WILLIAM MITCHELL
IMPROVED
postal balance

postal balance, supplier William Mitchell

On the front of this postal balance, the name WILLIAM MITCHELL is on the left in the brass strip, and below that IMPROVED. On other Mitchell letter scales, WILLIAM MITCHELL'S is on the left and IMPROVED below it. I also saw a scale with W. MITCHELL'S on the left and IMPROVED on the right. What exactly has been improved is unclear. The William Mitchell company was founded as early as 1825 and primarily manufactured an extensive range of steel pen nibs. Other products included pen holders and paper clips. The company merged into British Pens in 1920 and subsequently employed around a thousand people. Later, Perry & Co. was acquired. In 1969, the pen company Joseph Gillott also joined. In 1982, British Pens was sold and the company name changed to William Mitchell Ltd. The company still exists, see William Mitchell (Calligraphy) Ltd. On the right side of the front cover it says WARRANTED and below that ACCURATE, which means: GUARANTEED ACCURATE. This suggests something, but in fact means nothing.

back of the postal balance

The postal balances bearing the full name William Mitchell, or W. Mitchell, were most likely produced by another firm. They were nice by-products for sale by the pen nib manufacturer William Mitchell in the large network of stores selling office supplies and stationery.
The fixed stationary frame with the large and the two small circles can also be seen at other suppliers or makers, for example at Perry & Co., see the bottom of this page, at Smith Son & Downes, at J. & J. Smith, all three from London, at this unknown, bij Edmund Ratcliff from Birmingham, and also at Sampson Mordan & Co. from London. The vertical uprights under the plates are straight, or have a semicircle as here, or a full circle. The stepped plateau for the weights is best known from Sampson Mordan. The letter plate on the postal balances by W. Mitchell is round. So far, I have seen three different balance models by Mitchell.
The wooden base plate is 26.5 x 14.7 x 1.8 centimeters, the diameter of the weight plateau is 8.0 cm, and the letter plate is 9.6 cm round. The height of the scale is 13.2 cm.
Below are some more images of this postal balance bearing the name William Mitchell.

side view	the balance has round plates	side view
from above	WILLIAM MITCHELL IMPROVED	WARRANTED ACCURATE
a semicircle in the upright	in equilibrium the pointer needle is vertical.	a semicircle in the upright

the six weights: 2 x 1 lb, 8oz, 4oz, 2oz, and 1oz

animation: place the weights in front of the postal balance [move the pointer over the photo]

the bottom is flat and without donut-shaped feet

a small box from William Mitchell with one of the many types of pen nibs

advertisement for William Mitchell's pens by British Pens Ltd. in 1936

a presentation card with poster nibs by William Mitchell the card is published by British Pens Ltd.

model with an equal circle frame in the Perry catalogue of 1871