Engineering, Building, and Architecture - Overview
Not many museums collect houses. The National Museum of American History has four, as well as two outbuildings, 11 rooms, an elevator, many building components, and some architectural elements from the White House. Drafting manuals are supplemented by many prints of buildings and other architectural subjects. The breadth of the museum's collections adds some surprising objects to these holdings, such as fans, purses, handkerchiefs, T-shirts, and other objects bearing images of buildings.
The engineering artifacts document the history of civil and mechanical engineering in the United States. So far, the Museum has declined to collect dams, skyscrapers, and bridges, but these and other important engineering achievements are preserved through blueprints, drawings, models, photographs, sketches, paintings, technical reports, and field notes.
"Engineering, Building, and Architecture - Overview" showing 936 items.
Page 4 of 94
Coffin Planimeter Arm Signed by Ashcroft Manufacturing Company, No. 1423
- Description
- This German silver instrument is a curved bar with a short arm, on which a short cylindrical weight is placed, and a longer arm, to which a tracer point is screwed. The middle of the bar has a thin cross-rod, on which a measuring wheel rotates against a wedge-shaped vernier. The wheel is numbered from 0 to 14, with each unit divided into five parts. The vernier is corroded and may be a different type of metal from the rest of the instrument. The bar is marked: THE ASHCROFT MFG. CO. (/) — SOLE MANUFACTURERS. — (/) COFFIN'S PAT. JUNE 6. 1882. The underside of the bar is marked: No. 1423. The serial number suggests this object is not as old as MA*323705.
- A wooden case is covered with dark brown leather and lined with purple silk and velvet. The top of the case is marked: MADE BY (/) THE ASHCROFT MANF'G CO. (/) NEW YORK & BRIDGEPORT.
- John Coffin of Syracuse, N.Y., applied for a patent on this variation on a planimeter in July 1881. He designed his "averageometer" to calculate areas in diagrams of work performed by steam engines. The Ashcroft Manufacturing Company of New York City and Bridgeport, Conn., was the first of several American firms to make the device. Ashcroft, best known for making pressure gauges for steam engines, often sold the arm for Coffin's planimeter separately from its base, as in this example. In 1910, Frederick C. Blanchard, Ernest B. Crocker, and Philip G. Darling, who all probably worked for Ashcroft, patented an improvement to Coffin's planimeter so that it could be clamped in place. The planimeters made by Ashcroft after 1910 utilized this improvement, so this example was made between 1882 and 1910.
- In 1912, company founder Edward H. Ashcroft sold his interest to Charles A. Moore, who renamed the firm Manning, Maxwell, and Moore (MM&M). Dresser Industries, Inc., purchased MM&M in 1964. Ashcroft survived as a brand name.
- References: John Coffin, "Averageometer, or Instrument for Measuring the Average Breadth of Irregular Planes" (U.S. Patent 258,993 issued June 6, 1882); N. Hawkins, Hawkins' Indicator Catechism (New York: Theo. Audel & Co., 1903), 140–142; James Ambrose Moyer, Power Plant Testing (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1911), 73–78; David R. Green, "Coffin Planimeters," June 16, 2008, http://www.planimetervault.com/coffin.html; Richard Oliver, "Ashcroft Manufacturing Co. History," http://www.clockguy.com/SiteRelated/SiteReferencePages/AshcroftManufacturingCoHistory.html.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1882-1910
- maker
- Ashcroft Mfg. Co.
- ID Number
- 1987.0107.03
- catalog number
- 1987.0107.03
- accession number
- 1987.0107
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Dietzgen D1803D Compensating Polar Planimeter
- Description
- This metal polar planimeter has a white plastic measuring wheel with vernier and a metal registering dial on the 5" tracer arm. The tracer arm is marked on top: DIETZGEN (/) MADE IN U.S.A. Next to the tracer point, it is marked: 22812. The other arm is 8" long and screwed to a cylindrical metal weight.
- A beige plastic case is lined with deteriorating gray foam padding. A label inside the case is marked: DIETZGEN (/) PLANIMETER No. D1803D (/) TEST RULE 12.50 SQ. IN. Serial No. 22812. A chart has columns for Scale, Value of unit of vernier, Constant: Pole inside figure, and Pole Arm Setting. Only the first row of the chart (for the scale 1" = 100') is completed. The case fits inside a beige cardboard box with a black, yellow, and white label: DEITZGEN One Only (/) Compensating (/) POLAR PLANIMETER (/) In Velvet Lined Case, with Testing Rule (/) and Directions D1803D.
- In the 1920s, the Eugene Dietzgen Company of Chicago sold a planimeter similar to this one as model 1804. By the 1950s, the planimeter was renumbered to model D1803D and offered in the wooden case with velvet lining mentioned on the label on this example. Later, the plastic and foam case replaced the wooden case. "Dietzgen" is stamped rather than printed on the label inside this case, suggesting that another company made the planimeter and Dietzgen distributed it. This object was found in the Museum in 1984.
- Reference: Catalog of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 12th ed. (Chicago, 1926), 182.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1960
- maker
- Eugene Dietzgen Company
- ID Number
- 1987.0107.09
- accession number
- 1987.0107
- catalog number
- 1987.0107.09
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Amsler Type 2 Polar Planimeter Sold by Dietzgen
- Description
- This fixed-arm polar planimeter has a 4-1/2" tracer arm and 7" pole arm with cylindrical weight. It is made of German silver with a gold-colored coating. The tracer arm and pole arm are connected by a hinge and form a circle around the white plastic measuring wheel and vernier when the instrument is closed. The planimeter does not have a registering dial. The pole arm is marked: Eugene Dietzgen Co. New York Swiss Manufacture. A serial number is underneath the tracer arm: 57202.
- A wooden case is covered with black leather and lined with black velvet. Three labels are glued to the bottom of the case. The edges of the first are torn away, but it reads: Made in Switzerland. The second is a white inventory tag marked: TULANE UNIVERSITY (/) 74 2281. The third is tape marked: 3.
- The workshop founded by Jacob Amsler made this planimeter, and Dietzgen's New York branch office distributed it. Using the serial number, planimeter scholar Joachim Fischer dated the instrument to about 1920. In 1926, Dietzgen sold an Amsler Type 2 planimeter without registering dial as model 1800 for $17.75, although the catalog showed the instrument as having a short third arm that held the pole weight. Compare to MA*318485, 1984.1071.01, and 1989.0305.01. Mechanical engineering faculty R. M. Rotty and E. H. Harris arranged for the donation of this planimeter in 1964.
- References: Joachim Fischer to Peggy A. Kidwell, October 19, 1992, Mathematics Collection files, National Museum of American History; Catalog of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 12th ed. (Chicago, 1926), 180; N. Hawkins, Hawkins' Indicator Catechism (New York: Theo. Audel & Co., 1903), 122–123.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1920
- distributor
- Eugene Dietzgen Company
- maker
- Amsler, Jacob
- ID Number
- 1987.0769.01
- accession number
- 1987.0769
- catalog number
- 1987.0769.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Coradi Adjustable Polar Compensating Planimeter Sold by Eugene Dietzgen (Model 6612)
- Description
- This instrument has two arms. Made of German silver, the first arm is 9" long, and has a brass and steel tracer point with a support. The arm is evenly divided into tenths and numbered from 5 to 38. (One unit is equivalent to 5mm.) It fits into a brass carriage painted black that has a white plastic measuring wheel, vernier, and registering dial. Screws on the carriage adjust the length of the tracer arm. The carriage is marked: No 20495.
- A 9" German silver pole arm fits into a hole in the carriage. Near that end, the arm is evenly divided into tenths and numbered from 30 to 34. The arm fits inside a sliding rectangular tube made of brass painted black (i.e., "bronzed brass"). A cylindrical brass weight is attached to the end of the tube. The tube is marked: G. Coradi, Zürich Switzerland D.P.G.M. Eugene Dietzgen Co. An oblong steel testing plate is marked for 0", 1", 2", and 3". It is also marked: G. Coradi Zürich.
- A wooden case is covered with black leather and lined with green velvet. A printed paper chart is pasted inside the case. The chart has columns for Scales, Position of the vernier on the tracer bar, Value of the unit of the vernier on the measuring roller, and Length of the pole-arm for the constant 20,000. The values in the Position and Length columns are handwritten in the same hand that indicates the Coradi firm manufactured this planimeter with serial number 20,495 on January 18, 1913. The date and serial number indicate that this instrument was manufactured before MA*321777. 1977.0112.02 is an instruction manual.
- Gottlieb Coradi (1847–1929) began to make wheel and disc polar planimeters in the early 1880s. In 1894, he made the pole arm higher than the tracer arm and connected the arms with a ball joint. This "compensating" planimeter could trace in both the clockwise and counterclockwise directions, preventing errors introduced by planimeters made in the Amsler style. The Eugene Dietzgen Company of Chicago sold Coradi's compensating planimeter from at least 1905 to at least 1931. The version with the adjustable pole arm cost $47.00, which was $11.00 more than the standard version. The model number was changed from 6612 to 1806 between 1910 and 1926. Keuffel & Esser also sold the instrument from 1901 to 1939.
- References: "The Lang-Coradi Planimeter," in Olaus Henrici, "On Planimeters," in Report of the Sixty-fourth Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (London, 1894), 496–523, on 515; Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 7th ed. (Chicago, 1904), 362; Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 9th ed. (Chicago, 1910), 503; Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 12th ed. (Chicago, 1926), 183; Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 14th ed. (Chicago, 1931), 205; Clark McCoy, "Collection of Pages from K&E Catalogs for the 4240 Family of Polar Planimeters," http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/PlanimeterModels/ke4240family.htm.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1913
- distributor
- Eugene Dietzgen Company
- maker
- Coradi, Gottlieb
- ID Number
- 1987.0929.01
- accession number
- 1987.0929
- catalog number
- 1987.0929.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Polar Planimeter
- Description
- This German silver and steel instrument has a white celluloid measuring wheel and vernier. It is in the general style of an Amsler fixed-scale planimeter, but it has no registering dial. The 4" tracer arm and 6" pole arm are connected by a hinge and form a circle around the measuring wheel when the instrument is closed. The cylindrical weight is screwed to a short revolving arm that is screwed on top of the pole arm. The lengths of the arms are not adjustable.
- A wooden case covered with black leather is lined with black velvet. White trim is around the inside edges of the case. A small piece of paper glued inside the bottom of the case is marked: 0.01 [square] in.
- There is no mark for a maker or distributor, but this instrument closely resembles a planimeter sold by the Eugene Dietzgen Company in 1926 as model 1800 for $17.75. Compare to MA*318485.
- Reference: Catalog of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 12th ed. (Chicago, 1926), 180.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1930
- ID Number
- 1989.0305.01
- accession number
- 1989.0305
- catalog number
- 1989.0305.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Instructions for Keuffel & Esser Compensating Polar Planimeters
- Description
- The citation information for this 32-page booklet is: K+E Manual: Compensating Polar Planimeters, 4236, 4236M & 4242 ([New York]: Keuffel & Esser Co., 1949). It was received with 1991.0882.01.
- The booklet explains the operation, care, and use of compensating polar planimeters, with several pages on tracing areas and making calculations. Five tables of factors and settings for scale drawings or maps are provided. The booklet also discusses factors influencing the accuracy of the instrument and highlights adjustments and measurements unique to K&E model 4242, which had adjustable arms. See 1999.0250.01 and 1998.0032.03. Finally, the general mathematical theory of the polar planimeter is outlined.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1949
- maker
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- ID Number
- 1991.0882.02
- accession number
- 1991.0882
- catalog number
- 1991.0882.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Improved Willis Planimeter
- Description
- This metal instrument (possibly of nickel-plated brass) has two pivoted arms with needle points. One is about 9" long, and the other is about 6-1/2" long. The longer arm is used for tracing and is graduated to 32nds of an inch from 2" to 7-7/8". The pivot is marked on that side: PAT'D SEPT. 22, 1896 (/) OCT. 6, 1896. The other side of the pivot is marked: —IMPROVED — (/) WILLIS PLANIMETER (/) MANF'D BY (/) JAMES L. ROBERTSON & SONS (/) NEW YO[RK] U.S.A. There are two clasps on that side for securing the frame with the measuring wheel. The back of one clasp and the first side of the pivot have a serial number: 749.
- A metal frame has three bars. The first bar is unadorned. The second bar slides in a groove formed by two small double wheels and holds a brass wheel for measuring. The third bar holds a wooden triangular ruler with six scales on white celluloid. These scales divide the inch into 100, 50, 60, 30, 80, and 40 parts. The ruler is marked: U. S. STD. The frame fits into three holes on the pivot that joins the arms.
- A wooden case covered with black leather is lined with purple satin and velvet. The inside of the lid is marked: Improved Willis Planimeter, (/) PATENTED SEPTEMBER 22, 1896. (/) " OCTOBER 6, 1896. (/) MANUFACTURED BY (/) JAMES L. ROBERTSON & SONS. (/) New York, U. S. A.
- Edward Jones Willis (1866–1941), a steam and electrical engineer from Richmond, Va., patented a cross-shaped planimeter in 1894 and had a modified version of the patent reissued in 1896. This is the first patent mentioned on the instrument. Willis's 1895 patent for a planimeter with a frame similar to the frame on this example is not mentioned on the instrument. Alpheus C. Lippincott of New York City received the second patent mentioned on the instrument, for a different form of cross-shaped planimeter.
- James L. Robertson & Sons manufactured steam engine indicators. Since planimeters were used to measure the area under curves drawn by these indicators, it was common for firms that made indicators to also produce planimeters. Indeed, Robertson sold both the Improved Willis Planimeter and the Lippincott Planimeter, so it is probable that the company mentioned Lippincott's patent on this planimeter by mistake. Around 1900, the Improved Willis Planimeter cost $18.00.
- In 1901, Willis patented the form of planimeter that sold as the Improved Willis Planimeter and added a triangular ruler attachment that could be used to calculate horsepower. See MA*324247, MA*323703, and MA*323704. Note that this example of the instrument has the frame on the left side of the instrument, unlike the later and more common versions, which had the frame on the right. The mechanism for the measuring wheel is also different, and its bar does not slide on later instruments. Because the 1901 patent is not mentioned and because of the differences in design, this Willis planimeter is probably the oldest one in the collections. James Jack Scott, the superintendent of the Eagle Cotton Oil Mill in Meridian, Miss., from about 1900 to about 1935, used this planimeter to analyze the operations of the plant's steam power equipment.
- References: Edward J. Willis, "Planimeter" (U.S. Patent 529,008 issued November 13, 1894; reissued as 11,568 September 22, 1896), "Planimeter" (U.S. Patent 542,511 issued July 9, 1895), and "Planimeter" (U.S. Patent 672,581 issued April 23, 1901); Alpheus C. Lippincott, "Planimeter" (U.S. Patent 569,107 issued October 6, 1896); catalog of James L. Robertson & Sons (New York, [1899]), 29–31; Hyman A. Schwartz, "The Willis Planimeter," Rittenhouse 7, no. 2 (1993): 60–64.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1896-1901
- maker
- James L. Robertson & Sons
- ID Number
- 1994.0356.01
- catalog number
- 1994.0356.01
- accession number
- 1994.0356
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Keuffel & Esser 4242 Polar Compensating Planimeter
- Description
- The adjustable tracer arm on this German silver and bronzed brass instrument is evenly divided to tenths of a unit, with each unit equal to 5mm, and numbered from 5 to 36. The measuring wheel, vernier, and registering dial are white plastic. A second vernier is severely tarnished, made of German silver, and used with the scale on the tracer arm. The carriage for the measuring wheel is marked with a serial number: 12960. The pole arm fits inside a square tube and cylindrical weight, allowing the arm's length to be adjusted. The pole arm has a scale like the scale on the tracer arm, but it is numbered from 30 to 35.
- Unlike earlier versions of the instrument, such as 1999.0250.01, the tube has an opening with a vernier. The tube is marked on top: K+E KUEFFEL & ESSER CO. (/) PARAGON. It is also marked: MADE IN (/) GERMANY. The side of the tube is marked: 12960. An oblong German silver testing rule is marked for 5 sq. in., 10 sq. in., and 100 sq. cm. A wooden case covered with black leather is lined with chamois leather. The top of the case is marked: K+E. The serial number and tracer and pole arm settings are written in ink on a K&E label pasted inside the lid. The number 20,475 is written in pencil on the label. See 1991.0882.02 for instructions.
- K&E imported planimeters from the Coradi firm in Zurich to sell as model 4242 from 1901 to about 1936. When K&E began to offer model 4242 as part of its Paragon line, it changed suppliers to a German company. The instrument was not available during World War II. K&E introduced its K+E logo in 1949, and it added a tracer lens between 1958 and 1960. The price was $98.00 in 1949 and $90.00 in 1956. According to the donor, this instrument was used by her husband, the electrical engineer Robert H. Wieler (1923–1993).
- References: Clark McCoy, "Collection of Pages from K&E Catalogs for the 4242 Family of Polar Planimeters," http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/PlanimeterModels/ke4242family.htm; accession file.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1949-1958
- date distributed
- 1940
- distributor
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- maker
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- ID Number
- 1998.0032.03
- catalog number
- 1998.0032.03
- accession number
- 1998.0032
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Coradi Polar Compensating Planimeter Sold by Keuffel & Esser (Model 4242)
- Description
- The adjustable tracer arm on this German silver and bronzed brass instrument is evenly divided to tenths of a unit, with each unit equal to 5mm, and numbered from 5 to 36. The measuring wheel, vernier, and registering dial are white plastic. A second vernier is made of German silver and used with the scale on the tracer arm. The carriage for the measuring wheel is marked: No 25743. The pole arm fits inside a tube attached to a cylindrical weight, allowing the arm's length to be adjusted. The pole arm has a scale like the scale on the tracer arm, but it is numbered from 30 to 34. The tube is marked: G. Coradi, Zürich Switzerland.
- An oblong German silver testing rule is marked for 0", 1", 2", and 3". It is also marked: G. Coradi Zürich. A wooden case covered with black morocco leather is lined with purple velvet. A printed paper chart is pasted inside the case. The chart has columns for Scales, Position of the vernier on the tracer bar, Value of the unit of the vernier on the measuring roller, and Constant. The values in the Position and Constant columns are handwritten in the same hand that indicates the Coradi firm manufactured this planimeter with serial number 25,748 in 1917.
- The label is also stamped in purple: 4242. This was the model number used by Keuffel & Esser of New York, which sold the instrument from 1901 to 1972. The price was $46.50 in 1909, $33.50 in 1915, and $55.00 in 1921; presumably, World War I affected Coradi's ability to export planimeters. By 1936, a German firm was manufacturing model 4242 for K&E's Paragon product line. Compare to 1998.0032.03. See 1991.0882.02 for a later instruction manual.
- References: Clark McCoy, "Collection of Pages from K&E Catalogs for the 4242 Family of Polar Planimeters," http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/PlanimeterModels/ke4242family.htm; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 33rd ed. (New York, 1909), 322; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 35th ed. (New York, 1915), 315; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 36th ed. (New York, 1921), 257; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 38th ed. (New York, 1936), 340.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1917
- maker
- Coradi, Gottlieb
- ID Number
- 1999.0250.01
- accession number
- 1999.0250
- catalog number
- 1999.0250.01
- maker number
- 25748
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Instructions for Amsler Polar Planimeters
- Description
- This undated large 4-page booklet is titled, "Instructions for Using Amsler's Planimeters." It describes and depicts nine types of polar planimeter sold by the firm established by Jacob Amsler in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, in 1854, but in less detail than the German-language pamphlet, 1986.0316.09. As in that pamphlet, the arms of Types 1 and 2 are equal in length, even though some surviving examples and advertisements such as Dietzgen's 1904 and 1926 catalogs have a shorter tracer arm. Dietzgen also sold Types 4 and 6 in 1904 and Type 4 in 1926.
- References: Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 7th ed. (Chicago, 1904), 360–361; Catalogue & Price List of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 12th ed. (Chicago, 1926), 180–181.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- after 1912
- maker; author
- Amsler, Jacob
- ID Number
- 1999.0250.02
- accession number
- 1999.0250
- catalog number
- 1999.0250.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center