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Machine Age Art Deco Toledo Scale by Van Doren Rideout Rare Plaskon Housing

$3,400List Price

About the Item

Machine Age Art Deco Toledo scale by Van Doren Rideout Rare Plaskon Housing Patented design by Harold Van Doren and John Gordon Rideout in 1934. Dubbed the "Sentinel Duplex Scale" by the Toledo Scale Company and introduced in 1935. Near mint original cosmetic condition, untested. For Industrial Design and Marketing Science enthusiasts, this scale represents a ground-breaking Engineering collaboration and complete Modernization of a tired generic product. Van Doren Assoc. were joined by Toledo's staff engineers who had recently developed plaskon in 1930 for Hubert Bennett (a bakelite substitute, which could be colored in any tint, employed in the Iconic Air King radios and eventually hundreds of other cool things), and also those from ALCOA (who contributed the radical cast aluminum frame which replace earlier cast iron), Bausch Lomb (who contributed the precision glass lens at over 2X previous possible scale magnification) and General Electric (who contributed the plaskon molding capability in an early clean-room setting). At the time, this housing was the largest plastic molding ever made in the U.S. GE contracted the French Oil Mill Machinery Company to produce the then largest hydraulic-compression molding press for it's plastics clean room. The press was 22' tall, weighed 45 tons, had 9 hydraulic rams that could exert over 15 tons p.s.i., and installed in a 2 story air-conditioned negative-pressure clean room. There was simply nothing like it at the time. These combined Engineering efforts reduced the weight of the entire Apparatus to 55 lbs (down from "hundreds"), enabling it to be easily presented by salesmen, shipped in cardboard instead of wood, and easily installed by the purchasing grocer. Also a resounding Sales success, with 300% increases within 6 months for Toledo. Bennett has acknowledged Van Doren's designs as having been largely responsible for Toledo Scale's recovery from the Depression. There are precious few other early Industrial Re-Designs of traditional products so significant. This extremely cool large Art Deco scale is very nearly mint and complete. Noticing only a single replaced original screw and minor wear. Fully functional to our knowledge, but likely would require calibration for serious use. Original enameled steel tray, which is the rimmed "produce" version, attaching via some serious mechanicals, not the simpler "meat counter" flat-top tray version. It is also electrified, for brightly lighting the glass-faced B&L lenses on both sides. Signed profusely. A museum quality Industrial Design. A Machine Age Classic. In the permanent Wolfsonian Collection, see pp. 143 "Toledo Designs for a Modern America" for an example. The pictures do not do this justice, the plaskon case is dramatically more detailed in person.

Creator:
Harold Van Doren (Designer),Toledo Scale Company (Manufacturer),John Gordon Rideout (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 17.5 in (44.45 cm)Width: 18 in (45.72 cm)Depth: 15 in (38.1 cm)
Style:
Art Deco (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Bakelite,Glass,Steel,Enameled
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
1930-1939
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1935-1940
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Dallas, TX
Reference Number:
1stDibs: 1504249452262

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