City of Armadale - History House > Records

BALANCE SCALE - AVERY

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Overview

Rectangle brass coloured base with rounded ends. Body curves up to a flat top that's thinner than the base. Raised moulded text along top, left text manufacturer, right text [TO WEIGH. 2LB]. Rectangle slots cut at both ends. Oval raised plate bolted on middle. Two metal squared C shaped brackets rising up from plate with a metal bar between them half way up. On top of brackets is a raised upside down U shape with a pointed needle in the middle. Attached to the bar is a single metal balance arm that extends the length of the base. The arm pivots on the bar which also moves the top needle. At each end of the bar are two metal beams that join in the middle to form a cross shape. The beams on the left cross curve upwards. The beams on the right cross are flat with the ends curved slightly upwards.
The underside of the base is hollow, scale mechanics are visible and run the length of the inside of the base with arms that extend up and through the holes in the top of the base and link to the ends of the balance arm

Historical information

Metters balance scales with metric weights used by Mrs 'Ma' McDonald on her Bedfordale property to measure our ingredients when she was making jams and pickles. The property was on the corner of Waterwheel Road and Albany Highway. Ma McDonald would have purchased the metric weights some time after 1966 when the metric system was introduced to Australia. New cookbooks and recipes would have measured their ingredients using the metric system so to make like easy Ma got herself some metric weights to use with her old imperial balance scale.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-33-COA2022.91a

Material

Brass

Metal

Inscriptions and markings

on base [AVERY]

Keywords

Avery W & T

Albany Highway Bedfordale

Waterwheel Road Bedfordale

Bedfordale

Statement of significance

This object is part of a collection of items relating to the development of the Bedfordale community from the mid 1800s to today. These items represent the people, organisations, events and businesses who have had an impact on how the community has evolved over time. The collection shows how this community has grown from a small collection of farms in the mid 1800s, located on Noongar land into a significant agricultural and horticultural zone in the early to mid 1900s.

City of Armadale - History House

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