Mathematical Table, Meat

Mathematical tables like this one were distributed by producers to persuade consumers of the value of their products. This instrument consists of a disc with a smaller disc that rotates above it. A metal clasp at the center holds the two pieces together. A slot in the upper disc reveals one column of the table printed on the disc below. This table gives the percentage of daily recommended dietary allowances supplied by a 3.5 oz serving of beef, lamb, pork, and veal. The percentages are given for children of ages 3-4 years, 4-6 years, 7-9 years, and 10-12 years; teenaged boys 13-15 and 16-19 years old; teenaged girls 13-15 and 16-19 years old; women of ages 25, 45, and 65; and men of ages 25, 45, and 65. The daily requirements of protein, calories, iron, thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin supplied by a serving of meat are indicated. The back lists the nutrition provided by strained meat fed to infants and gives references for the calculations. These references date from 1950 and 1958.

The instrument is marked on the front: The percentages of (/) daily recommended dietary (/) allowances supplied by one (/) 3 1/2 oz. serving of cooked MEAT for moderately active children and adults. It is marked on the front and the back: NATIONAL LIVE STOCK AND MEAT BOARD. It is marked on the back: A Product of Graphic Calculator Co., Chicago 5, Ill.

Graphic Calculator Company was a slide rule and slide chart manufacturing and design company founded in Chicago in 1940 by Capron R. Gulbransen, and apparently still in business at the time of Gulbransen’s death in 1969. By 1965, the firm had moved to Barrington, Illinois.

Reference:

Obituaries, Chicago Tribune, August 11, 1969, p. A6.

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