Perils and Profits

Perils and Profits. Charles W. Morgan. , 19th-century commercial whaling was a volatile, high-risk, and high-profit industry of the kind often identified as a distinctly American practice. It had a devastating impact on some of the world's whale populations and a contradictory impact on humans. Whale oil let the homes and streets of the U.S. for decades, lubricated the machinery of the Industrial Revolution, and spawned tremendous profits that were used to build railroads, factories, hospitals, and libraries., For tens of thousands of men, from Massachusetts to New Zealand, Alaska to the Azores, working on American whaleships provided the benefits of employment and world travel. For those marginalized because of their racial or ethnic background, whaling voyages often offered escape or self-realization. Yet these trips also served as a vector for disease, death, and suffering among both human and ocean populations., [Captions:] , Whale-oil products were sold and used in every American city in the 1800s, even those far from the sea. They included candles, soap, lamp oil, and lubricating oil for machines large and small., Whale oil varied in quality depending on the species. The oil from the head of the sperm whale was the most highly prized. Large quantities of oil in casks were unloaded on to the wharves in ports such as New Bedford (left) to be tested and shipped to nearby facilities such as the Nye Oil Works (below) where it was refined and packaged for retail sale., During the whaling era, the dramatic struggle between whales and humans captured the public imagination. This scene is by Currier and Ives (left). A broadside (right) from the 1923 silent movie Down to the Sea in Ships, featuring the Charles W. Morgan, depicts this epic battle for early 20th-century audiences., By the turn of the century, baleen for corset stays, buggy whips, and other consumer goods had overtaken the demand for whale oil.,

19th-Century Whale Product Prices in 21st-Century Dolalrs. Retail Prices , Whale Oil/gal - $6 (1828) to $25 (1851, 1865) , Sperm Oil/gal - $12 (1823) to $59 (1855) , Baleen/lb - <$2 (1806) to $188 (1904)

, The economic value of 19th-century whaling products added the equivalent of nearly $11 billion to the U.S. economy. Notice the steady decrease in the value of whaling products later in the century after commercial drilling for petroleum began in 1859.,

Total Value of Whaling Products in 21st-Century Dollars. Baleen: $1.1 Billion , Whale Oil: $3.9 Billion , Sperm Whale Oil: $5.7 Billion , Total: $10.7 Billion