Evidence Ledger
Primary Sources Register
Our episodes draw on digitized prints, photographs, trade catalogs, and government records from the Library of Congress, National Archives, and historical societies.
| Source ID | Archival Item & Collection | Verification State |
|---|---|---|
| COMMS-1 | Science Museum: Life on the Exchange ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| COMMS-2 | Science Museum: The Exchange ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| COMMS-3 |
Pulse-dial mechanism and exchange technical manual
Select a Post Office telephone model, its dial maintenance instructions and the matching exchange equipment. Confirm governor, contacts and pulse convention.
|
research task; source not yet selected |
| COMMS-4 | National Postal Museum: Pneumatic Tube Canister ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| COMMS-5 | National Postal Museum: Pneumatic ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| COMMS-6 | National Postal Museum / USPS: U.S. Postal Stamps ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| COMMS-7 | National Postal Museum: The 4th Maynard Sundman Lecture ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| DRESS-1 | NPS: Searle, Gardner and Company Cuff and Collar Factory registration ↗ | institutional nomination lead; underlying evidence review pending |
| DRESS-2 |
Detachable collar, shirt and stud object set
Find a compatible set with dated provenance and collar-laundry instructions; distinguish washable fabric from paper/celluloid collars.
|
research task; source not yet selected |
| DRESS-3 | The Henry Ford: Buttonhook, circa 1885 ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| DRESS-4 | Orbost & District Historical Society: child’s boots and hook ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| DRESS-5 | Smithsonian: Ladd, Webster & Co. treadle sewing machine ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| DRESS-6 | Smithsonian Libraries: sewing machine history ↗ | institutional technical-history lead; mechanism pages need review |
| DRESS-7 | V&A: Women’s tie-on pockets ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| DRESS-8 | Colonial Williamsburg: Pockets ↗ | institutional object lead; full record not reviewed |
| ICE-1 | Library of Congress: Ice Cold — The Business of Ice ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| ICE-2 | Smithsonian: Keeping your food cool ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| ICE-3 | Smithsonian: Making ice cream like it is 1927 ↗ | existing project lead; full page not rechecked |
| ICE-4 | Library of Congress: refrigerator-car icing image candidate ↗ | existing project lead; item context and rights not checked |
| ICE-5 | Smithsonian: How electric refrigeration shaped the cold chain ↗ | existing project lead; full page not rechecked |
| ICE-6 | Library of Congress: Ice Cream Inventions ↗ | discovered institutional lead; detailed patent review pending |
| KITCHEN-1 | NPS: Hopewell Furnace — Teaching with Historic Places ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| KITCHEN-2 |
Specific solid-fuel cooking-range manual
Select a wood- or coal-fired range, then locate its contemporary maker’s manual and section drawing. The Garland kitchen reference has an unconfirmed fuel type.
|
research task; source not yet selected |
| KITCHEN-3 |
NPS: Household Goods — flatirons ↗
The article includes later asbestos-lined irons; source a safe solid-metal example for demonstrations.
|
reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| KITCHEN-4 | NPS historic furnishings report: sad irons ↗ | institutional PDF excerpt reviewed; full report context pending |
| KITCHEN-5 | Smithsonian: butter churn, AG.52A04 ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| KITCHEN-6 | NPS: Teacher’s Guide to Household Artifacts ↗ | institutional lead; PDF review pending |
| KITCHEN-7 |
Library of Congress: Tours Red Cross can-opener photograph ↗
Original caption contains a likely transcription error; do not repeat it verbatim.
|
reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| LAUNDRY-1 | Smithsonian: washboard collection object ↗ | existing project lead; object record not rechecked |
| LAUNDRY-2 |
Smithsonian: Doing the museum’s dirty laundry ↗
Museum program is a modern demonstration; Lynch paragraph provides a lead for the household story.
|
reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| LAUNDRY-3 | Library of Congress: wringer-washer photograph candidate ↗ | existing project lead; model and item context not rechecked |
| LAUNDRY-4 |
Within These Walls: Catherine Lynch household evidence
Find the Smithsonian household interpretation and primary records for Lynch’s Boston laundry work; confirm dates, rooms and business activity.
|
research task; source not yet selected |
| LEISURE-1 | Smithsonian: Edison’s Talking Machine ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| LEISURE-2 | Smithsonian: Early Sound Recording Collection ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| LEISURE-3 | Smithsonian: Player Piano Roll ↗ | institutional object lead; full record not reviewed |
| LEISURE-4 |
Smithsonian Libraries: The player-piano up-to-date ↗
Find the 1914 technical treatise or an accessible equivalent for the pneumatic mechanism.
|
catalogue entry reviewed; book contents not reviewed |
| LEISURE-5 |
Stereoscope and matched stereo-card collection record
Choose a dated viewer/card pair from LOC or a science museum. Confirm the pair contains different viewpoints.
|
research task; source not yet selected |
| LEISURE-6 |
Museum optics account of stereoscopic depth
Locate a dedicated science-museum account of binocular viewing and the selected stereoscope design. A collection image alone cannot prove the optics.
|
research task; source not yet selected |
| LEISURE-7 | LOC Thesaurus: Lantern slides ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| LEISURE-8 | National Archives: Glass holdings in the Still Picture Branch ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| LIGHT-1 | English Heritage: The illuminating history of lighting ↗ | institutional page opened; relevant passages need claim review |
| LIGHT-2 | National Gas Museum: Gas lighting ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| LIGHT-3 | National Gas: A brief history of gas lighting ↗ | discovered institutional lead; PDF review pending |
| LIGHT-4 |
Tinderbox and match object records
Select a dated British tinderbox and contemporary friction/safety match record from Science Museum Group or a local museum. Verify mechanism and distinguish match types.
|
research task; source not yet selected |
| REPAIR-1 |
Market Lavington Museum: A darning mushroom ↗
The documented example concerns socks and woollen garments, not evidence for S21’s shirt specifically.
|
reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| REPAIR-2 |
Weltmuseum Wien: knife grinding machine, Egypt ↗
Object circa 1920, entered collection 1977. Do not transfer this provenance to a European street grinder.
|
museum object lead; detailed context review pending |
| REPAIR-3 | Smithsonian: History of Sweatshops, 1820–1880 ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| REPAIR-4 | Museum in the Park: A Load of Old Cobblers ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| SHOP-1 | Smithsonian: Food culture, supermarkets and packaging ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| SHOP-2 |
Smithsonian: George Washington weighs his hogs ↗
Explains types of scales; does not establish a grocery shop’s tare or pricing procedure.
|
institutional context lead only |
| SHOP-3 |
Reusable decorated biscuit tin
Select a dated tin with reuse provenance from Reading Museum’s Huntley & Palmers collection or another primary collection; do not infer its later contents.
|
research task; source not yet selected |
| TIME-1 | Science Museum Group: employee attendance time recorder, 1993-2440 ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| TIME-2 | Royal Museums Greenwich: history of the Royal Observatory ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| TIME-3 | Royal Museums Greenwich: time signal relay, ZAA0718 ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| TIME-4 |
Named knocker-up’s service in primary/local records
Locate a local museum, oral history or period report for a named worker. Search Mary Smith/John Topham records or an industrial town archive. Popular summaries alone are insufficient.
|
research task; source not yet selected |
| TIME-5 | Science Museum Group: pocket watch with key, Great Northern Railway ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| TRANSIT-1 | Library of Congress: Horse car in Washington, D.C. ↗ | item metadata fetched; narration verification pending |
| TRANSIT-2 |
Horse-transit operating records
Find a named US street railway’s annual report, stable plans or museum interpretation documenting feeding, rest and animal care.
|
research task; source not yet selected |
| TRANSIT-3 | Science Museum Group: ticket dating machine, 2000-7774 ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| TRANSIT-4 | Cable Car Museum: The Grip ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| TRANSIT-5 | Cable Car Museum: How Cable Cars Work ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| TRANSIT-6 | Smithsonian: A smoother ride ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| TRANSIT-7 | National Museums Scotland: The Dunlop tyre — Air apparent ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| WATER-1 |
Household hand-pump mechanism and provenance
Choose one historic pump with a collection record and a period section/manual. Confirm lift/force type and water source. The bundle’s reference photograph alone is insufficient.
|
research task; source not yet selected |
| WATER-2 |
NPS: William Johnson House Historic Furnishings Report ↗
Inventory includes a washstand and basin; it is not proof of every narrated handling step.
|
institutional inventory lead; relevant pages need full review |
| WATER-3 | Science Museum: Now Wash Your Hands ↗ | institutional lead; full article review pending |
| WATER-4 |
Science Museum: A flushing story ↗
Verify striking anecdotes independently. No use of current sanitation statistics in the draft.
|
reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| WATER-5 | The National Archives: Innovations in toilet design ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| WATER-6 |
London interceptor sewer engineering and route
Review Metropolitan Board of Works/Bazalgette plans and a pumping-station museum source. Establish where waste went before modern treatment.
|
research task; source not yet selected |
| WRITE-1 | Smithsonian: Slates, crayons and quills ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| WRITE-2 | Smithsonian: Teaching Math in America — Early Republic ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| WRITE-3 |
Metal dip-nib operation
Choose a period dip pen and its manufacturer’s instructions; verify reservoir/retention and repeat-dipping behavior.
|
research task; source not yet selected |
| WRITE-4 | Smithsonian: Crown Ribbon carbon paper, circa 1920 ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| WRITE-5 |
Contemporary office carbon-copy instructions
Find a period office/typewriting manual that demonstrates the layer order and pressure-transfer process.
|
research task; source not yet selected |
| WRITE-6 | LOC: Origins and Development of the Card Catalog ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |
| WRITE-7 | LOC: Moving the Library’s Card Catalog ↗ | reviewed page/excerpt; claim-level verification pending |