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The 200 year old Mini Pocket
Scale

     
 
The History of
the Pocket Scale

The mini Pocket Scale became popular in America
during the Gold Rush years of California (1848-1855)and the Klondike
Region. Gold Miners and prospectors needed a scale that they could easily
carry with them to weigh their gold. Before that, pocket scales were
mostly used to reload muskets / bullets. Above is a picture of one of the
best early pocket scales ever created. You can easily see how this simple
design led into the current Accugem pocket scales and even into the design of the
ultra-modern Palmscale. This scale above is in the My Weigh museum and
STILL WORKS PERFECTLY. We hope that 150 years from now a collector will
have My Weigh pocket scales in his museum, the same way that we have 150 year old
"Prospector" pocket scales in ours.



Civil War Pocket
Scales

Pocket scales were also used by doctors and
soldiers during the American Civil War. This is a picture of a famous DR.
FITCH'S POCKET SCALE. It reads 5g x 0.01g and still works fine today. It
was originally created in 1860 and found popularity in the Confederacy.
When the Union overtook Virginia (where these scales were made), the
scales were produced for the Union army. This style of pocket scale was
later perfected and patented in 1885. Interesting enough, we know that if
we were to remake this pocket scale exactly as it was in 1885, it would still be
a viable product. In some ways, scales have progressed tremendously over
the years. However the classic mechanical pocket scale is still a very
popular product. Our Current Accugem 2 is mechanically and visually based
on this 1885 pocket scale.




More Civil War
Era pocket Scales with tool

Here is another Civil War era pocket scale. This
mini scale had a capacity of 10g and read in 0.02g increments. It came
complete with a scoop and tool (not unlike the current Palmscale &
Flipscale). It only makes logical sense to pack some user-friendly tools
with the scale and the early Americans were no stranger to marketing
:)




Early European
Pocket Scales

This hanging style pocket scale is circa 1600. If
you look at our current "Hand Scales" you will be amazed at how close they
are to this antique Italian pocket scale with Roman design.
Related Scales
Scale: Lucky 11
Scale: Accugem