Steelyard
name: label: maker
content: E. and T. Fairbanks and Company
notes: label: Description
content: Steelyards originated in antiquity and have long been used around the world. Benjamin Dearborn, an early American inventor, introduced the curved and up-turned end (as on this example) in 1799. Other features (including the vernier scale and fine adjusting screw) were described in U.S. Patent 4,761 issued to Thaddeus Fairbanks, of St. Johnsbury, Vt., in 1846. The New Haven inspection sticker of 1850 indicates that this is an early example. The Company seal reads “Fairbanks Scales South Pacific Ocean Registered in US Patent Office”
label: Description
content: The Fairbanks firm originated in the 1820s. By the 1860s, Fairbanks' scales were sold internationally. The company moved its offices from Vermont to Missouri in about 1988.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Vermont, Saint Johnsbury
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2017.0234.07
label: catalog number
content: 2017.0234.07
label: accession number
content: 2017.0234
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Steelyard with Supporting Frame
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 72 3/4 in x 90 in x 27 3/4 in; 184.785 cm x 228.6 cm x 70.485 cm