National Bureau of Standards SP-376 Pocket Rule

This white plastic promotional rule has a scale of centimeters along the top edge, divided to millimeters and numbered by ones from 1 to 15, and a scale of inches along the bottom edge, divided to 1/16" and numbered by ones from 1 to 6. The center of the rule is marked: For Good Measure from the National Bureau of Standards (/) Washington, D. C. 20234.

The back of the rule has a table comparing metric and customary units of length, volume, and weight. A second table explains the prefixes used in the metric system and gives conversions to yards, quarts, and pounds. The back is marked: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (/) National Bureau of Standards (/) Washington, D. C. 20234 (/) NBS Special Publication 376 (/) Issued December 1972 (/) For sale by the Superintendent of (/) Documents, U.S. Government Printing (/) Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 (/) (Order by SD Catalog No. C13.10:376). (/) Price 25 cents.

In order to encourage Americans to adopt the metric system, NBS (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology) distributed this rule in the 1970s both individually and as part of a "metric kit," NBS Special Publication 410, which also included four informational pamphlets and a conversion card.

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