Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
Balance Scale
Fairbanks Scales, Kansas City, MO
Unknown Date
Fairbanks Scales was founded in the 1820s by brothers Thadeus and Erastus Fairbanks. The company was originally focused on making cast iron plows and stoves, but began designing scales when the brothers realized that the standard scales frequently gave inaccurate measurements. Thadeus Fairbanks designed a scale that used a system of levers and counterweights to provide accurate weights and applied for the first patent for his scale in 1830.