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Description: | Cable 'tree', decorative souvenir of the 1858 Transatlantic submarine telegraph cable consisting of five short sections of original cable mounted vertically and joined by brass shanks. Seven thin discs of cable (originally ten, three are lacking) are suspended from the mounted sections, and a model sailor with three flags (red ensign or 'red duster', English and United States flags) is on the top. Mounted on velvet covered circular wooden plinth with domed glass cover. An engraved brass plate records that the first 'message sent was Peace on Earth, and good will toward men', made by George Rapson, c. 1858
This cable 'tree' is made up of specimens from the first Atlantic submarine cable. The first complete transatlantic telegraph cable was laid by the British war steamer, 'Agamemnon', and the American war steamer, 'Niagara', in 1858. The vesels met in the middle of the ocean where the two halves of the cable were joined. The cable was only in operation for three weeks before it failed. | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ | Subjects: | submarine cable souvenir | Temporal: | c. 1858 | Source: | Science Museum | Creator: | Rapson, George | Identifier: | 2000-578 | Go to resource |
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