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 993 items.
Page 3 of 100
Maihak Gas Engine Indicator
- Description
- This steel indicator, serial number S-37393, has a steel piston with a tapered cantilever socket. A small brass stylus can record a single cycle on paper wrapped around a small brass drum which is driven by string over a pulley. Accompanying the indicator is a box with three additional tapered cantilevers, two pads of paper, four scales, three wrenches, and a box of tiny parts.
- An engine indicator is an instrument for graphically recording the pressure versus piston displacement through an engine stroke cycle. Engineers use the resulting diagram to check the design and performance of the engine.
- A mechanical indicator consists of a piston, spring, stylus, and recording system. The gas pressure of the cylinder deflects the piston and pushes against the spring, creating a linear relationship between the gas pressure and the deflection of the piston against the spring. The deflection is recorded by the stylus on a rotating drum that is connected to the piston. Most indicators incorporate a mechanical linkage to amplify the movement of the piston to increase the scale of the record.
- When the ratio of the frequency of the pressure variation to the natural frequency of the system is small, then the dynamic deflection is equal to the static deflection. To design a system with a high natural frequency, the mass of the piston, spring, stylus, and mechanical linkage must be small, but the stiffness of the spring must be high. The indicator is subjected to high temperatures and pressures and rapid oscillations, imposing a limitation on the reduction in mass. Too stiff a spring will result in a small displacement of the indicator piston and a record too small to measure with accuracy. Multiplication of the displacement will introduce mechanical ad dynamic errors.
- The parameters of the problem for designing an accurate and trouble free recorder are such that there is no easy or simple solution. Studying the variety of indicators in the collection shows how different inventors made different compromises in their designs.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 1981.0217.10
- accession number
- 1981.0217
- catalog number
- 1981.0217.10
- 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
Amsler Type 2 Polar Planimeter
- Description
- This German silver instrument has a 6-1/2" arm with tracer point and 6-1/2" pole arm. The arm lengths are fixed. The tracer arm and pole arm are connected by a hinge and form a circle around the white plastic measuring wheel, vernier, and registering dial when the instrument is closed. The pole weight is missing. The top of the tracer arm is marked in script: J. Amsler. A serial number is marked underneath the tracer arm and the weight: 67925.
- A wooden case is covered with black leather. The corner of a label attached to the bottom of the case is missing. The remaining part reads: SA ROSENHAIN (/) S. Bento, 60 – S. Paulo (/) [illegible] 2. 260$. The symbol has two vertical lines to denote the Brazilian real. The distributor was probably Casa Rosenhain, an importer operated by a German firm, Schmidt & Company, and located adjacent to the Rua São Bento park in São Paulo in the early 20th century. The donor, Sebastian J. Tralongo (1928–2007), served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and then worked for the Vitro Corporation in Rockville, Md., for 35 years. He patented a device for signaling from deeply submerged submarines and assigned the rights to Vitro. He did not report how he came to own a planimeter sold in Brazil.
- This instrument is in the design invented by Jacob Amsler (1823–1912) and made by the workshop he founded in Switzerland. The material, rounded hinge, and presence of a registering dial indicate this is a Type 2 of the six versions manufactured by Amsler.(Around 1910 Amsler's firm added a registering dial to the Type 1, but began to make that version from brass instead of German silver.) The serial number and the signature, which the firm began to use after Amsler's death, indicate that this planimeter is significantly younger than MA*318485. Unlike that instrument, the arms on this object are equal in length. Planimeter expert Joachim Fischer dated this object to about 1925. For more information on Amsler, see 1987.0107.10.
- References: "Enemy Trading List Issued by the War Trade Board," Official [U.S.] Bulletin 1, no. 176 (December 5, 1917): 11; "Tralongo, Sebastian James 'Subby'," Hartford Courant, May 26, 2007; Sebastian J. Tralongo, "Submarine Signal Device" (U.S. Patent 2,989,024 issued June 20, 1961); "Vitro Corp. – Company Profile," http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/25/Vitro-Corp.html; Crosby Steam Gage & Valve Co. Catalogue (Boston, 1888), 104–109; Joachim Fischer to Peggy A. Kidwell, October 19, 1992, Mathematics Collection files, National Museum of American History.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1925
- maker
- Amsler, Jacob
- ID Number
- 1984.1071.01
- accession number
- 1984.1071
- catalog number
- 1984.1071.01
- 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
Amsler Type 3 Polar Planimeter
- Description
- This brass instrument has a 6" pole arm, an adjustable 9" tracer arm, and white plastic measuring wheel, vernier, and registering dial. The tracer arm is marked for the positions: 21,070; 21,097; 21,320; 22,884. Underneath the pole arm is marked: 19. Underneath the tracer arm is marked a serial number: No 46952. An unvarnished wooden case also holds a cylindrical pole weight, a metal test plate (presumably not original to the instrument), and a brass test plate marked: 83.2 [square] cm.
- In 1854 Jacob Amsler, a Swiss teacher and mathematician, devised a planimeter that did not need the cones or wheel-and-disc constructions of earlier instruments, such as 1983.0474.02 and 1986.0633.01. His smaller and simpler device also used polar coordinates rather than the Cartesian coordinate system. The workshop he established in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, ultimately manufactured nine forms of polar planimeters.
- This example is a Type 3. The date is based on the serial number, compared to serial numbers on other Amsler planimeters in the collection. For instructions, see 1986.0316.09; 1999.0250.02 is an English translation of this leaflet. In 1907 the Crosby Steam Gage & Valve Co. of Boston sold the Amsler Type 3 planimeter for $30.00.
- References: Peggy Aldrich Kidwell, "Planimeter," in Instruments of Science: An Historical Encyclopedia, ed. Robert Bud and Deborah Jean Warner (London: Garland Publishing, 1998), 467–469; Michael S. Mahoney, "Amsler (later Amsler-Laffon), Jakob," in Dictionary of Scientific Biography, ed. Charles Coulston Gillispie (New York: Scribner, 1970),
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1910s
- maker
- Amsler, Jacob
- ID Number
- 1986.0316.05
- accession number
- 1986.0316
- catalog number
- 1986.0316.05
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Wichmann 1192 Compensating Polar Planimeter
- Description
- This German silver and bronzed brass instrument has an 8" fixed-length pole arm with attached cylindrical weight. The arm is marked in script: Wichmann. An adjustable 9-1/2" tracer arm has a support for the tracer point and is evenly divided by tenths numbered from 5 to 36. The interval for each whole number is 5 mm long. A carriage on the tracer arm has a vernier for the scale on the tracer arm and white plastic measuring wheel, vernier, and registering dial. The carriage is marked with a serial number: 17728. A rectangular German silver test plate is marked for 2, 4, and 6 cm.
- A wooden case is covered with black leather and lined with green felt. The top of the case is marked: 1192 Gebr. Wichmann. A loose screw is inside the case. Gebrüder Wichmann (Wichmann Brothers) has sold scientific instruments and office equipment in Berlin since 1873. According to Joachim Fischer, planimeters sold by Wichmann before the 1920s were made by Coradi. Around that time, Wichmann purchased the company founded by Robert Reiss, which thenceforth supplied many of the planimeters sold by Wichmann. It is likely that this example is a Coradi instrument. For a slide rule sold by Wichmann, see MA*293320.2820.
- References: Joachim Fischer to Peggy A. Kidwell, October 19, 1992, Mathematics Collection files, National Museum of American History; A. Brachner, "German Nineteenth-Century Scientific Instrument Makers," in Nineteenth-Century Scientific Instruments and Their Makers, ed. P. R. de Clercq (Amsterdam: Rodopi B. V., 1985), 152; G. Coradi, Catalog d'orientation, No. 37 (Zurich, n.d.), 3, in accession file 2011.0043.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1930
- maker
- Gebr. Wichmann
- ID Number
- 1986.0316.06
- catalog number
- 1986.0316.06
- accession number
- 1986.0316
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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