Manufacturing Gallery

Little Falls, 1874. Creator: Frederick William Quartley

Little Falls, 1874. The Mohawk River at Little Falls, New York State, USA. The river here makes a descent of over forty feet, accomplishing the effort in three small falls, which have been turned to great profit by the people of the town, for they furnish water-power to a great many factories. These, for the most part, are upon the island which springs up in the river below the first fall...The Erie Canal runs through a channel blasted out of the solid rock at the foot of a steep hill, which rises on the east side of the river, and is called the Rollaway'. From "Picturesque America; or, The Land We Live In, A Delineation by Pen and Pencil of the Mountains, Rivers, Lakes...with Illustrations on Steel and Wood by Eminent American Artists" Vol. II, edited by William Cullen Bryant. [D. Appleton and Company, New York, 1874]

© The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Johann Gutenberg (1400-1468), 1936. Creator: Unknown

Johann Gutenberg (1400-1468), 1936. Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (c1398-1468) was a German blacksmith, goldsmith, printer and publisher who introduced printing to Europe. Gutenberg's work with mechanical movable type printing initiated a mass communication revolution in Renaissance Europe. From "Bilder Deutscher Geschichte", (Pictures of German History), No.12, cigarette card album. [Cigaretten-Bilderdienst, Altona-Bahrenfeld, Hamburg, Germany, 1936]

© The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Money making; stamping and milling the disks and weighing the finished coins, 20th century

Money making; stamping and milling the disks and weighing the finished coins, 20th century. When the disks have been cut they are marked (top left), that is, the edge is slightly raised to protect the coin from abrasion, then washed in acid, cleaned in sawdust and dried by hot air. The disks are next stamped (top right). Finally the coins are weighed (bottom) in a room full of balances that are inspected daily. The coins fall automatically into one of three slots; heavy, light or correct

© Historica Graphica Collection / Heritage-Images