Object Details
- Description
- Erastus and Thaddeus Fairbanks, both of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, obtained two U.S. patents on June 13, 1831, both describing “an Improvement in the Machine for Weighing Heavy Bodies, usually called the ‘Platform-Scale’.” These patents were canceled because of defective specifications, and new ones granted, on March 6, 1834. These patents, in turn, were canceled because of defective specifications, and newer ones (#118 and #119) were granted on February 10, 1837. The model shown here pertains to one of these later patents.
- Platform scales made by the Fairbanks brothers were on the market by 1833. And they contributed to the silver medal that the Fairbanks won at the 1837 exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association.
- Ref: Erastus Fairbanks and Thaddeus Fairbanks, “Improvement in the Machine for Weighing Heavy Bodies,” U.S. Patent 118 (February 10, 1837).
- Erastus Fairbanks and Thaddeus Fairbanks, “Improvement in the Machine for Weighing Heavy Bodies,” U.S. Patent 119 (February 10, 1837).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- patented by
- Fairbanks, Thaddeus
- Fairbanks, E.
- maker
- E. and T. Fairbanks and Company
- Date made
- 1832
- Measurements
- overall: 8 1/2 in x 15 1/2 in x 15 1/2 in; 21.59 cm x 39.37 cm x 39.37 cm
- overall: 8 1/2 in x 15 1/2 in x 11 in; 21.59 cm x 39.37 cm x 27.94 cm
- Object Name
- Platform Scale
- platform scale, model
- Platform Scale
- Object Type
- Patent Model
- Scales
