U.S. Standard Liquid Measures Based on the Gallon, a Non-metric Measure
date: label: date made
content: ca 1860
name: label: maker
content: United States Office of Weights and Measures
notes: label: Description
content: This elegant set consists of five brass liquid measures with handles. A stamp on the lip of the smallest reads: B.S. No. 333, and another stamp on the side reads: U.S. STANDARD (/) 1/16 GALLON. The next largest measure reads on the lip: B.S. No. 334, and on the side: U.S. STANDARD (/) 1/8 GALLON. The middle-sized measure reads on the lip: B.S. No. 335, and on the side: U.S. STANDARD (/) 1/4 GALLON. The fourth measure reads on the lip: B.S. No. 336, and on the side: U.S. STANDARD (/) 1/2 GALLON. The largest measure reads on the lip: B.S. No. 458, and on the side: U.S. STANDARD (/) GALLON. The seal of the National Bureau of Standards also is stamped on the four smaller measures.
label: Description
content: The United States Constitution explicitly grants the federal government the power to regulate weights and measures. Most colonies used weights and measures based on British custom, and the first U.S. standard measures were in units such as pounds, yards, and gallons. The first standards, which were weights, were delivered to the states in 1838. By 1856, Alexander Dallas Bache could report that the Office of Weights and Measures he headed had completed full sets of weights, measures and balances for the states. Customhouses also were being equipped, with that task completed in about 1866.
label: Description
content: These five liquid measures appear to be examples of these standards. However, they are numbered with “B.S.” numbers, and in four cases stamped with the seal of the Bureau of Standards. The Bureau was not established until 1901. The objects came to the Smithsonian in 1929.
label: Description
content: Reference:
label: Description
content: Rexmond C. Cochrane, <I>Measures for Progress: A History of the National Bureau of Standards</I>, [Washington, DC]: National Bureau of Standards, U. S. Department of Commerce, 1966, esp. pp. 20-47.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Chemistry
label: See more items in
content: Metric System
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content: Measuring & Mapping
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transfer from U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Standards
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: CH.309583
label: catalog number
content: 309583
label: accession number
content: 103830
objectType: label: Object Name
content: liquid, measures, U.S. standard
label: Object Name
content: liquid, measures, u.s. standard
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: inside #333: 5.2 cm x 10.4 cm; 2 1/16 in x 4 1/8 in
label: Measurements
content: inside #458: 27 cm x 13.3 cm; 10 5/8 in x 5 1/4 in
label: Measurements
content: inside #334: 6.6 cm x 13.3 cm; 2 5/8 in x 5 1/4 in
label: Measurements
content: inside #336: 21.1 cm x 10.1 cm; 8 5/16 in x 4 in
label: Measurements
content: inside #335: 9 cm x 16.8 cm; 3 9/16 in x 6 5/8 in