On 9/8/05, Cynthia Virtue <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Someone on the H-Cost list a while back had some whalebone and described > it as "like a fingernail" but it was black. IIRC, "whalebone" for > corsets is the baleen, which are fairly regular in size, and thin, due > to the job they do for the whale. I could easily understand if > different sections of the baleen have different properties, though, and > maybe the ladle handles could have been made out of a thicker section, > or actual bones?
Hey CV, Whalebone is not bone, it's baleen. Baleen comes from several different species of whale. Different species, different colors. The blue whale has the dark grey-black baleen in huge amounts. Excessive amounts of info can be found in books and on sites devoted to maritime collectibles. I found alot while searching up busks in whalebone, narwhal horn and other materials. There are some good French and Canadian maritime collectors' sites if you happen to read the language. After comments from Wanda, Suzi & others my current hypothesis is that the thickness of the baleen matters greatly. Seems like we're all describing the same blue whale baleen. Your point about different areas of the baleen is I suppose is reasonable supposition. I've never seen any "in whole cloth" so to speak. Hey, Kayta, you volunteer up at SF Maritime Museum. Do y'all have any displays on baleen up there? Are you demoing at Festival of the Sea tomorrow? --cin _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
