Lumber Stick with Sixteen scales

This round wooden yardstick is divided into 16 scales numbered from right to left that divide the foot into various numbers of parts. The scales include: 8 (units of 1 1/2" or 3.8 cm), 9 (1 5/16" or 3.3 cm), 10 (1 3/16" or 3.0 cm), 11 (1 1/16" or 2.7 cm), 12 (1" or 2.6 cm), 13 (11/12" or 2.3 cm), 14 (7/8" or 2.1 cm), 15 (13/16' or 2.0 cm), 16 (3/4" or 1.9 cm), 17 (11/16" or 1.7 cm), 18 (21/32' or 1.6 cm), 19 (5/8" or 1.6 cm), 20 (5/8' or 1.5 cm), 21 (9/16" or 1.5 cm), 22 (17/32" or 1.4 cm), and 23 (1/2" or 1.3 cm) parts per foot. The number of subdivisions per foot is indicated at the right end of each scale, but these marks are badly worn.

The left end of the rule is marked: PSP (/) April 25th (/) 1822. The right end is marked: PSP (/) 1822.

The National Museum of History and Technology, now the National Museum of American History, acquired this calculating stick, probably between 1962 and 1965, for its Growth of the United States exhibition, which opened in 1967 and closed in 1982. See also 1987.0107.05.

Reference: William S. Walker, "A Living Exhibition: The Smithsonian, Folklife, and the Making of the Modern Museum" (Ph.D. diss., Brandeis University, 2007).

Currently not on view