This worn, rough metal counter has three wheels for tallying numbers up to 999. t once attached to a wheel and recorded rotations, serving as an odometer.
A stamp on the object reads: CARMEAN (/) ANTHONY KS. According to the accession file, it was made by W. H. Carmean, who lived for a time in Hutchinson, Kansas. William H. Carmean is listed in the 1910 U.S. Census as a twenty-four- year-old, Kansas-born resident of Anthony, Kansas. He was not living there in 1900 or 1920, hence the rough date assigned to the object.
According to the donor, an employee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the counter and wheel were used in the early days of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, established in 1933. Measures of distance were carried out to help compute acreages.
References:
Accession File.
U.S. Census 1900, 1910, 1920.
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