Mystic Scrimshanders

Scrimshaw, the art of engraving on ivory or bone. During the 19th Century, whaling voyages were measured in years,  A month or more might pass between kills, and there was only so much shipboard work to keep men occupied. Boredom became a fact of life and a major shipboard problem. Under such conditions, it is only logical to expect a variety of pastimes to have emerged. Scrimshaw became the most popular channel for pent-up energy