Collections Item Detail
Slide rule: Thacher's Calculating Instrument, model 4013, made by the Keuffel & Esser Co., N.Y., n.d., ca. 1900-1908.
2009.006.0035
2009.006
Lukacs, Claire
Gift
Museum Collections. Gift of a friend of the Museum.
1900 - 1908
Date: 1900-1908
Good
Notes: Dating of this object: Online references have stated that K+E started making the Thacher in America by 1897 (this seems to infer that any of them prior to that date were made abroad and imported.) This online information does not source this information by citing any authorities. Labels inside the lid help in establishing a probable date range of production, but not absolute. The paper label has a bird's-eye view of the Hoboken factory as it was seen before a 1905 fire and the subsequent 1907 building of several new buildings including the clock tower building. It has the San Francisco office listed (established 1900 or 1901; both dates have been given by authoritative timelines about the company), but it does not list the Montreal office which was established in 1908. ______________ Background about the previous owner of this object is excerpted from "The DODD CO." entry found in the World Wide Web edition of The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History and The Dictionary of Cleveland Biography sponsored jointly by Case Western Reserve University and the Western Reserve Historical Society. The site is maintained by Digital Media Services at CWRU as found April, 2009. The DODD CO is Cleveland's oldest and largest supplier of photographic and art equipment. Frederick W. McBroom founded the firm in 1891 as an artists' supply store, with 3 employees, on Bond (E. 6th) St. After several operational changes, Robt. C. Dodd, a salesman for McBroom & Co., gained ownership of the store in 1902. Four years later, Dodd joined with J. Eugene Rogers to run the store as the Dodd-Rogers Co. The store was incorporated as the Dodd Co. in 1914, with Dodd and his 2 brothers, Edwin and Clarence, as owners. In 1920, the Dodds moved the store to Huron Rd, and though they did broaden their line of goods, Dodd Co. was foremost an arts-supply store. It was Louis C. Grenier, who became general manager in 1910, who convinced the Dodd brothers to move into camera and photographic supplies. By the early 1930s, photographic materials became the leading sales item of the company and by the 1950s, it was one of Ohio's largest suppliers of such equipment, with over 50 employees. Status: OK Status By: dw Status Date: 2009-04-14
