Metric System Demonstration Apparatus -- Reforms 1971-1990

Felsenthal FAE-6 Set Square/Coordinate Scale

Description

On one side, this 4-3/8" white plastic L-shaped square has scales along its inner edge for reducing yards to the representative fraction (R.F.) of 1:20,000, divided to twenties and numbered by 500s from 0 to 1,000. Scales along its outer edge are for reducing yards to R.F. 1:62,500, divided to hundreds and numbered by thousands from 1,000 to 6,000. The end of one leg is marked: U.S.

The other side has scales along its inner edge for reducing meters to R.F. 1:25,000, divided to twenties and numbered by 500s from 0 to 1,500. Scales along its outer edge are for reducing meters to R.F. 1:50,000, divided to fifties and numbered by thousands from 1,000 to 5,000. The end of one leg is marked: U.S. The device, also known as a "coordinate scale," was used by soldiers to compare measurements to notations on a chart in order to aim weapons. Compare to 1977.1141.16. This example was also received with a duplicate square, but the second square was broken and discarded.

According to the accession file, this instrument was made for the U.S. Army by Felsenthal Instrument Company in 1945 as model number FAE-6. The company was the leading supplier of mathematical instruments to the U.S. Army Air Force and the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, particularly during World War II (when the firm was known as G. Felsenthal & Sons). After the company ceased operations in approximately 1976, it provided a large sample of its products to the Smithsonian. The lack of any form of the firm's name on this instrument suggests it may actually have been made in the 1960s. For company history, see 1977.1141.02.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

ca 1945

maker

Felsenthal Instrument Co.

ID Number

1977.1141.17

catalog number

336401

accession number

1977.1141

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Felsenthal FAE-5 Set Squares/Coordinate Scales, Group of 2

Description

These two instruments are identical. On one side, each 4-3/8" white plastic L-shaped square has scales along its inner edge for reducing yards to the representative fraction (R.F.) of 1:25,000, divided to twenties and numbered by 500s from 0 to 1,500. Scales along its outer edge are for reducing yards to R.F. 1:50,000, divided to hundreds and numbered by thousands from 1,000 to 5,000. The end of one leg is marked: U.S. The other leg is marked: G. FELSENTHAL & SONS, INC. (/) MFR. PT. NO. FAE-5 (/) FSN 6675-283-0020. The letters FSN abbreviate "Federal Stock Number."

The other side is printed in red and has scales along its inner edge for reducing meters to R.F. 1:25,000, divided to twenties and numbered by 500s from 0 to 1,500. Scales along its outer edge are for reducing meters to R.F. 1:50,000, divided to fifties and numbered by thousands from 1,000 to 5,000. The end of one leg is marked: U.S. The device, also known as a "coordinate scale," was used by soldiers to compare measurements to notations on a chart in order to aim artillery or to interpret surveillance photographs. Compare to 1977.1141.17.

The Chicago firm that manufactured these squares was known as G. Felsenthal & Sons in the 1940s, G. Felsenthal & Sons, Inc., in the 1950s, and Felsenthal Instrument Co. in the 1960s and 1970s. It made model number FAE-5 for the U.S. Army from World War II through the 1960s. By the late 1960s, the product also came in an aluminum version.

Ben Wharton Rau (1904–1995) and his wife, Margery Felsenthal Rau (1916–2010), arranged the donation of this and many other instruments to the Smithsonian. Margery's grandfather, Gabe Felsenthal, founded the firm in 1899, and her father, Irving (1887–1956), was one of the "Sons" of G. Felsenthal & Sons. Ben worked for the Felsenthals for over three decades. His duties included touring military facilities with a large display of the company's products. He catalogued hundreds of instruments when the company went out of business in 1976. He also held patents on a collapsible film reel, a proportional divider, and a belt buckle assembly.

References: Deborah J. Warner, “Browse by Maker: Felsenthal,” National Museum of American History Physical Sciences Collection: Navigation , http://amhistory.si.edu/navigation/maker.cfm?makerid=173; "Irving G. Felsenthal," Chicago Tribune , February 26, 1956, http://www.susaneking.com/genealogy/showsource.php?sourceID=S01752&tree=GreenebaumSam; Copyright Office, Library of Congress, "Books and Pamphlets," Catalog of Copyright Entries , 3rd ser., 16, part 1, no. 2 (1964): 1392; ); Department of Defense, Employment of U.S. Army Aviation Company (Aerial Surveillance) in Counter-Intelligence Operations (February 9, 1966), D-1–D-2, http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/371854.pdf; U.S. Army Artillery and Missile School, Artillery Trends, Instructional Aid No. 41 (Fort Sill, Okla., July 1968), 84, http://sill-www.army.mil/firesbulletin/archives/1968/JUL_1968/JUL_1968_FULL_EDITION.pdf; Ben W. Rau, "Collapsible Film Reel" (U.S. Patent 3,447,759 issued June 3, 1969), "Proportional Divider" (U.S. Patent D214,399 issued June 10, 1969), "Belt Buckle Assembly" (U.S. Patent 3,475,797 issued November 4, 1969.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1950s

ID Number

1977.1141.16

catalog number

336400

accession number

1977.1141

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Impact Metric Converter Slide Rule for Regal Beloit

Description

Around 1970 many American companies and government agencies encouraged Americans to adopt the metric system. Regal Beloit of Wisconsin and other manufacturers of cutting tools and gear boxes adopted the units of measure and distributed devices like this one to assist in their use.

The one-sided white cardboard rule is printed in orange and black and has eight windows. Two logarithmic scales on the slide are viewed through four of the windows so that the user can convert between yards or feet and meters; centimeters and inches; pounds and kilograms; and tons and metric tons. Two more logarithmic scales on the slide permit conversions between square yards and square meters; square centimeters and square inches; cubic yards and cubic meters; and liters and imperial gallons or U.S. gallons. Below the windows is a scale for converting between Celsius and Fahrenheit temperatures. The rule is marked: REGAL BELOIT. It is also marked metric/inch (/) CONVERTER. It is also marked SWANI PUBLISHING COMPANY (/) P.O. Box 284 • Roscoe, Illinois 61073 (/) 815 / 389-3065.

The back of the rule has small windows for reading conversions between fractional inches, decimal inches, and millimeters from columns of numbers printed on the slide. Tables of equivalents appear above more windows for reading conversions between inches and centimeters and miles and kilometers. After another table of prefixes and equivalents, instructions for using this side of the rule are provided. More small windows permit conversions between U.S. gallons and liters and cubic feet and cubic meters. At the bottom, the rule is marked: DISTRIBUTED BY (/) C-6862. The back of the slide is marked ©1971, IMPACT, Culver City, Callf. (/) Printed in U.S.A.

Impact was presumably a printing company. Swani was a division of Regal Beloit that published a few elementary textbooks on the metric system. Compare this rule to 1990.0689.01.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1971

maker

Impact

ID Number

1990.3231.01

nonaccession number

1990.3231

catalog number

1990.3231.01

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Instructions for Sterling Metric Converter Slide Rule

Description

This one-page, two-sided flyer was received with 1990.0689.01. At the top of the front, it is marked with the Sterling Plastics logo and the words: STERLING metric converter (/) BASED ON THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM OF UNITS (SI). The instructions explain how to read off the sixteen conversions between metric and English units that are found on the Metric Converter slide rule. Tables of metric prefixes and of common equivalents and conversions are also provided. At the bottom of the back, the flyer is marked: STERLING PLASTICS DIVISION OF BORDEN CHEMICAL, BORDEN INC. • SHEFFIELD ST., MOUNTAINSIDE, N.J. 07092 (/) PRINTED IN U.S.A. The Borden logo appears to the right of the mark.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1972

maker

Sterling Plastics

ID Number

1990.0689.03

accession number

1990.0689

catalog number

1990.0689.03

Data Source

National Museum of American History

National Bureau of Standards SP-376 Pocket Rule

Description

This white plastic promotional rule has a scale of centimeters along the top edge, divided to millimeters and numbered by ones from 1 to 15, and a scale of inches along the bottom edge, divided to 1/16" and numbered by ones from 1 to 6. The center of the rule is marked: For Good Measure from the National Bureau of Standards (/) Washington, D. C. 20234.

The back of the rule has a table comparing metric and customary units of length, volume, and weight. A second table explains the prefixes used in the metric system and gives conversions to yards, quarts, and pounds. The back is marked: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (/) National Bureau of Standards (/) Washington, D. C. 20234 (/) NBS Special Publication 376 (/) Issued December 1972 (/) For sale by the Superintendent of (/) Documents, U.S. Government Printing (/) Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 (/) (Order by SD Catalog No. C13.10:376). (/) Price 25 cents.

In order to encourage Americans to adopt the metric system, NBS (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology) distributed this rule in the 1970s both individually and as part of a "metric kit," NBS Special Publication 410, which also included four informational pamphlets and a conversion card.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1972

maker

National Bureau of Standards

ID Number

1990.3146.02

catalog number

1990.3146.02

nonaccession number

1990.3146

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Metric Conversion Card

Description

In the 1970s, after metric units of measure had been adopted in Canada and Great Britain, some people in the United States advocated adoption of the metric system. The National Bureau of Standards of the U. S. Department of Commerce prepared this white plastic reference card to assist those wishing to use the unfamiliar units of measure. One side gave approximate conversion factors for computing metric measures from customary measures of length, area, mass and volume. This side also has a scale eight centimeters long divided to millimeters, and a chart with temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit along the top and temperatures in degrees centigrade along the bottom.

The other side of the card gives factors for converting from metric to common measures of length, area, mass, volume, and temperature. There also is a scale three inches long divided to 1/16th of an inch.

The card was a gift of machinist George A. Norton, a longtime employee of the National Museum of American History.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1972

maker

U.S. Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards

ID Number

1990.3231.02

catalog number

1990.3231.02

nonaccession number

1990.3231

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Sterling Metric Converter Slide Rule

Description

This ten-inch, one-sided plastic rule has a yellow base, a white slide, and a transparent indicator. Identical logarithmic scales are on the top and the bottom of the base. Both sides of the slide are marked with pairs of metric and conventional units. On one side, the user can read off conversions between: inches and centimeters; meters and feet; meters and yards; miles and kilometers; square inches and square centimeters; square meters and square feet (times ten); square meters and square yards; and square miles and square kilometers. The other side of the slide permits readings of cubic inches and cubic centimeters (times ten); cubic meters and cubic feet (times ten); cubic meters and cubic yards; liters and quarts; ounces and grams (times ten); kilograms and pounds; metric tons and short tons; and gallons and liters.

The top left of the base is marked with the letters SP in a circle and the word STERLING. The top middle of the base is marked: METRIC CONVERTER. The bottom left of the base is marked: MADE IN U.S.A. The rule was received with its original packaging, a clear plastic cover on a blue paper backing. The packaging is marked at the top: SP STERLING #651 (/) metric (/) converter. At the bottom, it is marked: BORDEN ® (/) © 1972 STERLING PLASTICS (/) DIVISION OF BORDEN CHEMICAL, BORDEN INC. (/) MOUNTAINSIDE, N.J. 07092 (/) MADE IN U.S.A.

Sterling Plastics, a 20th-century manufacturer of drawing instruments for schools, was purchased by Borden Chemical in 1970. Since Sterling stopped making slide rules in 1972, this example of model number 651 was probably one of the last rules produced by the company. The five braces holding together the base of the instrument are also consistent with this date; early Sterling slide rules had only two braces. For instructions, see 1990.0689.03. For a Sterling slide rule with standard scales, see 1988.0807.01.

Reference: Mike Konshak, "Sterling Plastics," http://sliderulemuseum.com/Sterling.htm.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1972

maker

Sterling Plastics

ID Number

1990.0689.01

accession number

1990.0689

catalog number

1990.0689.01

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Filmstrip and Audiotape, The Metric Song

Description

In the mid-1970s, the United States seriously considered making metric units mandatory as well as legal. This filmstrip, audiotape, and leaflet were “prepared as an educational tool to help people learn the metric language,” and distributed by the Educational Relations Department of retailer J. C. Penney.

The filmstrip and tape have separate plastic containers. They fit with the leaflet in a cardboard box with an orange lid. Text on the front of the audiotape reads: The Metric Song. Additonal text there reads: JCPenny. Text on the containers for the tape and for filmstrip reads: 1974. The leaflet gives the lyrics of the song and describes the contents of the ten-minute filmstrip.

A mark in ink on the side of the box reads: R. M. T. The initials are those of R. Maxwell Tinsley, the father of the donor and a fellow of the U.S. Metric Association.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1974

maker

J. C. Penney Company, Inc.

ID Number

2001.3009.03

catalog number

2001.3009.03

nonaccession number

2001.3009

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Poster Entitled Metric Is A Perfect Ten

Description

.This colorful poster was distributed by the National Aeronautics and Space Association of the United States government to publicize the metric system. Printed on it is the message: METRIC (/) IS A (/) PERFECT (/) 10. The right edge of the 1 in 10 is divided into ten units. Each of these is divided in half. The entire edge measures 39 centimeters.

In smaller print the poster reads: Metric Transition: (/) A Federal Government Initiative. The NASA logo also is printed. The object is undated.

In 1991, President Bush issued an executive order encouraging the use of the metric system. Some sources suggest that the poster was issued in 1992, perhaps in response to this order. R. Maxwell Tinsley, who collected this poster, died in the year 2000

Reference:

"Metric is a Perfect Ten," Iowa Digital Library, accessed October 11, 2019. This website gives a date of publication for the poster of 1992. How long it was published is unclear.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

ca 1992

maker

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

ID Number

2001.3009.01

catalog number

2001.3009.01

nonaccession number

2001.3009

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Drink Metric Mug

Description

During the 1970s, after metric units of measure had been adopted in Canada and Great Britain, some people in the United States advocated adoption of the metric system. One of them was William W. K. Freeman, who owned this mug. Freeman taught at the Tower School in Marblehead, Massachusetts. In 1974, he wrote a weekly column in the Salem Gazette entitled “Metric News Notes.”

The cream-colored mug has brown text that reads: drink metric. A label next to a line near the top reads: 250mL. Below the mark text reads: american (/) national (/) metric (/) council.

Reference:

Accession File.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

ca 1975

ID Number

1992.3204.01

nonaccession number

1992.3204

catalog number

1992.3204.01

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Lunchbox, The Exciting World of Metrics

Description

The objects children take to school can communicate messages. In the 1970s, the U.S. government encouraged more general use of the metric units of weight and measure, units that had been adopted in almost all other nations. To teach children about metric units, some parents purchased this lunch box.

The lid of this metal box illustrates four things commonly measured with metric units (the output of power generators, the size of car and motorcycle engines, Olympic distances, and prescription drugs). The back shows decimal units of length, weight, volume, and temperature. One side shows the U.S. decimal currency, while the other shows natural phenomena associated with decimal units (the century plant, the centipede, and the millipede). The top has a scale of inches with their equivalent lengths in centimeters. The bottom illustrates decimal units of time.

The lunch box contains a blue thermos with a white rim and red cap. It holds eight ounces of liquid.

Location

Currently not on view

Date made

ca 1976

maker

King-Seeley Thermos Company

ID Number

1992.0404.01

accession number

1992.0404

catalog number

1992.0404.01

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Grindsted Products Metric Converter Slide Rule

Description

This rule consists of a clear plastic envelope, glued together along the back bottom edge, and a white plastic slide. The front of the rule has six windows for reading off conversions between yards or feet and meters; centimeters and inches; square yards and square meters; square centimeters and square inches; cubic meters and cubic yards; and liters and imperial gallons or U.S. gallons. The front also has tables of equivalents and a scale for converting between Fahrenheit and Celsius temperatures. The top right corner is marked: GRINDSTED (/) PRODUCTS, INC. (/) Research for quality (/) 2701 ROCKCREEK PKY. (/) NORTH KANSAS CITY, (/) MISSOURI 64116. It is also marked: TEL: 816-842-6500 (/)TELEX: 4-2565 (/)GRINDSINC NKSC. A table for decimal equivalents between fractions, millimeters, and inches runs down the middle of the slide.

The back has six windows for reading off conversions between pounds and kilograms; ounces and grams; PSI and atmospheres or kilograms per square centimeters; inches or centimeters of mercury and PSI; BTU and kilocalories or watt hours; and meter-kilograms and foot-pounds or joules. The back also has more tables of equivalents.

Grindsted is a Danish brand for bulk food products, such as animal feed and emulsifiers for human foods. In 1989 it merged into the Danish conglomerate Danisco, which in turn was purchased by DuPont in 2011. The logo on this rule was in use from 1975 to 1991. Grindsted's factory in the Kansas City suburbs opened in 1975 and filed an annual report in 2012. Compare this rule to metric converters 1990.0689.01 and 1990.3231.01. For the style of manufacture, compare to 1988.0795.02.

References: "Articles of Incorporation of Grinsted Products, Inc.," Missouri Secretary of State Business Name History, https://www.sos.mo.gov/BusinessEntity/soskb/Corp.asp?165854; "History - DuPont Danisco," http://www.danisco.com/about-dupont/duponttm-daniscor/history/; U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark Electronic Search System.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1975-1991

maker

Grindsted Products, Inc.

ID Number

1988.3078.05

catalog number

1988.3078.05

nonaccession number

1988.3078

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Wind Chill Calculator, a Slide Chart

Description

In the 1970s, after metric units of measure had been adopted in Canada and Great Britain, some people in the United States advocated adoption of the metric system. Holubar Mountaineering Ltd. of Boulder, Colorado, a manufacturer of outdoor clothing and camping supplies, distributed this cardboard slide chart. One side has a wind chill calculator. This had twelve columns of numbers with an actual temperature (given in both degrees Fahrenheit and degrees Celsius), at the head of each column. Figures in the column then gave the equivalent wind chill temperature for wind speeds in miles per hour (with the Fahrenheit scale) and in kilometers per hour (with the Celsius scale). Cold dangerous to health is indicated in shades of blue.

The reverse side of the chart has columns for converting from metric to English measures of length, mass, volume, and area. A number line has Fahrenheit temperatures on the top and Celsius temperatures on the bottom.

A mark on the sliding piece reads: GRAPHIC CALCULATOR CO., Barrington, Illinois 60010 Made in U.S.A. 12-76 -2349.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1976

maker

Holubar Mountaineering Ltd.

manufacturer

Graphic Calculator Co.

ID Number

2001.3103.02

nonaccession number

2001.3103

catalog number

2001.3103.02

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Datalizer Universal English/SI Converter Slide Rule

Description

This white rectangular cardboard rule is held together with four metal rivets. The front has logarithmic scales for making measurement conversions for length, mass, area, and volume. A chart for converting temperatures runs along the bottom edge. The top is marked: THE NEWS (/) NEW YORK'S PICTURE NEWSPAPER Universal ENGLISH/SI (metric) Datalizer. The bottom is marked: © 1976 datalizer by DATALIZER SLIDE CHARTS, INC., Addison, IL 60101 PRINTED IN U.S.A. FORM NO. EM2.

The back has charts for converting between cubic meters and cubic feet; gallons and liters; miles and kilometers; inches and centimeters; and fractional inches and millimeters. A table of miscellaneous conversions appears in the center of the back.

Around 1960 a former employee of the Perry Graf Corporation (see 1979.3074.03) established Datalizer in Addison, a Chicago suburb. The company made this promotional rule during a time of considerable interest in adopting the metric system in the United States. The New York Daily News used the "picture newspaper" slogan between 1920 and 1991.

References: "Slide Chart Specialists," Datalizer Slide Charts, http://www.datalizer.com/about-us/; Lance Gould, "The Lenses And Legacy Of New York's Picture Newspaper," New York Daily News, January 25, 2002, http://articles.nydailynews.com/2002-01-25/entertainment/18195567_1_photographers-gallery-exhibit-exposed.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1976

maker

Datalizer Slide Charts, Incorporated

ID Number

1981.0922.15

catalog number

1981.0922.15

accession number

1981.0922

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Slide Chart, Metrics Made Easy

Description

In the 1970s, after metric units of measure had been adopted in Canada and Great Britain, some people in the United States advocated adoption of the metric system. A variety of special tables were made to help Americans convert between systems of measurement. This slide chart is one of them.

The paper cardboard sleeve is joined with adhesive and printed in red, yellow, pink, black and white. The front contains a table for converting inches to millimeters, another for converting pints to liters, a third for converting feet to meters and a fourth for converting gallons to liters. The reverse has tables for miles/kilometers, ounces/grams, pounds/kilograms and oF/OC.

A mark on the front reads: Metrics (/) made easy. Another reads: INCH/METRIC DIGITAL DIAL (/) A product of (/) Danatron (/) Corporation (3198 ‘C’, Airport Loop Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92828. A mark on the edge of the slide reads (as best as can be deciphered): Copyright 1977 Nelson Taxel Woodmere N.Y. 11598 Printed in U.S.A.

The object was found in the collections of the Division of Work and Industry of the National Museum of American History.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1977

maker

Danatron Corporation

ID Number

1988.3078.03

catalog number

1988.3078.03

nonaccession number

1988.3078

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Reader's Digest Brochure, Living With Metrics

Description

In 1978, in order to assist Americans adjusting to the introduction of the metric system, the editors of the magazine Reader’s Digest in Pleasantville, New York, published this 48-page illustrated paper pamphlet for consumers. It describes the interrelationships among metric units and ways to estimate them.

Further discussion considers the role of metric units in grocery shopping and cooking, home design and care, meteorology, sports, gardening, health care, and transportation.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1978

ID Number

1989.3123.03

nonaccession number

1989.3123

catalog number

1989.3123.03

Data Source

National Museum of American History