Prior to the 1880's, whalebone was used almost exclusively for

The hoop skirt and its development within the history of costumes.

Silhouettes

Corsets – The Quintessential Clothes Pen

The Makah artist helping the whale-hunting Thunderbird fly again

The Art of Whaling: Illustrations from the Logbooks of Nantucket Whaleships — The Public Domain Review

By the early 1880's, whalebone was

EMBODIED SYMBOLS OF THE SOUTH SEAS: TATTOO IN POLYNESIA

Bustle Textiles

The Ins and Outs of the Corset - Canada's History