Fish, Fowl And Whales At Bridgehampton Historical

To complement an upcoming exhibit on whaling, set to open July 13 at its Corwith Museum, the team at the Bridgehampton Historical Society created a companion exhibit to celebrate another historical industry here on the East End: the nearly 150 year-long tradition of harvesting fish and fowl for food.

“Catch of the Day—Fish and Fowl in the Greater Bridgehampton area,” opened last Friday at the archives in Bridgehampton. The exhibit contains various tools, artwork and carvings that tell the story of fishermen and farmers who sustained themselves and their families using the bounty found near the East End shoreline.

The “Catch of the Day” exhibit, which contains artwork from the Hoie Foundation, tools hand-wrought by local blacksmiths and carvings by local artisans, also focuses on how harvesting became a commercial enterprise during the 18th century—when the most important cash crops were whales, used for oil and bone; eels; clams; oysters; and feathers and meat from wildfowl. Also on view will be artifacts used for other kinds of commerce, including eel rakes and traps, a haul seining net used to drag sea life to shore, and even photographs and information on duck hunting.

The upcoming “Bridgehampton Whalers—A Farmer’s Life At Sea,” which opens on July 13, makes the perfect companion show for “Catch of the Day,” according to the Bridgehampton Historical Society’s archivist and collections manager, Julie Greene.

According to Ms. Greene, whaling was essential to daily life on the East End. But societal and legal changes forced whalers into other areas of industry in order to feed their families.

“In the late 18th century, beaches were broken into wards with 11 people per ward, all of them whale sighting,” Ms. Greene said during a tour of the archives on Friday. “If they saw a whale, they’d sound an alarm to notify the others. The whale oil was used for illumination because there were no other oils found at that time.”

As time went on, the resource of off-shore whales was depleting and whalers found themselves having to go out further on ships to find what they needed, according to Ms. Greene.

In 1907, the last two whales were caught on the south shore. The Edwards family caught the mother whale, or cow, in Amagansett and the Osborn family caught the baby whale, or calf, in Wainscott.

“The calf sold for about $800, a significant payment at the time,” Ms. Greene said. “Especially because it was after the discovery of petroleum, the newest oil resource, in 1859.”

The “Bridgehampton Whalers” exhibit will feature authentic whaling equipment, such as a tripod and a large caldron used to boil down the whale blubber.

Both exhibits show good representations of the East End lifestyle more than 100 years ago, Ms. Greene said. But “Catch of the Day” focuses on a lesser known industry and a way of life that needs to be commemorated, she added.

“I wanted the exhibit to really show the way life was back then,” she said. “Big Bridgehampton clambakes and men out in the water eel fishing, these are things we just don’t see anymore.”

“Catch of the Day—Fish and Fowl in Greater Bridgehampton” will remain on view at the Bridgehampton Historical Society Archives Building through October 1. For more information, call 537-1088, email bhhs@optonline.net or visit www.bridgehamptonhistoricalsociety.org.