Related Objects

An image showing a variety of drafting pens and pencils from the Division of Medicine and Science.

Engineering draftsmen sometimes needed other writing implements as well as objects that helped maintain their pens and pencils.

Search term: *:* Place: United States Clear All

Dietzgen 932S Excello Dotting Instrument

This 2-1/4" German silver and steel metal drawing instrument consists of a teardrop-shaped plate to which is attached a mechanism that is supposed to hold a larger serrated wheel and a smaller pattern wheel. The mechanism links the wheels to a bar that holds a pen point.
Description
This 2-1/4" German silver and steel metal drawing instrument consists of a teardrop-shaped plate to which is attached a mechanism that is supposed to hold a larger serrated wheel and a smaller pattern wheel. The mechanism links the wheels to a bar that holds a pen point. When the larger wheel is rolled along the edge of a T-square or straight edge, the pen point bounces up and down to make a dotted line that formed part of an engineering drawing.
The larger wheel (5/8" diameter) is marked with one of the trademarks for the Eugene Dietzgen Co., the superimposed letters E and D inside a circle formed by the letters C and o. The six smaller wheels (9/16" diameter) also have this trademark and are numbered from 1 to 6, representing six possible dotting patterns. All the wheels are made of brass. The instrument also has the trademark and is marked: EXCELLO. The arm holding the pen point is marked: DIETZGEN (/) GERMANY. The instrument is in a rectangular wooden bar-lock case covered with black leather and lined with green velvet. The top of the case is marked: DIETZGEN (/) “EXCELLO”. The top is also marked: GERMANY.
This dotting instrument was advertised as model 932S in the 1926 Dietzgen catalog and sold for $5.15. It was part of the Excello product line, Dietzgen's second-highest level of drawing instruments. This object was used in the physics department at Kenyon College. Compare to 1987.0788.02.
Reference: Catalog of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 12th ed. (Chicago, 1926), 57–59, 84.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1926
distributor
Eugene Dietzgen Company
ID Number
1982.0147.01
accession number
1982.0147
catalog number
1982.0147.01

Post 3000 Pencil Pointer

This pencil sharpener consists of a flat wooden handle glued to a rectangular pad of sandpaper. The end of the handle has a hole for hanging. The back of the handle has a yellow label marked in black: POST'S (/) CHICAGO (/) No. 3000 (/) PENCIL POINTERS. The Frederick W. Post Co.
Description
This pencil sharpener consists of a flat wooden handle glued to a rectangular pad of sandpaper. The end of the handle has a hole for hanging. The back of the handle has a yellow label marked in black: POST'S (/) CHICAGO (/) No. 3000 (/) PENCIL POINTERS. The Frederick W. Post Co. sold this model of pencil pointer with 12 sheets of flint paper for 9¢ in the 1930s. By 1949, the flint paper was replaced with sandpaper.
William J. Ellenberger (1908–2008), who owned this object, studied electrical and mechanical engineering at The George Washington University between 1925 and 1934. He then worked for the Potomac Electric Power Company and the National Bureau of Standards. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. He was a civilian construction management engineer for the army from 1954 to 1968, when he became a private consultant.
References: Posts Catalog of Dependable Drawing Materials, 18th ed. (Chicago, 1936), 295; Frederick W. Post Co., Drafting Materials for Engineering, Architecture, and Art, 19th ed. (Chicago, 1949–1950), 96; "The GW Engineering Hall of Fame 2006 Inductees," http://www.weas.gwu.edu/ifaf/hall_of_fame_inductees_2006.php.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1940
maker
Frederick Post Co.
ID Number
1981.0933.16
accession number
1981.0933
catalog number
1981.0933.16

Dietzgen 3394 PowERaser

This electric drafting tool consists of a 90" power cord, a motor in a 5" cylindrical black plastic casing, and a 1-1/2" aluminum collar in which is inserted a pink rubber eraser. The side of the tool has a label marked: DIETZGEN PowERaser (/) 115 V. • 0.35 AMP (/) AC • DC.
Description
This electric drafting tool consists of a 90" power cord, a motor in a 5" cylindrical black plastic casing, and a 1-1/2" aluminum collar in which is inserted a pink rubber eraser. The side of the tool has a label marked: DIETZGEN PowERaser (/) 115 V. • 0.35 AMP (/) AC • DC. The end of the tool next to the cord is marked: DIETZGEN (/) NO. 3394 (/) ←OFF – 110 – 115V – AC-DC - ON→. A label around the cord about 10" from the plug is marked: Cab [illegible] Inc. (/) Inspected (/) Power (/) Supply Cord (/) P–732 (/) BELDEN (/) MFG. (/) CO. Masking tape is wrapped around the cord about 8" from the handle.
The Eugene Dietzgen Co. introduced model 3394A in 1938 for $6.50, increasing the price to $7.50 in 1943. Originally, the casing was shorter and the outside of the collar holding the eraser was smooth rather than threaded. The instrument was renumbered to model 3394, lightened from 14 to 12 ounces, and redesigned to the form of this object by 1948. Belden Manufacturing Company began making insulated wiring in Chicago in 1902. It manufactured only war materials during World War II, but it returned to supplying private firms such as Dietzgen in 1945.
According to the donor, this electric eraser was used by her husband, the electrical engineer Robert H. Wieler (1923–1993). He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, attended Hofstra University in the early 1950s, worked for Sperry Gyroscope for 27 years, and then worked for Colt Firearms and Abraham Strauss of New York before retiring in 1985. Presumably he acquired the eraser during his studies or during his career at Sperry.
References: Catalog of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 15th ed. (Chicago, 1938), 352; Eugene Dietzgen Co., Price List No. 25 (Chicago, 1943); Eugene Dietzgen Co., Catalog 22D: Drafting Materials (Chicago, 1948), 106; Belden Inc., "Company History," http://www.belden.com/aboutbelden/company/history/; accession file.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1950
distributor
Eugene Dietzgen Company
maker
Eugene Dietzgen Company
ID Number
1998.0032.15
catalog number
1998.0032.15
accession number
1998.0032

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.