Charvoz No. 877-P
date: label: date made
content: ca 1940
name: label: maker
content: Charvoz
notes: label: Description
content: This set of drawing instruments has thirteen pieces contained in a folding case. The case is covered with black leatherette, lined with blue velveteen, and closes with two metal snaps. It is marked on the outside in the middle of the top: CHARVOZ (/) No.-877-P (/) MADE IN U.S.A. A tag attached on the inside reads: CHARVOZ (/) MADE IN U.S.A. The set includes:
label: Description
content: (1) Bow pencil, unmarked, 10.8 cm. x 3 cm.
label: Description
content: (2) Bow pen, unmarked, 10.8 cm. x 3.5 cm.
label: Description
content: (3) Bow dividers, unmarked, 10.8 cm. x 3 cm.
label: Description
content: (4) Metal capsule containing four pencil points, 4 cm.
label: Description
content: (5) Drawing pen with German silver handle, marked CHARVOZ USA, 14 cm. x 1.2 cm.
label: Description
content: (6) Extension bar, unmarked - 10 cm.
label: Description
content: (7) Dividers with one point removable – marked CHARVOZ PAT.PENDING, 15.5 cm. x 1.5 cm.
label: Description
content: (8) Fine screwdriver, unmarked – 7.6 cm.
label: Description
content: (9) Cylinder with two needle points – unmarked, 4.2 cm.
label: Description
content: (10) Compass with adjustable legs, fitted with lead and pinpoint, unmarked – 15.4 cm. x 1.5 cm.
label: Description
content: (11) Pinpoint with handle, unmarked – 10.5 cm.
label: Description
content: (12) Handle, unmarked – 7.2 cm.
label: Description
content: (13) Penpoint marked CHARVOZ U.S.A. – 6 cm.
label: Description
content: Charvoz, Inc., was founded in November of 1938 in East Rutherford, New Jersey, to fulfill a demand for precision instruments previously imported from France and Germany. Principals in the company included André Charvoz (1892-1969), an instrument maker who had arrived recently from France, and Samuel Sanders. Products of the firm, and of the closely related slide rule manufacturer Roos Company, sold throughout World War II. After the war, the firm became Charvoz-Roos and sold imported instruments from both Germany and Japan. It would cease sales in 1953.
label: Description
content: The set was owned by the donor’s father, Joseph Stellabotte, who, from 1945 until 1948, was a marine engineer in the U.S. Army stationed at the Panama Canal. From 1948 until 1950, he attended the Spring Garden Institute in Philadelphia, Pa., with funds from the G.I. Bill. There he earned a mechanical engineering certificate. The donor believes he acquired the instruments at this time – quite possibly used. He went on to work for Honeywell, Vertol (Boeing Helicopters), and then, for thirty years, for the Engineering Division of the Water Department of the City of Philadelphia. Stellabotte used the instruments throughout his career.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: Accession file.
label: Description
content: “Make Precision Goods Here,” <I>New York Times</I>, November 4, 1938, p. 43.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New Jersey, East Rutherford
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Karen Stellabotte
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2024.0054.01
label: catalog number
content: 2024.0054.01
label: accession number
content: 2024.0054
objectType: label: Object Name
content: set of drawing instruments
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: leatherette (case cover material)
label: Physical Description
content: velveteen (case lining material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (instruments, snap material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 cm x 27.7 cm x 14 cm; 1 3/16 in x 10 29/32 in x 5 1/2 in