Posted 3 years ago
dav2no1
(836 items)
Carpenter’s Rulers
Or if you prefer, folding rulers. I recently picked up the bottom one..a Durall Golden Rule, so I dug out my other rulers to post. To my surprise, the Grant's is a rarer model that has a 6" brass extension. I had forgot all about that one.
FIRST TO RULE
"First ruler was a measuring rod made of copper alloy and it dated from 2650 BC. That measuring rod was found by German assyriologist Eckhard Unger. In 1500 BC there were ivory rulers used by the Indus Valley Civilization. Some findings in Lothal proved that there was a ruler which was calibrated to 1.6 millimeters, and it was 4400 years old."
A LITTLE CONFUSING
If you look up when folding rulers were invented..
"Folding rulers are known from Italy by the end of the 16th century. Most folding rulers were made from wood, particularly boxwood. Some were made of ivory or bone, while many are now made of metal or man-made materials."
BUT WAIT..
"The first folding ruler was created in 1851 by Anton Ullrich. The first flexible ruler, however, was invented back in 1902 by Frank Hunt."
NO, BECAUSE THE ROMANS RULED
"A (Roman) foot-long folding ruler made of brass was found in the ruins of Pompeii."
YOUR BODY. YOUR RULES
"The first measuring tools were actually based around the human body, which is how some of today’s measurement standards got their name. An inch was considered the width of a thumb, a foot was just that—the length of a foot—and a yard was the length of a man’s belt."
Puerto Rico?
You will notice on the one ruler it says PR APP'D. This is Puerto Rico approved..
Found this info.. some sort of approval by PR ..on many tools in 60s
"> "P. R. APP"D NO 339 TC printed on our blades is our certification
> approval (Issued by the Govt. of Puerto Rico) number issued to Stanley
> Tools allowing us to sell Tape Rules in Puerto Rico. Issued in the
> late 1960's."
*** Links for further reading ***
https://www.rulerco.co.uk/brief-history-of-the-ruler#:~:text=The%20first%20folding%20ruler%20was,and%20even%20a%20tape%20measure.
https://www.keson.com/the-history-of-measuring-tools/
Love these! I've got several too, but I don't think I have one like that really cool white one that's marked with the numbers going backwards -- that one must be REALLY RARE and SPECIAL?!!! ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-)
It's flipped around because that's where they put the name..
I read somewhere that rules that read from left to right were "American" and those that read from right to left were "English" or something like that. Something you might want to research. Enjoy the nice toys ! I meant tools!!
Many many moons ago I did some work with a master plumber. It’s the only ruler he used, he hated when I pulled out my newish Stanley tape measure.
Great story, thanks for sharing..