From the Toolbag

Let me show you a great product.

This is a 6 inch ruler.

Tilt it toward you and it shows the decimal equivalents for the measurements above.

That is one handy ruler! Now let me turn it over.

How old is this thing? Let me zoom in….

In the 1950s, there were no area codes. The first two numbers were identified with a word, like Chesterton, or Tennyson.  The phone number begins with 8 and 3, followed by 5-4987.

White Machine Works was purchased by Gould-National Battery in 1958 and entered the automotive parts industry as part of a diversification strategy.  The ruler is older than 1958. When did John Evans acquire it?  White Machine Works had been around for many years. Hard to date this product.

Pretty good promotional product though.  This ruler may have been owned by quite a few people over the years. I can’t remember where I got it, but it made its way from Pittsburgh to Dallas.

Some product ideas last for generations. Time is a true test for quality. This style of ruler would probably still be a great promotional product.