Faber-Castell Map Measure Sold by U. S. Blue Co.
date: label: date made
content: ca 1910
name: label: maker
content: Faber, A. W.
notes: label: Description
content: This metal map measure consists of a slender tubular handle attached to a dial with a wheel protruding from the bottom. The white paper dial is covered by glass and has a thin blue metal arrow attached in the center. The arrow moves as the wheel is traced along a map. The outer ring of the dial is marked by threes from 0 to 39 for converting inches to miles or inches to verstes (a traditional Russian length measure equivalent to 3,500 feet). The inner ring is divided by units and numbered by tens from 0 to 100 for converting centimeters to kilometers.
label: Description
content: The center of the dial is marked: Made in (/) Switzerland (/) U.S. BLUE CO. (/) CHICAGO. The metal between the dial and the wheel is marked: F C (/) DEPOSE. The Faber-Castell logo of a castle is between the letters F and C. The letter B is scratched into the back of the instrument.
label: Description
content: The German company A. W. Faber was renamed Faber-Castell in 1905. It sometimes manufactured products in Switzerland, and "depose" suggests that the firm filed for a trademark there. U.S. Blue was presumably a blueprint company located in Chicago; it also sold slide rules from Hemmi. The Eugene Dietzgen Co. also sold this instrument, charging $2.20 in 1926. Alfred J. Betcher (1887–1971) owned this example, perhaps purchasing it when he was studying at the University of Minnesota (1906) or at West Point (1907–1911). He was commissioned as a captain, served at posts in New York, Vermont, and Kentucky, and retired in 1939 at the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1940 he was elected mayor of Canajoharie, N.Y.
label: Description
content: References: Russ Rowlett, <i>How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement</i>, July 11, 2005, http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/index.html; <i>Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co.</i>, 12th ed. (Chicago, 1926), 171; accession file.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Switzerland
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Surveying
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
label: See more items in
content: Science & Mathematics
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content: Scale Rules
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content: Measuring & Mapping
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of John A. Betcher
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1982.0386.07
label: accession number
content: 1982.0386
label: catalog number
content: 1982.0386.07
objectType: label: Object Name
content: rule
label: Object Name
content: scale rule
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: glass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 11.5 cm x 3.5 cm x .5 cm; 4 17/32 in x 1 3/8 in x 3/16 in