Snail Mail Meets Whale Mail At The Sag Harbor Whaling Museum

Sometimes, history can be found in the mail, and that’s the case for the Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum, which will open its “Whaling Mailing” exhibition on Friday, June 21, featuring 20th century whaling stamps and postcards, along with contemporary artwork that matches the theme. The exhibition is organized by Richard Doctorow, the museum’s curator and collections manager.

“I was researching some local history, [when I found that] there was a whale caught off Amagansett in 1907,” Mr. Doctorow said. “And I remembered that I’ve seen postcards of this event.”

Out of curiosity, Mr. Doctorow began researching other whaling postcards and postage stamps of the times, which he notes are dated during the era of decline for the whaling industry and the boom of the postcard industry. The stamps and postcards are from the 20th century and are all whaling-themed, with whaling men, whaling ships, whaling tools and whaling scenes. The research wasn’t too difficult for Mr. Doctorow, since he has been studying Sag Harbor’s whaling history for more than 15 years. The history of postcards and stamps was what he needed to brush up on, however.

“As I explored and the deeper I got into the research, I realized that this would be a wonderful exhibit using postcards and stamps to explore whaling,” said Mr. Doctorow who hopes that viewers of the exhibition will be able to explore the history of whaling through a different avenue, which he calls a “unique” way of looking at the topic.

“Whaling is such a broad subject, you can study almost anything through whaling,” Mr. Doctorow said. “It’s not just what ships had what captains and how much oil they came home with. It’s really the technology they used for navigation. It can be the study of the different islands in the South Pacific that they found. It could be economic studies; it could be gender studies. So, whaling is pretty broad, and I thought this was an interesting way of looking at the subject in general.”

From 1760 to 1850, Sag Harbor was a thriving whaling port. After the golden age of Sag Harbor whaling from 1820 to 1850, the discovery of gold in California and petroleum in Pennsylvania along with a scarcity of whales led to the decline of the industry.

“It was a vital industry in the 1800s,” Mr. Doctorow said. “Of course, now we see it as very brutal. But back then it was their livelihood. I hope this exhibit is another way of connecting to village history.”

It's a history that has long fascinated Mr. Doctorow. As a child, he visited Sag Harbor from his home in Westchester often, as his parents owned a summer house in the area. Now, Sag Harbor is his permanent home.

“I just love this village and I love the history of it,” Mr. Doctorow said. “If I’m not hard at work getting the exhibits ready, or something else, I’m hard at work researching it.”

"Mailing Whaling" opens with a reception on Friday, June 21, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum, 200 Main Street, Sag Harbor. On view are 20th century stamps and postcards plus contemporary artwork inspired by the theme from artists Robert Carioscia, Grover Gatewood, Susan Lazarus-Reimen, Barbara Maslem, Dave O, Sabina Streeter and Bob Weinstein.