CRESCENT letter scale

frontal view

This is a typical little American letter scale. The height is barely 7.8 centimeters. The plate is 3.5 x 4.2 centimeters. The range is 16 ounces = 1 Lb = 453.6 grams. The postal rates are given in detail at the chart. Itemized in domestic: letters, MDSE (short for merchandise = trade goods), books+circulaires, newspapers. And foreign: letters, newspapers et cetera. The domestic rate for letters is 2c per 1oz. This rate was valid from 1885 till 1917. The name of the manufacturer and three dates of patents are stamped at the top surface of the base of the scale. Also the folllowing countries are stamped there: U.S., Canada, England, France, Belgium, Germany. The oldest year is 1896, the youngest is 1899. I still don't have copies of the patent of Mar, 29th 1898 and of the patent of Jan 31th 1899.

open sides

animation: two positions of the mechanism

Gilfillan US patent 561,309 date June 2nd, 1896

The patent of June 2nd 1896, is US patent 561,309 with the title: Spring-balance weighing-scale. This is the core patent of this letter scale. The inventor is Essington N. Gilfillan, of the Gilfillan Scale and Hardware Company, Chicago, Illinois. The chart of the scale is ergonomically positioned and better to read by the user. The arc shaped chart is placed concentric with the movement of the index arm of the mechanism. This letter scale is a spring balance. The mechanism with attached extension spring, can be tuned by rotating the adjusting knob, visible at the top of the housing. The housing and the plate are of magnetic steel. Only the connecting tube of the plate is of brass. The edge of the plate is intensely ornamented. The scale is coated with a chrome top layer. At the base are some corroded spots. The printing on the chart is faded due to a cleanser containing bleach. It cleans excellently, but all of a sudden the text vanishes almost completely. The mechanism of the Pelouze crescent is also applied in more luxerous and very expensive scales of Tiffany Studios, Jennings Brothers, Apollo Studios and Heintz Art Metal Shop. J.R. Katz wrote an extensive article on this subject in Equilibrium, 2001, nr.1, pages 2556-2560. Below some more photos of this little letter scale.

ornamented edge

leveling screw just visible

zero leveling screw

top of chart

bottom of chart

frontal side-view	text at base	side-view
spring suspension	parallelogram	ultimate position