Summary
Platform scales, manufactured by Fairbanks. Used in a mental health hospital in Victoria, Australia, circa 1900.
Physical Description
Commercially-built platform scale on wheels. Cast iron base supports iron weighing platform with wooden floor. At back, square hollow wooden post supports a hooked rod which bears the weight of the platform and which hooks onto a brass balancing arm, marked in pounds up to 50. There is a cylindrical sliding weight, and on the end a loop for a metal weight holder. There are three weights - flat, circular pieces of metal with a slit to the centre. The weights are for 50, 100 and 200 lbs.
More Information
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Collection Names
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Collecting Areas
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Acquisition Information
Donation from Office of Psychiatric Services, May 1985
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Manufacturer
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Place & Date Used
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Inscriptions
Fairbanks/Standard/no.11 1/2/ Made in America/825581
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Classification
Medicine & health, Mental health - institutional life, Farm management
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Category
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Discipline
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Type of item
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overall dimensions
83 cm (Length), 54 cm (Width), 112 cm (Height)
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References
Oral history, Dr E.C.Dax, 4 May 1992
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Keywords
Psychiatric Hospitals, Scales & Balances, Making History - Psych Services