The
toggling harpoon is an ancient
weaponA weapon is a tool used to apply force for the purpose of hunting, attack, self-defense, or defense in combat.Weapons can be as simple as a club, or as complex as an intercontinental ballistic missile, and include those that damage individual or group morale.-Prehistoric weapons:Very simple weapon...
and
toolA broad definition of a tool is an entity used to interface between two or more domains that facilitates more effective action of one domain upon the other. The most basic tools are simple machines. For example, a crowbar simply functions as a lever. The further out from the pivot point, the more...
used in
whalingWhaling is the hunting of whales which dates back to at least 3,000 BC. The evolution of traditional Arctic whaling developed with increasing rapidity by early organized fleets in the 17th century; competitive national whaling industries in the 18th and 19th centuries; and the introduction of...
to impale a
whaleWhale is the common name for marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale is sometimes used to refer to all cetaceans, but in more common English usage it generally excludes the members of the Delphinoidea superfamily, such as dolphins and porpoises...
when thrown. Unlike earlier
harpoonA harpoon is a long spear-like instrument used in fishing to catch fish or large marine mammals such as whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal, allowing the fishermen to use a rope or chain attached to the butt of the projectile to catch the animal...
versions which had only one point, a toggling harpoon has a two-part point. One half of the point is firmly attached to the thrusting base, while the other half of the point is fitted over this first point like a cap and attached to the rest of the point with sinew or another string-like material.
The
toggling harpoon is an ancient
weaponA weapon is a tool used to apply force for the purpose of hunting, attack, self-defense, or defense in combat.Weapons can be as simple as a club, or as complex as an intercontinental ballistic missile, and include those that damage individual or group morale.-Prehistoric weapons:Very simple weapon...
and
toolA broad definition of a tool is an entity used to interface between two or more domains that facilitates more effective action of one domain upon the other. The most basic tools are simple machines. For example, a crowbar simply functions as a lever. The further out from the pivot point, the more...
used in
whalingWhaling is the hunting of whales which dates back to at least 3,000 BC. The evolution of traditional Arctic whaling developed with increasing rapidity by early organized fleets in the 17th century; competitive national whaling industries in the 18th and 19th centuries; and the introduction of...
to impale a
whaleWhale is the common name for marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale is sometimes used to refer to all cetaceans, but in more common English usage it generally excludes the members of the Delphinoidea superfamily, such as dolphins and porpoises...
when thrown. Unlike earlier
harpoonA harpoon is a long spear-like instrument used in fishing to catch fish or large marine mammals such as whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal, allowing the fishermen to use a rope or chain attached to the butt of the projectile to catch the animal...
versions which had only one point, a toggling harpoon has a two-part point. One half of the point is firmly attached to the thrusting base, while the other half of the point is fitted over this first point like a cap and attached to the rest of the point with sinew or another string-like material. When the harpoon is thrust into an animal, the top half of the point detaches and twists horizontally into the animal under the skin, making it virtually impossible to pull the rest of the attached harpoon out of the animal while pulling it back to ship or shore. This harpoon technology lodges the toggling head of the harpoon underneath both the animal's skin and blubber, and instead lodges the point in the muscle, which also prevents the harpoon slipping out.
History
Toggling harpoon technology developed with the
ThuleThe Thule or proto-Inuit were the ancestors of all modern Inuit. They developed in coastal Alaska by AD 1000 and expanded eastwards across Canada, reaching Greenland by the 13th century. In the process, they replaced people of the earlier Dorset culture that had previously inhabited the region...
tradition (c. 700 BC to present) of the Western
ArcticThe Arctic is the region around the Earth's North Pole, opposite the Antarctic region around the South Pole. The Arctic includes the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Greenland , Russia, the United States , Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland.The word Arctic comes from the Greek αρκτικός , "near...
, either in the
Bering StraitThe Bering Strait's technical name is Imakpik.The Bering Strait is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65° 40'...
area or further south along either
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
n or
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state of the United States of America by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
n coasts. The toggling harpoon was part of a new hunting technology that focused intensely on the sea, and it improved life in the Arctic by providing eased subsistence to the sea-mammal hunters living there.
The grommet iron, a form of toggle harpoon with an
ironIron is a metallic chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a group 8 and period 4 element and is therefore classified as a transition metal. Iron and iron alloys are by far the most common metals and the most common ferromagnetic materials in everyday use...
head, was used in some
EuropeanEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
boats at least by 1772. The pivoting head and the shaft of this harpoon were held parallel by means of a
grommetthumb|right|250px|Some rubber grommets.thumb|250px|right|Metal eyelets and eyelet setting tool.Grommets and eyelets are metal, plastic, or rubber rings that are inserted into a hole made through another material...
banded around them. The grommet slid off when the iron penetrated the whale (or fish), allowing the head to toggle open as the barb caught in the tissue.
In 1848
Lewis TempleLewis Temple was an American blacksmith, abolitionist, and inventor. Born in slavery in Richmond, Virginia, he moved to the whaling village of New Bedford, Massachusetts during the 1820s...
, an African-American
blacksmithA blacksmith is a person who creates objects from iron or steel by forging the metal; i.e., by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut. Blacksmiths produce things like wrought iron gates, grills, railings, light fixtures, furniture, sculpture, tools, agricultural implements, decorative and religious...
in
New Bedford, MassachusettsNew Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located 51 miles south of Boston, 28 miles southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about 12 miles east of Fall River. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 93,768, making it the seventh-largest in the...
adapted the toggling harpoon using a wooden
shear pinA shear pin is the mechanical sacrificial part, analogue of an electric fuse. Installed in a drive train, it is designed to break in the case of a mechanical overload, preventing other, more-expensive parts of the drive train from being damaged....
to initially brace the toggle head, and created what came to be known as
Temple's Toggle and later simply as the
toggle iron or
iron toggle harpoon. This harpoon became a whaling standard and replaced the fixed-point "
two flueThe two flue harpoon or two flue iron is a type of harpoon used in whaling for at least 1000 years. It appears in works of art dating back to the 14th century....
" and "single flue" harpoons that were widely used previously.
A symbol
This harpoon became so important to the industry that its shape continues to symbolize whaling in the modern day. A statue of a whaler, hefting a toggling harpoon in
New Bedford, MassachusettsNew Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located 51 miles south of Boston, 28 miles southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about 12 miles east of Fall River. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 93,768, making it the seventh-largest in the...
has come to act as a symbol for the city itself.