Alteneder Opposite Bevel Chain Scale Retailed by B. K. Elliott
date: label: date made
content: 20th century
name: label: distributor
content: B. K. Elliott Co.
label: maker
content: Theodore Alteneder and Sons
notes: label: Description
content: This six-inch wooden ruler is beveled and coated with white plastic along both long edges. One side is divided to 1/50" and numbered in both directions from 0 to 6. The number "50" is printed below the three-inch mark, and the center of the rule is marked: ALTENEDER. The other side is divided to 1/32" and numbered in both directions from 0 to 6. The number "32" is printed below the three-inch mark, and the wooden part of the rule is marked: B. K. ELLIOTT Co. PITTSBURGH – CLEVELAND. It is also marked: R. S. C. It is also marked: U.S. ST'D.
label: Description
content: Theodore Alteneder began making drawing instruments in Philadelphia in 1850, and the firm remains in existence as a manufacturer of photoengraving equipment. Byron Kenneth Elliott (b. 1870) opened a store in Pittsburgh in 1897 that sold drawing, surveying, and optical equipment. The shop closed in 1980. The donor's father, Robert S. Condon, used this instrument.
label: Description
content: The date for this object is uncertain. Theo. Alteneder & Sons made a 6" opposite bevel scale with white edges and these divisions as model 2232 from 1940 (when it cost $1.35) to at least 1958 (when it cost $3.25). However, according to catalog illustrations, the company mark during this period had the firm's full name around a circle, while this object has only "Alteneder" in a straight line. The scale does not appear in the 3rd, 5th, or 1948 7th editions of B. K. Elliott catalogs.
label: Description
content: References: "Byron Kenneth Elliott," in <i>History of Pittsburgh and Environs</i> (New York and Chicago: American Historical Society, 1922), 35–36; <i>Alteneder Drawing Instruments</i> (Philadelphia, 1940), 26; <i>Alteneder Drawing Instruments</i> (Philadelphia, 1958), 26; <i>Catalogue and Price List of B. K. Elliott Co.</i>, 3rd ed. (Pittsburgh, n.d.), 134, 140; <i>Catalogue and Price List of B. K. Elliott Co.</i>, 5th ed. (Pittsburgh, n.d.), 135; <i>Catalogue and Price List of B. K. Elliott Co.</i>, 7th ed. (Pittsburgh, 1948).
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Drafting, Engineering
label: Subject
content: Rule, Measuring
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
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content: Science & Mathematics
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content: Scale Rules
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Robert B. Condon
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1991.0793.01
label: accession number
content: 1991.0793
label: catalog number
content: 1991.0793.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: rule
label: Object Name
content: scale rule
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: .4 cm x 17.8 cm x 3.5 cm; 5/32 in x 7 in x 1 3/8 in