Balance
date: label: date made
content: early twentieth century
name: label: maker
content: National Scale Company
notes: label: Description
content: The National Computing Scale Company began in business in Cleveland, Ohio, in the late 1890s, to capitalize on the ideas of William Harley Sanderson (1844-1911). A machinist who had spent many years with the Howe Scale Company in Vermont, Sanderson obtained two patents for balances that could estimate the number of pieces in a load by determining the weight of that load. The firm moved to Beaver Falls, Pa., in the early 20th century, and was renamed the National Scale Company. It moved again, in 1909, to Chicopee Falls, Ma. It is now trading as the National Scale Co. of New England, Inc.
label: Description
content: In this example, the iron base is painted black with gold trim; the words “NATIONAL SCALE CO. BEAVER FALLS, PA. U.S.A.” appear on one side, and “THE ‘NATIONAL’” on the other. An inscription on the steel beam at top reads “PLACE 100 PIECES IN THE PAN.” The pan is missing.
label: Description
content: Ref: William H. Sanderson, “Platform Scale,” U.S. Patent 601,881 (April 5, 1898).
label: Description
content: William H. Sanderson, “Weighing and Counting Machine,” U.S. Patent 659,830 (Oct. 16, 1900).
label: Description
content: “A Counting and Weighing Machine,” <i>American Machinist</i> 31 (1908): 817.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Weights & Measures
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Chemistry
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: CH.325696
label: catalog number
content: 325696
label: accession number
content: 256204
objectType: label: Object Name
content: scale
label: Object Type
content: Scales
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 19 1/4 in x 21 1/2 in x 12 1/4 in; 48.895 cm x 54.61 cm x 31.115 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: scale: 18 7/8 in x 21 3/4 in x 12 1/4 in; 47.9425 cm x 55.245 cm x 31.115 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: pan holder: 9 in x 7 in x 7 3/4 in; 22.86 cm x 17.78 cm x 19.685 cm