Object Details
- James Chesterman & Co.
- Description
- This brass and leather case of this steel tape is marked "CHESTERMAN'S PATENT / SHEFFIELD" and "100 Ft." The tape itself is graduated in 100ths of a foot on one side, and links and poles on the other. It has joints every 20 feet.
- James Chesterman (1795–1867) was an English metal worker who, in 1821, received a British patent for a method of using a spring to rewind measuring tapes. In 1842 Chesterman and James Bottom patented a woven cloth tape that incorporated strands of wire. Chesterman's 1853 patented process for heat-treating long strips of steel led to the manufacture of steel tapes that remained virtually unchanged for over 50 years.
- Scientific American called attention to Chesterman & Co. in 1869, noting that their patent steel tape "is about the most unique thing of the kind we have ever seen," and mentioning its portability, neatness, and exact measuring capability. W. & L. E. Gurley was offering Chesterman steel tapes by 1871, describing them as "made of a thin ribbon of steel, which is jointed at intervals, and wound up in a leathern case, having a folding handle." Gurley went on to say that these tapes were the best on the market, but at $17, their "great cost" prevented their general use. Gurley also sold Chesterman tapes of cloth reinforced with wire; these cost just $5.25.
- Ref: "Steel Measuring Tapes," Scientific American 21 (1869): 216.
- W. & L .E. Gurley, Manual of the Principal Instruments Used in American Engineering and Surveying (Troy, N.Y., 1871), p. 132, and price list.
- James Chesterman & Co., Chesterman's Patent Measures, Engineers' Tools, &c. (Sheffield, n.d.), pp. 16–17.
- Douglas J. Hallam, The First 200 Years. A Short History of Rabone Chesterman Limited (1984).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Estate of Mr. and Mrs. Roberdeau Buchanan
- ID Number
- PH.328413
- catalog number
- 328413
- accession number
- 97135
- Object Name
- Measuring Tape
- Measurements
- overall: 1 1/4 in x 4 1/2 in; 3.175 cm x 11.43 cm
- tape: 3/8 in x 100 ft; .9525 cm x 30.48 m
- overall: 1 1/2 in x 4 3/4 in x 4 1/2 in; 3.81 cm x 12.065 cm x 11.43 cm
- place made
- United Kingdom: England, Sheffield, Sheffield
- Related Publication
- W. & L. E. Gurley. Manual of the Prinicipal Instruments Used in American Engineering and Surveying; 17th Edition
- Scientific American
- James Chesterman & Co.. Chesterman's Patent Measures, Engineers' Tools, &c.
- Hallam, Douglas J.. First 200 Years: A Short History of Rabone Chesterman Limited
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
- Surveying and Geodesy
- Measuring & Mapping
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_761653
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-9de3-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
