The American Whaling Fleet has ceased to exist. However, this art is being carried on by a few American artisans. Scrimshaw is the indigenous art form of the American Whaleman. In his idle hours of cruising for whale, he devoted himself to fashioning articles and jewelry of whale ivory.

   Today, the ivory trade in the United States has been reduced to "pre-embargo ivory" - ivory that was brought into the states before sanctions were set in place; hippo ivory - which is taken from animals that have been culled from the herds or that have killed human population; and fossilized ivory - ivory from ancient walrus and mastodons.
Here at scrimshaw.com, we are utilizing this and other alternatives. One of which is a nut palm (also called "vegetable ivory") which polishes to an incredible likeness of ivory, and whose hardness and durability rivals that of ivory as well. There are also other resources, such as fossilized ivory, antler (which drop off every year - if you can get them before the raccoons do!), and more.

    If you are a Scrimshander and would like to show your work here, I'd be more than happy to provide links to your site for free. Simply contact me at aperkins@scrimshaw.com Come visit http://www.gardenhacker.com, my fledgling gardening site for a quick view of some time saving ideas!