PERRY & CO.
letter scale

Perry & Co. letter scale

This letter scale was once sold by Perry & Co. presumably in Amsterdam, the scale has gram weights of 50, 30, and 10. Perry and Co. was an English company that is best known for steel writing pens - see the image on the bottom right of this page - and bicycle chains. They sold much more: stationery and office supplies, knives and scissors, travel items, English and American toys, toiletries, and so on. The firm started as James Perry & Co. in 1824 in Manchester and later moved to London. A branch in Birmingham followed later. For much more information, visit this page of Gracesguide. Perry & Co. had stores in New York, Berlin, Brussels, Paris, Barcelona and Frankfurt am Main. In 1866 the Verster family started a branch in Amsterdam together with Perry with on the facade: Perry & Co English & American Warehouse. They advertised under the name Perry & Co Merchants in English and American Articles.

back of the letter scale

Later it became an independent Dutch company, separate from the English parent company. There were branches in The Hague, Utrecht, Arnhem, Rotterdam, Haarlem, and Groningen. In Amsterdam this statement became popular: "Wat God niet geeft, geeft Perry". [Translated: "What God does not give, Perry gives"]. Around 1919 at Perry and Co. fillings for bras were sold. Also the lesser known slogan: "Met melk meer mans, met Perry meer sjans" [Roughly translated: "With milk more man, with Perry more appeal"] was used because of these fillings.
In 1959 the Dutch firm came into the hands of the Bijenkorf. The company became Perry Sport in 1978. And in 1984 it became part of Vendex International. In 2016, it finally became part of the English JD Sports. [Source: the site of store stories with Perry Sport since 1866] [in Dutch]. For more information see also Perry Sport at Wikipedia, also in Dutch.
Below some more images of this Perry & Co. letter scale.

side view

Perry & Co. letter scale with three weights in grams

side view

the name Perry & Co. in the weight plate	the vertical arrow indicates balance	the weights of 50 grams, 30 grams and 10 grams
the plate for the letters	from above	the bottom has four cylindrical wooden feet
advertisement in the Algemeen Handelsblad of November 20, 1917	message about the 50th anniversary of Perry & Co. in the Netherlands in the Algemeen Dagblad of September 5, 1916 about an album handed over to the director J.F. Verster detailing the history of the company, written on 16 parchment pages and decorated and bound in a one-piece sealskin binding	advertisement in Vrij Nederland of May 24, 1941: Supports the Allied Cause By Writing Exclusively with Perry Crown Pen No. 120