Odometer
date: label: date made
content: around 1900
notes: label: Description
content: Established in 1879, the U.S. Geological Survey tested distance measurers to see which best suited their purposes. Those that failed muster were sent to the Smithsonian in 1907. This bell odometer—so-called because a bell rings for every revolution of the wheel—is one of those instruments. The inscription on the dial reads “U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WASHINGTON, D.C.”
label: Description
content: The form came on the market in 1893. Originally made for horse-drawn vehicles, it was later adapted for automobiles. This example may have been made by the Bell Odometer Works, a firm that started in Washington, D.C., and later moved to Oakmont, Pa.
label: Description
content: Ref: “The Improved Bell Odometer,” <i>Scientific American</i> 72 (1895): 405.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
label: See more items in
content: Measuring & Mapping
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PH.247960
label: catalog number
content: 247960
label: accession number
content: 47736
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Odometer
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 in x 2 15/16 in x 5 3/8 in; 5.08 cm x 7.46125 cm x 13.6525 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 5 9/16 in x 2 13/16 in x 2 in; 14.12875 cm x 7.14375 cm x 5.08 cm