Toy battleship, wood, some covered with lithographed paper, with cord and wire, the 'U.S.S. Philadelphia', manufactured by the R. Bliss Manufacturing Company, U.S.A., ca. 1890.

A battleship made from wood, with cord and metal wire, with some sections covered in lithographed paper. It has three masts with rigging, two large wooden funnels in the centre of the deck, also covered with lithographed paper, and four funnels on the edge of the deck, three wooden lifeboats hanging over the side of the ship from wire hooks, two large moveable wooden guns and a wooden, lithographed sailor, not to scale. The lithographed hull, in red and white, is printed with details to resemble that of a warship, with portholes, guns, anchor chains and steps, and with waves at the bottom. The ship is on wheels.

Detailed description of parts:
Hull, made from wood glued and nailed together. The underside has two rectangular blocks nailed onto it, with two roughly cut wooden wheels attached with nails to the stern block, and one to the bow block. There is a hole drilled into the deck at the stern and bow into which the pegs which hold the rigging are slotted. The sides and stern are covered with lithographed paper in a design representing a warship, with details of portholes, guns, steps, anchors and chain and sailors in black, against a white and red hull with blue and grey shading. The sea is represented in blue, black and white along the base of the hull, and another ship can be seen behind the bow. The stern of the ship also shows a large rudder, chains and portholes, with the name 'Philadelphia' written in black with surrounding red decoration. The inside of the hull is untreated wood, and serves as a storage box for the pieces of the ship when not constructed.

Wooden deck, shaped to sit flush in the top of the hull. The top has been varnished, the sides and underside are untreated. Five holes have been drilled in a line down the centre of the deck, the second and third from the bow to slot the funnels into, the remaining three for the masts. There are three holes on each side of the deck for six further funnels, and four pairs of smaller holes on each side of the deck fore and aft into which the wire hooks to hold the lifeboats are slotted. There are four pairs of slots, two on each edge of the deck closer towards the middle, through which the rigging from the two centre masts is passed.

Two hollow, cylindrical turned wood funnels covered with lithographed paper printed with details of rivets and sheet-metal panels in black against an off-white ground, with a red band around the top and a thinner red band a third of the way down, both edged with black. The bases have been cut at an angle so that the funnels slope backwards, and a roughly-cut cylindrical peg is glued onto the base of each, to slot into the deck.

Four turned and varnished wood dorade vents, comprised of cylindrical dowel shafts onto which slot bell-shaped pieces of wood. The base of the shafts has been roughly cut down to form a narrower peg, to allow the shafts to slot into holes towards the edge of the deck.

Two turned wooden masts with semi-circular wooden 'crowsnests' at the top. They are varnished. Two lengths of yellow cord, knotted at each end, are attached to the masts by way of a slot on each side of the crowsnest and hole drilled through the mast just below. These form loops which are passed through two pairs of slots cut into the edge of the deck. The diameter of the mast is reduced at the base to allow it to slot into a hole in the deck. The top of the mast has been drilled out to allow the top mast to slot into it.

Turned wooden mast, varnished. A length of yellow cord, knotted at each end, passes through a hole drilled through the mast just below the top. This cord passes through two pairs of slots cut into the edge of the deck. The diameter of the mast is reduced at the base to allow it to slot into a hole in the deck (central hole closest to stern). The top of the mast has been drilled out to allow the top mast to slot into it.

Three wooden mast-tops, a hole in each through which a length of cord passes, forming the top masts. The first and second masts have a wooden ball on top, and have been stained and varnished. The third mast, a replacement, is formed from a piece of dowel which has been varnished. These masts fit into the holes drilled into the top of the lower masts (parts 5 to 7), the replacement mast closest to the stern. The first mast has a second, thinner knotted piece of cord passing though a hole near its base.The second mast has half of the flag of the U.S.A., in lithographed paper, slotted into it. This has been torn, with a second detached piece retained separately in a plastic bag. The cord is knotted at each end and tied around small, turned wooden pegs. These fit into holes in the bow and stern of the hull to pull the central rigging tight.

Two wooden ship's guns on semi-circular mounts. The gun barrels, painted black, have been turned to create three sections of decreasing diameter, and nailed onto square blocks, also painted black. These in turn are attached to the gun mount by nails, allowing them to pivot horizontally through 90 degrees. The mounts consist of two semi-circular pieces of wood nailed to a third rectangular piece. The top of the mounts are painted off-white, the remainder is varnished, except for the backs which are untreated.

Wooden figure, covered on one side with lithographed paper with image of sailor, dressed in a blue uniform with white edging to collar and yellow and red-spotted neckerchief, and a blue hat with gold badge. The sailor has a moustache and is holding a length of rope. He is slotted into a roughly-cut wooden base, painted red. The reverse of the figure and underside of base is untreated wood.

Three lifeboats, stained and varnished wood, with two metal hoops attached to the tops. When assembled, they hangs from the wire hooks slotted into the deck.

Seven wire hooks. These slot into the small holes in the deck and support the lifeboats. Originally eight (four pairs), one was lost prior to purchase.

This ship was one of a range of ships manufactured by the R. Bliss Manufacturing Company, based in Pawtucket, Rhode island, U.S.A. in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Bliss were particularly well-known for wooden toys, in particular dolls' houses, often covered with lithographed paper.

This wooden battleship was made by R. Bliss Manufacturing Company, from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, U.S.A. The ship is made from wood covered in parts by sheets of lithographed paper. This manufacturing technique was typical of a large number of Bliss products, including their famous dolls houses. The masts, rigging, lifeboats, guns and funnels can all be dismantled and stored in the hull when not in use. It is one of a series of similar ships that the company produced at the end of the nineteenth century. This one, the 'Philadelphia', is based on the American cruiser of the same name, which was commissioned in 1890. Other ships in the series include those based on the 'Defender', winner of the 1895 race for the America's Cup, and the royal yacht 'Britannia'. The ship reflects the popularity for toys connected with transportation, as well as a trend for toy manufacturers to reflect real-world technology in their products, including those connected with warfare.

B.628:1 to 19-2010