Lufkin Reliable Junior Tape Measure

Lufkin Reliable Junior Tape Measure

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Description
This 25-foot metal tape measure is divided to 1/16". The first 3" of the tape has broken off, and white cloth tape is wrapped around the broken end. At 6" the back of the tape is marked: LUFKIN. A brown leather case is marked on both sides: RELIABLE JUNIOR (/) PATENTED (/) 25 FT (/) LUFKIN RULE CO. (/) SAGINAW, MICH. USA. Pressing a metal button on one side of the case causes the metal crank handle on the other side to pop out. This handle is wound clockwise to retract the measure. It is marked: PATENTED (/) MAY 23, 1893.
The Lufkin Board and Log Rule Company of Cleveland, Ohio, began making steel tape measures in 1887 and moved to Saginaw, Mich., in 1892. Fred Buck (1858–1938), the company's general manager, applied for a patent on an extending crank attached to a revolving drum in 1892 and received it the next year. He received a second patent for a tape measure crank in 1907 that was advertised on the Reliable Junior product line by 1916. By 1903, Lufkin was the largest manufacturer of steel measuring tapes in the United States. The brand was taken over by Cooper Industries in 1967. The donor found this particular rule in a trapper's cabin in the mountains of British Columbia.
References: Fred Buck, "Tape Measure" (U.S. Patent 498,104 issued May 23, 1893) and "Tape Measure" (U.S. Patent 873,712 issued December 17, 1907); Lufkin Rule Company, Illustrated Catalogue and Price List of Steel Measuring Tapes (Saginaw, Mich., 1893), 2; Lufkin Rule Company, Catalogue of Measuring Tapes, Rules, Etc. (Saginaw, 1897), 4–6; Lufkin Rule Company, Measuring Tapes and Rules, cat. no. 9 (Saginaw, [1916]); Ed Fehn, "Milestones of the Lufkin Rule Company," http://www.roseantiquetools.com/id92.html; State of Michigan, "The Lufkin Rule Company," in Twentieth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics (Lansing: Robert Smith Printing Co., 1903), 372.
Location
Currently not on view
Object Name
rule
tape measure
date made
1893-1907
maker
Lufkin Rule Company
place made
United States: Michigan, Saginaw
Physical Description
metal (overall material)
leather (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 2.3 cm x 6 cm x 6 cm; 29/32 in x 2 3/8 in x 2 3/8 in
ID Number
1985.0817.01
accession number
1985.0817
catalog number
1985.0817.01
Credit Line
Gift of Nathanael P. Vereide
subject
Mathematics
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Science & Mathematics
Scale Rules
Measuring & Mapping
Data Source
National Museum of American History
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Comments

I have a 50 feet version. In working condition, and in nice vintage condition. Not broken, stitches in great condition. I thought I was buying a regular size tape measure when I bid on it online. I was surprised and delighted when it arrived.

Joan Babb

Tue, 2020-02-04 08:42

I have a challenge junior 50 foot steel tape - the fist 12 inches is broken off. It was my fathers - he was an electrician for USSteel Geneva Works.

Chuck Rawlings

Mon, 2019-10-28 08:50

"I have a CHALLENGE JUNIOR STEEL TAPE MADE IN USAflip sideTHE LUFKIN RULE CO25FT.SAGINAW, MICH. U S AThe rule was my fathers. Unfortunately, the tape is broken. i was curious and looked it up. Thank you for the information. Joe Belisle"

joe Belisle

Thu, 2015-09-17 13:21

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