Object Details
distributor
Keuffel & Esser Co.
Description
This folding wooden case is covered with black leather and lined with green velvet. Metal snaps that fasten the case are marked: KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. (/) NEW YORK. The back of the case is marked: GERMANY. Inside the top flap is marked: PARAGON (/) TRADEMARK (/) KEUFFEL & ESSER CO. N.Y. Inside the bottom flap is marked: I. MOLELLA. This flap has a pocket, but it is empty. The tray at the center of the case contains:
1) 6-1/2" German silver and steel drawing compass with bendable legs and removable pencil and pen points and extension bar. The side of one leg is marked: KEUFFEL & ESSER Co N.Y. (/) GERMANY. The side of the other leg is marked: PARAGON. Inside that leg and on the insertion tip of the attachments is marked: 22.
2) 5-7/8" German silver and steel dividers with adjustable point. The side of one leg is marked: KEUFFEL & ESSER Co N.Y. (/) GERMANY. The side of the other leg is marked: PARAGON. Inside that leg and on the insertion tip of the attachments is marked: 27.
3) 2" cylindrical German silver case with six pencil leads and two needle points.
4) 4" and 5-3/8" wood, German silver, and steel drawing pens. The blades are marked: PARAGON.
5) 3-7/8" German silver and steel bow pen, bow dividers, and bow pencil. On one side, each handle is marked: KEUFFEL & ESSER Co N.Y. GERMANY. On the other side, each handle is marked: PARAGON.
6) 5/8" blue metal joint tightener.
The influential distributor and manufacturer of mathematical instruments, Keuffel & Esser, introduced the Paragon line of drawing instruments in 1901. This set resembles the wallet case sold as model 624AC in 1921 and in 1927 and as model 624ACRX in 1936. The markings are more like those shown in the 1936 catalog, but a horn center sold with that version of the set is missing. The price in 1936 was $39.75. Since the set was imported from Germany, K&E was not able to offer it during World War II. When sales resumed by 1954, the joint tightener was no longer included in the set.
The owner of this set of instruments, Isaac Giancinto Molella (1908–1982), was in the Cornell University class of 1932. In the early 1950s, he worked as an electrical engineer at General Electric—at Electronics Park in Syracuse, N.Y., in 1953, and as a technical representative for the U.S. Air Force at radar sites in North Africa and Europe between 1954 and 1957.
References: Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 36th ed. (New York, 1921), 78; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 37th ed. (New York, 1927), 108; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 38th ed. (New York, 1936), 130; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 39th ed. (New York, 1943); Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 42nd ed. (New York, 1954), 118–119.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
In Memory of Isaac Giacinto Molella
date made
1936-1942
ID Number
1992.0433.01
catalog number
1992.0433.01
accession number
1992.0433
Object Name
drawing instruments, set of
Physical Description
german silver (overall material)
steel (overall material)
wood (overall material)
leather (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 3.2 cm x 25.3 cm x 11.8 cm; 1 1/4 in x 9 31/32 in x 4 21/32 in
place made
Germany
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Science & Mathematics
Drawing Instruments
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Mathematics
Drafting, Engineering
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_1115840