Measuring Tape
date: label: date made
content: ca. 1896
label: date made
content: 1896
notes: label: Description
content: Steel measuring tapes came into use in the middle years of the nineteenth century, thanks in large part to the innovations of James Chesterman (1795–1867), a metal worker in Sheffield, England. While the early steel tapes were of modest length, by 1888 it was said that steel tapes of 1000 foot length “have been frequently used for special purposes.” J. W. Queen & Co. stated in 1898 that steel tapes “are now made in any length up to 1000 feet without joint from end to end.” This 1000-foot example came from the National Park Service. It apparently dates from around 1896 and was used for mine surveying.
label: Description
content: Ref: Daniel Carhart, <i>A Treatise on Plane Surveying</i> (Boston, 1888), p. 4.
label: Description
content: “Steel Tapes,” <i>The Age of Steel</i> 82 (Dec. 11, 1897): p. 11.
label: Description
content: Queen & Co., <i>Manual of Engineers and Surveyors Instruments</i> (Philadelphia, 1898), p. 176.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: National Park Service
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PH.319982
label: catalog number
content: 319982
label: accession number
content: 241450
objectType: label: Object Name
content: measuring tape
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 10 in; 25.4 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 1/4 in x 10 1/2 in; 10.795 cm x 26.67 cm