Salter Public Weighing Scale
c. 1900The Salter Public Weighing Scale No 308 was manufactured by G Salter & Co from West Bromwich in the United Kingdom and were distributed in Australian and New Zealand by the Australasian Automatic Weighing Machine Company.
Established in 1760, Salter developed precision products for over 260 years that spanned a wide range of core product categories, including scales, electricals, cookware and countertop. It is a market leader in kitchen and bathroom scales and one of the UK’s oldest consumer brands.
The firm began life in the late 1760s in the village of Bilston, England when Richard Salter, a spring maker, began making the first spring scales in Britain. He called these scales "pocket steelyards", though they work on a different principle from steelyard balances.
By 1825 his nephew George had taken over the company, which became known as George Salter & Co. George later established a manufacturing site in the town of West Bromwich, about 4 miles (7 km) from Bilston.
The business thrived throughout the 1900s, and by 1950 it employed over 2000 people, still in the same area and owned by the same family.
Details
Details
"308"
"AUSTRALASIAN AUTOMATIC WEIGHING CO LD"
Machines like the Salter Public Weighing Scale once sat in train stations around the world, as well as post offices, shopping centres and other public locations. For a penny, anyone could stand on the machine and measure their weight. As many people didn't have household scales, they would insert a penny, step on the scales and see how much they weighed. The scales revealed the weight in pounds and ounces.
The machine weighs about 200 kg and according to the late coin-machine historian and author Dick Bueschel, the "very elaborate nickel-plated cast-iron cabinets”, were in fashion by the early twentieth century and a popular attraction for families. In Antiques Weekly he wrote "Men and women and children rushed to get weighed and watch the mechanism whirl and spin a pointer to indicate their weight on a large round dial.”
These scales were installed at the current Busselton Post Office on the corner of Prince and Stanley Streets. This site was chosen for the Post and Telegraph Office in 1897 due its proximity to the Railway Station and the building was completed in 1898. It is unknown when the scales where installed here or how long they served the community before they found their way into the Museum collection.
West Midlands
United Kingdom
Busselton Historical Society
Busselton Historical Society
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