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 595 items.
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E. Howard and Company Tower Clock
- Description
- In places that required many clocks—factories, office and public buildings, or schools—time was often distributed by a system of "master" and "slave" clocks. In such a system, a central timekeeper, the master clock, sent periodic impulses, usually electric or pneumatic, to any number of secondary or slave clocks. These slave clocks could be located anywhere, without regard for convenience of winding, because they needed none. The master clock could also drive other time signals like classroom bells, factory whistles, or time stamps. More economical to install and more convenient to maintain than an equal number of independent clocks, the system also ensured that all dials within the system agreed.
- The museum collection contains such a timekeeping system. The system's master clock (Cat. 310,569), built by E. Howard and Company of Boston, is a mechanical tower clock movement equipped with electrical contacts. Once a minute the escapement, through a pair of rotary switches, closes an electrical circuit and sends an impulse to the slave dial (Cat. 310,570), where electromagnets advance the hands. Batteries at the base of the master clock supply current.
- This clock and dial were components of a system that served the Smithsonian between about 1881 and 1932. First housed in the north tower of the Arts and Industries Building, the clock movement distributed impulses to eighteen dials in that building and the Castle, the Smithsonian's earliest building. Tunnels under the floors carried the wiring. The clock room also housed a telephone switchboard, a watchman's clock, a central burglar alarm, and call bells—all of which, like the time distribution system, relied on the newly harnessed power of electricity. "Indeed," boasted the Smithsonian's annual report for 1881, "it is believed that in no building in the world, with the exception of the Grand Opera House in Paris, is there so perfect and complete an application of electricity to practical services."
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1880
- manufacturer
- E. Howard & Co.
- ID Number
- ME*310569
- catalog number
- 310569
- accession number
- 123081
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Post Instruction Manual for Versalog Slide Rule
- Description
- This is a later printing of 1978.0800.02. Its citation information is: E. I. Fiesenheiser, Versalog Slide Rule Instruction Manual, with R. A. Budenholzer and B. A. Fisher (Chicago: Frederick Post Company, 1963). The text appears not to have been revised since these three Illinois Institute of Technology engineering professors helped invent the Versalog slide rule and wrote instructions for using it in 1951. Marks inside the front cover indicate this copy was offered for sale in January 1969 for $1.00.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1963
- maker
- Frederick Post Co.
- ID Number
- 1980.0097.03
- accession number
- 1980.0097
- catalog number
- 1980.0097.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Robertson-Amsler Polar Planimeter
- Description
- This chrome-plated instrument has a 5" pole arm with a small cylindrical weight at the end. The 7" tracer arm is adjustable and has an L-shaped tracer point, so that the point is offset from the arm. The carriage for adjusting the tracer arm holds the metal measuring wheel and vernier. The instrument has no registering dial. A point extending from the back of the carriage allows the user to turn the planimeter vertically and use the other end of the tracer point. Compare to MA*333766.
- A wooden case covered with black leather is lined with light blue silk. The top of the case is marked: ME 4P5. A brass plate on top of the case is also marked: 4P5. The number is presumably an inventory number for the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati, which donated the object. The instrument resembles the Robertson-Amsler planimeter shown in Hawkins's Indicator Catechism (New York, 1903), 132, and advertised in 1897 as an "averaging planimeter." See MA*302380.01 for instructions.
- Hine & Robertson of New York City made steam-engine indicators and sold planimeters from the 1880s to 1897. The firm was then renamed James L. Robertson & Sons, and remained in operation until at least 1910. This device is smaller than the Hine-Robertson planimeter described by Olaus Henrici. For other planimeters sold by Robertson, see 1994.0356.01, MA*323703, MA*323704, and MA*324247.
- References: Advertisement for Robertson-Thompson Indicator, Power 17, no. 2 (February 1897): 25; John Walter, "More Information," The Engine Indicator, Canadian Museum of Making, http://www.archivingindustry.com/Indicator/sourceinfo.htm; Olaus Henrici, "On Planimeters," in Report of the Sixty-fourth Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (London, 1894), 515–516; "Hine and Robertson's Planimeter," The Electrician 26 (February 6, 1891): 432.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1900
- maker
- James L. Robertson & Sons
- ID Number
- 1981.0301.01
- accession number
- 1981.0301
- catalog number
- 1981.0301.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
American Schaeffer & Budenberg Amsler Polar Planimeter
- Description
- This nickel-plated instrument forms a U and is hinged around a brass measuring wheel and vernier. A cylindrical weight fits over a peg at the end of the pole arm. The plating has worn away from the handle for the tracer point. The tracer arm is stamped with a serial number: 5337. An oblong wooden case covered with black leather is lined with dark blue velvet. The top of the case is marked: AMERICAN (/) SCHAEFFER & BUDENBERG. These words are in an oval around the company logo of a globe and the words: BROOKLYN, N.Y. A torn red and white sticker on the bottom of the case originally read: UNIVERSITY OF (/) CINCINNATI (/) 33893. Compare to 1981.0301.03 and 1981.0301.04.
- In 1923 the American Steam Gauge & Valve Manufacturing Company, the Hohmann-Nelson Company, and the American division of the Schäffer & Budenberg Manufacturing Company merged to form American Schaeffer & Budenberg Corporation. The first and third companies were known for their planimeters as well as their steam-engine indicators, but American had made this particular instrument since the late 19th century, while Schäffer & Budenberg was associated with the Coffin planimeter. See MA*323706. The merged firm may have been purchased by Manning, Maxwell, and Moore in the late 1930s. The department of mechanical engineering laboratory at the University of Cincinnati owned this instrument.
- References: Barry Lee David, The Antique American Steam Gauge: A Collector's Guide (Mendham, N.J.: Astragal Press, 2003); American Steam Gauge Company, catalog (Boston, 1896), 130–135.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- after 1923
- maker
- American Steam Gauge & Valve Mfg. Co.
- ID Number
- 1981.0301.02
- catalog number
- 1981.0301.02
- accession number
- 1981.0301
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
American Amsler Polar Planimeter
- Description
- This nickel-plated instrument forms a U and is hinged around a brass measuring wheel and vernier. A cylindrical weight fits over a peg at the end of the pole arm. The plating has worn away from the handle for the tracer point. The tracer arm is stamped with a serial number: 5457. An oblong wooden case covered with black leather is lined with dark blue velvet. The top of the case is marked: AMERICAN (/) AMSLER POLAR PLANIMETER. A torn red and white sticker on the bottom of the case originally read: UNIVERSITY OF (/) CINCINNATI (/) 33894. Compare to 1981.0301.02 and 1981.0301.04; the serial number suggests this object is the youngest of the three instruments.
- The American Steam Gauge Company, a Boston firm, was founded in 1851, incorporated in 1854, and re-incorporated around 1902 with the name American Steam Gauge & Valve Manufacturing Company. According to the company catalog, James W. See, an Ohio engineer, designed the first Amsler-style planimeter in the United States, and by 1879 American Steam Gauge began manufacturing it as the American Amsler's Polar Planimeter. In 1896, it sold with the case for $15.00. In 1923 American Steam Gauge, the Hohmann-Nelson Company, and the American division of the Schäffer & Budenberg Manufacturing Company merged to form American Schaeffer & Budenberg Corporation.
- References: "People: American Steam Gauge Company," Waywiser, Harvard University Department of the History of Science, http://dssmhi1.fas.harvard.edu/emuseumdev/code/eMuseum.asp?lang=EN; American Steam Gauge Company, catalog (Boston, 1896), 130–135; Thomas Pray, Jr., Twenty Years with the Indicator: Being a Practical Text-book for the Engineer or the Student (Boston: American Steam Gauge & Valve Mfg. Co., 1909), 286.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- after 1923
- maker
- American Steam Gauge & Valve Mfg. Co.
- ID Number
- 1981.0301.03
- catalog number
- 1981.0301.03
- accession number
- 1981.0301
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
American Amsler Polar Planimeter
- Description
- This tarnished nickel-plated instrument forms a U and is hinged around a brass measuring wheel and vernier. A cylindrical weight fits over a peg at the end of the pole arm. The plating has worn away from the handle for the tracer point. The tracer arm is stamped with a serial number: 4346. An oblong wooden case covered with black leather is lined with purple velvet. The top of the case is marked: MANUFACTURED BY (/) American Steam Gauge & Valve Mfg. Co. (/) BOSTON, MASS. A brass plate screwed to the top of the case has an inventory number for the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati, the donor of this object: 4P7. A torn red and white sticker on the bottom of the case originally read: UNIVERSITY OF (/) CINCINNATI (/) 33895. Compare to 1981.0301.02 and 1981.0301.03; the serial number suggests this object is the oldest of the three instruments.
- The American Steam Gauge Company was founded in Boston in 1851, incorporated in 1854, and re-incorporated around 1902 with the name American Steam Gauge & Valve Manufacturing Company. According to the company catalog, James W. See, an Ohio engineer, designed the first Amsler-style planimeter in the United States. By 1879 American Steam Gauge began manufacturing it as the American Amsler's Polar Planimeter. In 1896 it sold with the case for $15.00. In 1923, American Steam Gauge, the Hohmann-Nelson Company, and the American division of the Schäffer & Budenberg Manufacturing Company merged to form American Schaeffer & Budenberg Corporation.
- References: "People: American Steam Gauge Company," Waywiser, Harvard University Department of the History of Science, http://dssmhi1.fas.harvard.edu/emuseumdev/code/eMuseum.asp?lang=EN; American Steam Gauge Company, catalog (Boston, 1896), 130–135; Thomas Pray, Jr., Twenty Years with the Indicator: Being a Practical Text-book for the Engineer or the Student (Boston: American Steam Gauge & Valve Mfg. Co., 1909), 286.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1902-1923
- maker
- American Steam Gauge & Valve Mfg. Co.
- ID Number
- 1981.0301.04
- catalog number
- 1981.0301.04
- accession number
- 1981.0301
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Keuffel & Esser 1102 Amsler Style Polar Planimeter
- Description
- This German silver instrument has two arms pivoted at one end. One arm has a tracer point and index marks for four ratios: 1 square D. (centimeters or meters, perhaps), 15 square inches, 10 square inches, and 10 square K. (probably chains). A screw assembly adjusts the length of the tracer arm. A support for the tracer point prevents it from tearing the paper. Two numbers are stamped underneath the arm: 35, which is also underneath the tracer point, and 381.
- The other arm is jointed. A notch in the jointed part of that arm fits around a screw that in turn fits into a rectangular metal weight that is faced with brass. The weight is marked: 381. A piece of paper is attached to the bottom of the weight. A cylindrical German silver weight may be placed in the end of the arm. The longer part of the arm is marked: KEUFFEL & ESSER Co NEW YORK. It is also marked: 35. A carriage at the pivot holds a measuring wheel with vernier and a horizontal registering dial. A hardwood case has green velvet lining the supports. On the bottom of the case is written: BUREAU C AND R.
- Keuffel & Esser sold this planimeter as model 1102 from 1892 to 1901, and as model 4220 from 1901 to 1936. Since the rectangular brass weight was only depicted in catalogs before 1901, this example is probably a model 1102. However, the construction of the jointed arm is different from the illustration in the 1892 and 1895 catalogs. The jointed arm is like the illustration in catalogs printed between 1901 and 1936, but the brass weight is neither mentioned nor shown in these catalogs. The serial number, 381, dates this instrument as older than 1985.0112.218, whose jointed arm does not look like either of the catalog illustrations. That instrument has a celluloid measuring wheel, but that piece is made of German silver on this instrument.
- References: Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 23rd ed. (New York, 1892), 104; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 26th ed. (New York, 1895), 145; Clark McCoy, "Collection of Pages from K&E Catalogs for the 4220 Family of Polar Planimeters," http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/PlanimeterModels/ke4220family.htm.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1892-1901
- maker
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- ID Number
- 1981.0348.01
- catalog number
- 1981.0348.01
- accession number
- 1981.0348
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Keuffel & Esser 4220 Amsler Style Polar Planimeter
- Description
- This tarnished German silver instrument has two arms pivoted at one end. One arm has a tracer point and index marks for four ratios: 1 square D. (centimeters or meters, perhaps), 15 square inches, 10 square inches, and 10 square chains. A screw assembly adjusts the length of the tracer arm. A support for the tracer point prevents it from tearing the paper. Two numbers are stamped underneath the arm: 31, which appears to overstamp the number 33, and 690.
- The other arm is jointed. A cylindrical weight may be placed in the end of that arm. Underneath the weight is marked: 35. The jointed part of the arm is marked: KEUFFEL & ESSER Co N.Y. Underneath the arm is stamped: 31. A carriage at the pivot holds a white plastic measuring wheel with vernier and a horizontal metal registering dial.
- A mahogany case has dark blue velvet lining the supports. A leather pouch holds the weight. A paper chart for adjusting the tracer arm is held in the lid by black plastic edges and brass screws. The columns are labeled: Proportion, Adjustement [sic] on tracer-arm, and Value of unit of the Vernier. "Sq. units" is handwritten above the first entry in the Proportion column (1:1,000). The vernier entry for proportion 1:4,000 has been changed from 100 to 160 square meters.
- Keuffel & Esser sold this planimeter as model 1102 from 1892 to 1901 and as model 4220 from 1901 to 1936. It sold for $28.00 in 1909 and for $45.50 in 1936. The serial number, 690, and lack of rectangular support for the joint in the weighted arm suggest that this example was made later than 1981.0348.01. Wesleyan University donated this planimeter to the Museum in 1984–1985 with a large collection of plaster and string mathematical models purchased in 1895 from the Darmstadt, Germany, firm of L. Brill.
- References: Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 33rd ed. (New York, 1909), 319; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser, 38th ed. (New York, 1936), 336; Clark McCoy, "Collection of Pages from K&E Catalogs for the 4220 Family of Polar Planimeters," http://www.mccoys-kecatalogs.com/PlanimeterModels/ke4220family.htm.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1901-1936
- distributor
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- maker
- Keuffel & Esser Co.
- ID Number
- 1985.0112.218
- catalog number
- 1985.0112.218
- accession number
- 1985.0112
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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
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