Holbrook's Geometrical Forms and Arithmetical Solids
date: label: date made
content: 1859
name: label: maker
content: Holbrook School Apparatus Manufacturing Company
notes: label: Description
content: In the years before the Civil War, several Northern states opened free elementary or common schools. To communicate with large numbers of students, teachers used a wide range of objects, including these models of simple geometrical shapes. Connecticut school reformer and lecturer Josiah Holbrook developed a collection of apparatus for teaching by families and in schools. The models were part of this set. He designed them to help students learn the names of simple solids, basic rules for calculating the area of various flat surfaces, and elementary drawing. Holbrook advertised that his equipment was "Good enough for the best, and cheap enough for the poorest." It was used in thousands of schools. Even after Holbrook died in 1854, his family continued to manufacture school apparatus; these models date from about 1859.
place: label: place made
content: United States: Illinois, Chicago
label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Education
label: Subject
content: Mathematics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
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content: Science & Mathematics
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content: Arithmetic Teaching
label: Exhibition
content: Art in Industry
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1986.1025.01
label: accession number
content: 1986.1025
label: catalog number
content: 1986.1025.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: geometric models
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (label material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 9 cm x 22.1 cm x 14.5 cm; 3 9/16 in x 8 11/16 in x 5 11/16 in