition to date! Ink & Ivory will feature two nautical art forms. Scrimshaw, attributed to American sailors, is the art of intricate carvings on bone ivory and other found objects. These works of art not only capture visuals of the past, they also tell the story of environmental impact, laws and regulations. Ink & Ivory will also trace the nautical tradition of tattooing. Discover tattoos that were meant to bring sailors luck, see skin-deep evidence of their travels, and feel the sense of longing behind sentimental tributes to wives and sweethearts back home. Best of all, Ink & Ivory will feature modern-day tattoos which are specific to nautical tradition or deep Tahoe connection."
Ink & Ivory drew us in and we were not disappointed. Oh what a history lesson of this unique art form! And who can we thank for it? Captain James Cook! While inking designs onto the skin was no new thing in 18th Century Europe, the excitement that greeted accounts of Captain Cook’s expeditions ensured much attention to this ancient art and introduced a new word, ‘tattoo’. The word 'tattoo' is derived from the Tahitian word tatau, meaning to mark. It was first used in the published account of Captain Cook's first voyage, which appeared in 1769. It has been suggested that tatau is an onomatopoeic word. 'Tat' refers to tapping the tattooing instrument into the skin; 'au' to the cry of pain from the person being tattooed.
This cool contraption revolutionized tattooing. Edison’s electric pen was the first electric motor driven appliance produced and sold in the United States. Edison noticed that as the stylus of their printing telegraph punctured the paper, the chemical solution left a mark underneath. This led them to conceive of using a perforated sheet of paper as a stencil for making multiple copies, and to develop the electric pen as a perforating device. US patent 180,857 for "autographic printing" was issued to Edison in 1876. Shortly thereafter, NY tattoo artist Samuel O'Reilly tweaked the purpose of the device to speed up his creative process. The rest is tattoo history. Interesting, right?
The art of tattooing really took off during WWII. Sailors were the big customers. Sixty-five percent of them had tats. That was more than any other US Military Branch.
Tattoos were so popular the government used them in their Loose Lips Sink Ships campaign.
We moved from the past and into the present as we saw works created my local artists. Wow, right?
Our history lesson continued into Scrimshaw. This was all very new to me. These days, “scrimshaw” is taken to refer to all kinds of carving and engraving on ivory, bone, sea shells, antler and cow horn. However, in its original context as a traditional shipboard pastime of 19th-century mariners, scrimshaw refers to the indigenous, occupationally-rooted art form of the whalers. The word is possibly from the Dutch word scrimshoning which translates into 'passing-the-time'.
Herman Melville, a veteran whaleman, if not actually a scrimshaw artist himself, describes the genre as “lively sketches of whales and whaling-scenes, graven by the fishermen themselves on Sperm Whale-teeth, or ladies’ busks wrought out of the Right Whale-bone, and other like skrimshander articles, as the whalemen call the numerous little ingenious contrivances they elaborately carve out of the rough material in the hours of ocean leisure” (Moby Dick, 1851).
So a little about the actual museum. Officially founded in 1987, it took more than ten years to become anything more than ideas on paper. The vision of Tahoe Maritime Museum’s founders was to create a space to preserve Lake Tahoe’s rich maritime history and to present that history to the public. Many supporters from Tahoe and beyond donated artifacts, funding and countless hours to help the Museum achieve its ambitious mission. Like many of the boats and artifacts that make up the collection, Tahoe Maritime Museum had a long and interesting journey before “dropping anchor” in Tahoe City, CA. We have been wanting to come here for a long time. We were so happy that Jan joined in for a "first" for us all.
Why are ships called she? (With apologies to all women) “A ship is called a she because there is always a great deal of bustle around her; there is usually a gang of men about; she has a waist and stays; it takes a lot of paint to keep her good-looking; it is not the initial expense that breaks you, it is the upkeep; she can be all decked out; it takes an experienced man to handle her correctly; and without a man at the helm, she is absolutely uncontrollable. She shows her topsides, hiders her bottom and, when coming into port, always heads for the buoys.” Funny stuff!
Okay, we might have had too much fun in the Children's section with the International Maritime Signal Flags. Jan is holding the J which stands for "I am on fire and have dangerous cargo on board: keep well clear of me." Oh my gosh, we laughed hysterically over that one. And the D seemed pretty apropos for me, too- "Keep clear of me; I am maneuvering with difficulty." I am cracking up still.
Lunch was a first for Steve and me at the Bridgetender Tavern. It has such a great local vibe. I know we'll be back.
And no trip to Tahoe City is complete without a visit to Fanny Bridge. Oh how we love to discover new things here in Lake Tahoe. There is always something to delight us.
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2 comments:
What?! There is a Tahoe Maritime Museum!? I want to go! We LOVED the maritime museum in Astoria, Oregon. There is so much history associated with water travel. And the tattoos and the scrimshaw? That adds a whole other element. How interesting.
I've never been but now will try to make a stop to see what it has to offer!
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