Topic: Collecting glass measures

[joost]

Hello

I am a new visitor at this forum.
My wife and I are starting collectors of old and antique glass measures such as kitchen measures or apothecary measures.
We bought some at fairs recently and we wonder if someone knows some books or websites on these items.
We also saw etched in the glass a typical mark on some of the British measures. We were told by a dealer that this had to do with the age of the glass measure but he couldn't tell us more.
I there anyone who could help? Forgive the bad use of the English language!!
Please see the attached files
Thank you very much  in advance!

Joost
(The Netherlands)

[Anne]

Hello Joost and welcome to the board.   I'd not seen these small measures before then today I see your post after coming in from seeing one for sale in a charity shop near me. I can't add anything to your query but will be interested to know if anyone else can.

[Carolyn Preston]

Off the top of my head, is there any chance that the etched mark indicates some kind of accreditation, i.e.) that one ounce is really one ounce, or whatever?

Welcome to the board Joost.

Carolyn

[Lustrousstone]

Welcome to the board Joost

Probably Carolyn. The British Standards Institute was established in 1930. I can't help thinking the top one has a GR = George Rex under the crown. But what does it say above the crown?

Can we see the bases and the actual measurements scale please. A piece of black paper inside might help if it's not clear.

[Bernard C]

Joost — The sandblasted (not etched) weights & measures mark shows that it has been checked by the authorities and can be used for retail and other legal purposes.

Translation:-

GR — George V and VI.

G2R — George V and VI, the 2 possibly a mark of the City of London.

24 GRADS — 24 graduations tested (this stops more being added).

14 GRD — 14 graduations tested.

545 — Weights & Measures Office number for their York office (not the whole of Yorkshire as there were several offices in the three ridings).   Unfortunately this does not help with identifying a manufacturing glassworks.

Dagger in a Cross in a Shield — I've not seen this before.  The dagger represents London's Guildhall, which, with the cross of St George, becomes the arms of the City of London.   So the City of London (i.e. the square mile) Weights & Measures Office.   Again this does not help with identifying a manufacturing glassworks.

The same type of mark was used on all measures.   In December I saw a similar mark on the massive Avery weighbridge at Quainton Station, used for weighing railway trucks full of commodities like coal.

Joost, that City of London measure is a real gem.    :hiclp: :hiclp:

Bernard C. 

[Bernard C]

... one further possibility ...

The "2" in G2R could be an inspector number.

Bernard C. 

[joost]

Thank you for all the answers and the offered help! Fantastic!
The hobby is getting interesting more and more that way.
Are there any suggestions for litterature?
I will try to make a better picture.


Many thanks!

Joost

[Mike M]

Hi

'Whisky Dispensers and Measures'  by Brian Brooks

might be useful

if you can't find it - email me directly for Brian's email address

cheers

Mike

[joost]

hello Mike,

I found the book at this website:  http://whiskywords.co.uk/booksa.aspx
Is it really worth buying it? I don't know the precise contents so?

Thank you for the advice

Joost

[Bernard C]

Joost — Several more thoughts ...

1. While the Weights & Measures Office location does not directly give you the manufacturing glassworks, you can make an informed guess.   Wood Brothers of Barnsley were world leaders in pharmacy and laboratory glassware, also, without question, our most successful glassworks at exporting to the difficult USA market.   I'm fairly certain that there wasn't a Weights & Measures Office in Barnsley, so York, covering the parts of Yorkshire that other Yorkshire Weights & Measures Offices didn't reach, was probably their office.   So, all in all, more than an evens chance that your 545 measure was made by Wood Brothers.

2. As with all engraved glass, blanks may have been bought by an engraving operation, so your City of London measure could be City of London engraving on a blank from elsewhere.   So both of your measures could have been made by Wood Brothers of Barnsley!

3. I'm a great believer in exposing young children to as wide a variety of number and logic experiences as possible, particularly today, when the best mathematicians don't become schoolteachers.   This includes measuring and calculating length, area and volume, number games like cribbage and dominoes, games of logic like draughts and Rubik's cube, and experience of as many number systems as possible, particularly bases 10, 2, 12 and 16.   A collection of relatively inexpensive measures in a variety of units could be a great asset in this.

Bernard C.