The Art of Building Ships in Bottles

The first ships in bottles date back centuries though these original creations were actually placed in bottles with the spout point downward — not on the side as is usual today. The craft really exploded in the mid-19th century when improved glassmaking made bottles thinner, more even, and free of air bubbles that would otherwise distort the image of the model inside.

Jim Goodwin, a retired geologist who for 25 years, has been perfecting the maritime tradition of fitting pint-sized keels, hulls, and top sails inside glass bottles. Proud owner of his own business Carolina Ships in Bottles — a not-so-subtle shout out to his home state — Goodwin is a self-described textual kinesthetic, meaning he’s a bit of a fidgeter. So for nearly a quarter-century, he’s kept his hands busy crafting ships of all types, whether the notorious pirate vessels, famous U.S. frigates, or the many other famous ships-of-line that navigated the world’s oceans during the Age of Sail, and placing them snugly inside their own glassy worlds.

More from the Made Here series:
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#madehere #howitsmade #shipinbottle

The Art of Building Ships in Bottles

[LMBee]

55 years old and now I know! Thank you kindly 😉

[ihikefar]

I took a class Jim Goodwin put on at Roy Underhill’s Woodwright School many years ago. Each student made their own ship in bottle. I got to learn all the masters secrets. Fascinating class and remarkable teacher.

[rickylovenuts]

Nothing is more pleasing to watch than a man completely focused on his art

[allenmano]

This deserves a lot of views & likes

[salasnet]

Came for the ship building, stayed for the soundtrack. That was a wonderful experience. Watching a master craftsman being accompanied by a wonderful soundtrack was a deeply relaxing experience.

[SoundBubble]

This brought back some memories. As a kid, I used to be fascinated by these and wanted my parents to buy me a ship in a bottle whenever I saw one. Always wondered how they were made, but I was still too young at the time to have internet access and nobody around me knew either, so I eventually forgot growing up. Glad this video finally solved that childhood mystery of mine. It really is a beautiful craft.

[tamzidbaquee]

Youtube should also have a "love" button for videos like this

[patrickrose]

I honestly can't remember the last time that I've sat for so long in silence, fair play! 😆😅
Absolutely brilliant! Thanks pal 😉👍

[Airman_Fu]

I like how you turn off the light and come back to it tomorrow. Most of the YT videos just do cut after cut. This is great editing, nice music and an amazing build.

[samhunt]

Bought back memories from over 70 years ago, my parents neighbor, an old sea salt, made these. As a kid, I never knew how he performed such magic. Thank you for sharing your

[andreww]

Wow, that was quite fascinating to watch you do that. Seems like a very high level of enjoyable patience if you ask me! Awesome work, and thanks so much for sharing your hobby of interest with many.😂

[garetkonigsfeld]

My grandfather would put ships and the hole port builds and all in bottles. It's definitely a dying art. Thanks for taking us along 👍.

[keithfernandes]

Meticulous planning and precision in execution in a restricted space. I draw a parallel to laparscopic surgery also know as key hole surgery. Kudos to you Sir. ❤

[parallax]

step 1 - drink a whole entire bottle of liquor

[Swillber]

Amazing. Was holding my breath on the final pull of the strings. So much work done leading to that point.

[lawrencecassidy]

There they are, almost done, and you pull out the tools that you had to make yourself, I started doing this around 8 years old, I still have unfinished ships in baggies waiting for me to find the right bottle to put them in, the look in people's eyes when you give it to them, all the fun is making them and stuffing them in, great video

[goosey]

I've always been amazed by this - it's not enough you build this great little ship, but then add the challenge of putting it in a bottle after!

[cappystrano]

That’s pretty cool. I can appreciate all the planning it took to get there. I couldn’t help think of the moth and the butterfly when you pushed the ship through the mouth of the jar and it just was born inside the bottle. Nice work!

[zubenthungkingkikon]

Wow sir ❤ respect the patience of the hardest things but you made it.

[NripendraRai-if]

My father built such craft around 25 yrs ago and have seen one when i was kid but, he got different style of craftsmanship and strategy.