Vintage Zoo Guidebook, 1895

What better way to enjoy a warm spring day than a trip to the local zoo? This week’s Smithsonian Snapshot highlights the Smithsonian Institution Libraries collection of vintage zoo guidebooks and pamphlets from around the world.

The collection from the National Zoological Park branch of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries has 1,000 brochures, guidebooks, maps, drawings and photographs from 30 states and 40 countries.

In addition to serving as educational facilities, zoos have also doubled as recreation areas and amusement parks as illustrated on the front cover of this 1895 guidebook from the Belle Vue Zoological Gardens in England. Animal rides, sporting events and even ballroom dancing were held on zoo grounds in an era when visiting a zoo often meant a daylong trip outside of the city limits.

Many of the items in this collection were collected by former directors and staff from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. The promotional nature of the publications also demonstrates the history of graphic design, illustration and advertising used by public and private institutions throughout the years.

This item is one of 137 million artifacts, works of art and specimens in the Smithsonian’s collection. It is not on display. For more information about these vintage zoo publications, visit the Smithsonian Institution Libraries “Zoos: A Historical Perspective,” online exhibition website.

To learn more about how the Smithsonian demonstrates leadership in animal care, science, education and sustainability, visit the National Zoo’s website.

Sikorsky XR-4 Helicopter, 1942

This week’s Smithsonian Snapshot celebrates the May 25, 1889, birthday of Igor Sikorsky, inventor of the world’s first mass-produced helicopter.

In December 1940, the U.S. Army Air Force awarded a $50,000 contract to Sikorsky to develop the XR-4, the first helicopter to be mass produced and the first helicopter accepted by the U.S. military.

The XR-4 made its first flight Jan. 14, 1942, with Sikorsky’s test pilot, Les Morris, at the controls. In May of that year, Morris flew the XR-4 from the Sikorsky production plant in Connecticut to the Army Air Force test center at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. This photo shows Sikorsky, left, with Orville Wright, right, the pioneer of flight, at Wright Field after the completed delivery May 18, 1942.

The sole XR-4 prototype demonstrated the practicality of the helicopter in military operations and led to a program to build helicopters for the war effort. Though the XR-4 series was intended only for training, delays in production design led both the Army Air Force and the Coast Guard to use them for rescue and other missions, including the first combat operations flown by a helicopter.

The Smithsonian acquired the XR-4 four years after World War II along with other significant aircraft developed by the Army Air Force.

To learn more about World War II aviation, visit the National Air and Space Museum’s onlineexhibition.

The photo and helicopter are two of 137 million artifacts, works of art and specimens in the Smithsonian’s collection. The XR-4 helicopter is on display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. To learn more about these items, visit the National Air and Space Museum’s website.

Apollo 10 Space Meal, 1969

This week’s Smithsonian Snapshot marks the May 18, 1969, launch of the Apollo 10 mission.

The Apollo 10 spacecraft launched from Cape Kennedy at 12:49 p.m. EST with commander Thomas Stafford, command module pilot John Young and lunar module pilot Gene Cernan. This liftoff marked the fourth Apollo launch in seven months. Its purpose was to serve as a complete dry run for the Apollo 11 mission, the first mission to land humans on the Moon.

Each crew member was supplied with three meals per day, which provided approximately 2,800 calories. This photo shows John Young’s Meal B lunch for mission Day 9. The mission only lasted eight days—he did not eat this food, but astronauts were provided extra supplies if they had to stay in space longer. It contains cocoa, salmon salad, sugar cookie cubes, grape punch and hand wipes.

Meals were sorted by day and designated for each astronaut with a corresponding piece of Velcro—white for mission commander, blue for command module pilot and red for lunar module pilot.

This meal package allows Smithsonian curators to demonstrate the special packaging and food processing required for eating in the reduced gravity of space.

This item was transferred from NASA to the National Air and Space Museum in 1981. To learn more about the Apollo 10 mission, visit the National Air and Space Museum’s Apollo Program website.

This item is one of 137 million artifacts, works of art and specimens in the Smithsonian’s collection. It is not on display. To learn more about it, visit the National Air and Space Museum’s website.

smithsonianlibraries:

More bicycle ads, this time from Bicycling World and L.A.W. Bulletin (May, 1889). Three lovely bikes from Starley Bros. (Coventry, England) who want you to know that the Capital Cycle Co. of Washington, D.C. is the sole and exclusive agent for their machines in the U.S.

Oh, and did they mention their bikes are called “Psycho”? What the?

On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, 1859

This week’s Smithsonian Snapshot marks the May 11, 1820, anniversary of the launch of HMSBeagle, the ship that took Charles Darwin on his scientific voyage.

In 1820, Beagle was launched from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames in London. It was moored afloat for years until it was finally adapted as an exploration bark and took part in three expeditions.

On Dec. 27, 1831, Beagle began its second survey voyage. Darwin, the young naturalist hired to provide advice on geology, was on board. His work would eventually make Beagle one of the most famous ships in history.

During this five-year scientific voyage to South America and the Galápagos Islands, Darwin collected animal fossils, inspected plant specimens and studied the geology of islands and coral reefs. Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection grew out of his work aboard the Beagle.

In 1859, he published his theory in On the Origin of Species, a revolutionary book that changed the course of modern science. It soon found supporters at the Smithsonian. Joseph Henry, the first Secretary of the Smithsonian, held the book in high regard. Darwin’s theory continues to guide research of experts at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History to this day.

This important first edition is registered with the Darwin Census, no. 10143, and was acquired by the Smithsonian Libraries in 1976.

To learn more about the 1.9 million living species known to science, visit the Encyclopedia of Life’swebsite.

This item is one of 137 million artifacts, works of art and specimens in the Smithsonian’s collections. It is not currently on display. To learn more about this item, visit the Smithsonian Institution Libraries website.

Draisine, ca. 1818

This week’s Smithsonian Snapshot celebrates National Bike Month with the forerunner of the modern bicycle: this ca. 1818 draisine.

In 1817, Karl Drais, a young inventor in Baden, Germany, designed and built a two-wheeled, wooden vehicle that was straddled and propelled by walking swiftly. Drais called it the laufmaschine or “running machine.”

A forester for the Grand Duke of Baden, Drais used his laufmaschine to inspect the Duke’s forest. The laufmaschine soon became a novelty among Europeans, who named it the “draisine.”

By 1818, the draisine craze reached the United States. Charles Wilson Peale, a well-known portrait artist, helped to popularize the draisine by displaying one in his museum in Philadelphia. Many American examples were made, and rentals and riding rinks became available in Eastern cities.

By 1820, the high cost of the vehicle, combined with its lack of practical value, limited its appeal and made it little more than an expensive toy. The two-wheeled vehicle would not become sustained until pedals were added in the late 1800s.

Donated to the Smithsonian in 1964, this draisine is the oldest cycle in its collection of 61 cycles. They reflect social trends and technological developments that have shaped the growth and popularity of riding since 1818.

To view more bicycles, motorcycles, automobiles and other vehicles at the Smithsonian, visit the National Museum of American History’s “America on the Move” exhibition.

This item is one of 137 million artifacts, works of art and specimens in the Smithsonian’s collection. It is not on display. To learn more about this item, visit the National Museum of American History’s website.

D.M. Ferry & Co. Seed Box, c. 1890s

This week’s Smithsonian Snapshot celebrates National Garden Month with this antique seed box from Smithsonian Gardens.

In the 19th century, seed packets were often displayed in wooden boxes adorned with colorful seed company labels. These boxes displayed several rows of seed packets separated by wooden dividers and were placed on general store countertops, acting as a “silent salesman.”

This late-1800s seed box displays the label for D.M. Ferry & Co., the seed company credited with inventing the “commission box,” a rack used for retail display. This seed box marks an important trend in advertising and marketing during the 19th century. It was acquired by the Smithsonian in 1986.

Seed boxes were just one of many marketing tools used by seed companies to sell their products. They distributed catalogs to amateur gardeners each winter in preparation for spring gardening. There are more than 10,000 seed trade catalogs in the Smithsonian’s collection. To view examples of these catalogs, visit the Smithsonian Institution Libraries website.

This item is one of 137 million artifacts, works of art and specimens in the Smithsonian’s collections. It is not currently on display. To learn more about this item, visit the Smithsonian Gardens website.

Babe Ruth and Other Red Sox Pitchers, 1915

Baseball season is here. This week’s Smithsonian Snapshot celebrates the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, with this 1915 photograph of Babe Ruth and other Red Sox pitchers: George “Rube” Foster, Carl Mays, Ernie Shore and Hubert “Dutch” Leonard.

On April 20, 1912, the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox opened to the public in Boston. The Red Sox beat the New York Highlanders, renamed the New York Yankees in 1913, 7-6 in 11 innings. Newspaper coverage of the opening was overshadowed by continuing coverage of the Titanic sinking days earlier April 14, 1912.

In 1914, the Red Sox acquired George Herman Ruth Jr., best known as “Babe” Ruth, as their all-star pitcher. This 1915 photo shows Ruth with the pitching staff that helped propel the Red Sox to a World Series Championship the same year. This photo marks Ruth’s second season in the major leagues.

In six seasons as a pitcher, the 24-year-old Ruth compiled an 89-46 won-lost record, with a 2.28 ERA and three World Series victories. Had he continued to pitch he would have ranked among baseball’s greatest pitchers.

This is a rare photograph of Ruth in the beginning of his career; it helps the Smithsonian fully describe the impact of this legendary baseball player.

To view more sports-related items at the Smithsonian, visit the National Museum of American History’s sports and leisure collection.

This item is one of 137 million artifacts, works of art and specimens in the Smithsonian’s collection. It is not on display. To learn more about this item, visit the National Portrait Gallery’s website.