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Podcast: 99% Invisible
Episode:

528- A Whale-Oiled Machine

Category: Arts
Duration: 00:34:38
Publish Date: 2023-03-14 23:38:33
Description:

Back when whale oil was mainly used as a fuel to burn in lanterns and streetlights, an enterprising man named William F. Nye found a new way to sell whale oil to a rapidly changing world: as a lubricant for all the new fangled machines. Nye specialized in specialization- selling different oils for watches, sewing machines, bicycles. Lubrication has had a largely invisible role in the design of the modern world, but its importance cannot be overstated.

A Whale-Oiled Machine

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