Measuring Tape
date: label: date made
content: after 1953
name: label: maker
content: Lufkin Rule Company
notes: label: Description
content: The case of this measuring tape is marked: "THE LUFKIN RULE CO. 50 FT. SAGINAW, U.S.A. NEW YORK, LONDON, ENG., WINDSOR CAN." The back of the case is embossed "IMPROVED METALLIC." The folding handle is marked "PATENTED MAY 23, 1893." The tape is 5/8" wide (16 mm.) and has "quick reading" graduations. The ring clamp is marked "U.S. PATS. 2,381,92; 2,648,114; 2,648,118; 2,659,153; PAT. PEND." The latest patent here is dated 1953.
label: Description
content: Edward Taylor Lufkin (1848-1921), a Civil War veteran, established the E. T. Lufkin Board and Rule Manufacturing Co. in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1869. The firm became the Lufkin Rule Company in 1885, and moved to Saginaw, Michigan ten years later. By 1903, the Lufkin firm was the largest manufacturer of steel measuring tapes in the United States.
label: Description
content: Ref: Allan R. A. Beeber, “Measuring Tape,” U.S. Patent 2,659,153 (Nov. 17, 1953), assigned to Keuffel & Esser.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Michigan, Saginaw
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: PH.333651
label: catalog number
content: 333651
label: accession number
content: 300659
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Measuring Tape
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 3/8 in x 4 3/8 in; 3.4925 cm x 11.1125 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 1/2 in x 7 1/4 in x 4 1/4 in; 3.81 cm x 18.415 cm x 10.795 cm