Tiffany's Transatlantic Cable Souvenir
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Object Details
- Glass, Elliot, & Co.
- Tiffany & Co.
- Description
- The completion of the first transatlantic telegraph cable in 1858 was a cause for much celebration on both sides of the Atlantic. Tiffany & Company of New York purchased the cable remaining on board the USS Niagara after the successful completion of the cable and sold 4-inch sections as souvenirs. Each section of cable was banded at the ends with brass ferrules and had a brass plaque that read “ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLE/GUARANTEED BY/TIFFANY & CO./ BROADWAY • NEW YORK • 1858.” The cable souvenirs originally sold for 50 cents and came with a reproduced letter of authenticity from Cyrus W. Field, the pioneer of the transatlantic cable system. The jubilation turned to jeers when the cable failed a few weeks later, and Tiffany never sold its supply of cable. In 1974 Lanello Reserves began reselling the transatlantic cable, and donated this object to the Smithsonian.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- from Silver Creations, Ltd. and Lanello Reserves Inc.
- 1858
- ID Number
- EM.334736.01
- accession number
- 312154
- catalog number
- 334736
- Object Name
- submarine cable
- cable sample
- Physical Description
- steel (sheathing material)
- brass (ferrules material)
- copper (conductor material)
- gutta percha (insulator material)
- Measurements
- overall: 4 in x 1/2 in; 10.16 cm x 1.27 cm
- place made
- United States: New York
- United Kingdom: England, London, Greenwich
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Electricity
- Communications
- American Stories exhibit
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_1255864
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ab-6956-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
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