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News Update and some History EQM 4/2019 was the last sent out from the UK, because of changes in the way we operate. From 2020 the magazine should be obtained directly from ISASC USA. It has some marvellous colour photos, and some brilliant articles : Andrew Crawforth's 'A Different Oval Japanned Box' discusses a fascinating clue in the inscription on an English 18th-century coin scale box - 'ready rhino' in the slang context of money. The Scale Queen brand from the States is evoked in photos and documents, and Guido Zavattoni's wonderful catalogue of coin weights (Part 4) receives a favourable review.Thomas Voce's 19th-century Birmingham (England) output of sovereign rocker scales is covered in thorough and academic detail by one of the world's leading experts on the type. EQM 3/2019 including AGM papers was despatched with verve and aplomb on 23rd September 2019, one month before our projected 2019 AGM. The cover photo is of a miniature Roberval scale made by James Templar Shenston (1801-1846), who is the subject of the major article by Diana C-H and Gregg M. This contains a full review of Shenston's career and design quirks, including the '395 Strand' London address on much of his output. There follows a sound technical dissection of egg-weighing machines in 20th-Century UK, a beautifully-photographed expostion of a red plastic '2-Gram Scale' bought in Hillsboro, Oregon; and some important additions to the knowledge we have of William Blews & Sons, a firm making sovereign rocker scales in Birmingham, England in the 19th century. A grand meeting for 20 members and guests occurred at the Rural Scales and Weights Museum on 21st July. Read the full report in Fulcrum ! EQM 2/2019 was posted on 4th July 2019. EQM 1/2019 went out on 21st March 2019. EQM 3 of 2018 contains a major article from Andre S on The Celler Egg Sorting Scale, Part 4 of Jan B's survey of letter opener scales, and two stunning back-page photos of members' collections on display. EQM 2 of 2018 was posted on 19th June from UK. The front cover photo features a penny-weighing machine from Continental Scale Works in Chicago, comprising brass steelyard, bucket and folding tripod. The articles inside comprise 'McGiehan's Unique Postal', 'Rikkers Airmail Letter Scale', 'Mordan Style Sovereign Rockers', 'Letter Opener Scales', 'From the Collection of...' and an 'Old Advert' from the firm of Wrigley of Chicago (yes the famous chewing-gum people). The colour photos and illustrations are both informative and great to look at! Issue 1 in March 2018 had a stunning colour photo on the cover and more inside, pages 4441-4468 contain some interesting USA Mint scales noted almost fortuitously by Thomas A, a wonderful article on chondrometers / grain weighing scales by Diana C-H, with a full treatment of the Scottish firm of Alexander Adie & Son, A Special Swedish Letter Scale described by Andre S and Roland O, Part 2 of Jan B's Letter Opening Scales and a really lovely item from Bill and Jan's collection in the form of a Troemner solder balance from the early 1900s. Sharp-eyed readers will note that I've redacted some surnames above, because the European Chapter is currently working towards the European General Data Protection Regulation, coming into legal force on 25th May 2018. We're already data-aware, but expect some email and written communications soon about how the Society holds and processes your personal data, even if you're outside the geographical area of Europe. As you may recall, our 2017 AGM was deferred because of insufficient members attending. In the last mailing of 2017 there was included a postal ballot to determine the business we need to transact for the sake of good governance. The result of this was that 28 members in good standing, and therefore a quorum, agreed to accept the business and the resolutions on the agenda. The amended Constitution has now been posted on this website. We had also set the date for a Summer meeting on Sunday 15th July 2018 at which it was possible to conclude the business of the deferred AGM. Officers remain the same, the accounts were accepted and there was no change to subscription rates. Our Autumn meeting took place in the English Midlands on 8th October 2017, and we heard excellent talks on the 'Beale balance' (perhaps the earliest extant of Ludwig Oertling's scientific scales) and Barge Weighing and Gauging on British Canals - see here for an article derived from this latter presentation. 2016 brought the 40th Anniversary of the formation of the Society. We celebrated in a number of ways, particularly with our high-quality publication Equilibrium. Please consider sharing your knowledge by sending an article (with photos) to our hard-working Editor. July 2017 saw a visit to the Rural Scales and Weights Museum again, where 11 members and guests were able to take in the magnitude of the magnificent collection housed here. Read more about it in Fulcrum ! Our 2016 AGM celebrated the 40 years of the Society, and also updated members on the Avery Museum and the Science Museum developments. Further details are in Fulcrum ! A meeting was held again at the Rural Scales & Weights Museum in 2016. In July 2015 members and guests attended an informal gathering courtesy of the Rural Scales and Weights Museum - old friends and a wonderful setting. In early July 2015 another important auction took place at Stroud Auctions. Details of items sold and prices achieved were available electronically from the auction website for a short period - an area of great interest! On Sunday 14th June 2015 we held a meeting in the depths of the English countryside and heard about some fascinating old items which members have collected, as well as new and interesting lines of research such as the digitisation of the photographic Jenemann archive. After a hearty traditional lunch members adjourned to a nearby house where one of the premier collections in the UK is kept. Many thanks to those organising and hosting the meeting. Our yearly AGM for 2014 took place in Warwickshire in October and was a very enjoyable occasion. The theme of our display and talks was 'The Healthy Weigh' and covered Person Weighers for adults and babies, as well as weighing precisely for pharmaceutical research. Barry Oliver spoke with authority on both aspects of the subject, and others such as Peter Elliott and John Wintour were able to exhibit beautifully-restored examples of the artefacts themselves. These demonstrated the technology and workmanship of designers and manufacturers from 19th and 20th centuries. They also provided a web of social history illuminating the context in which the machines were used. Read more in Fulcrum ! Following the very successful Informal midweek meeting in July 2013, about 25 members returned to Gloucestershire for a get-together in July 2014. The weather was favourable, and everyone enjoyed the lunch and refereshments provided. Read more in Fulcrum ! Stroud Auction Rooms held a very interesting auction on 9th and 10th July featuring many Local Standards from Gloucestershire County Council and other nearby areas. Online catalogue for more details from http:/stroudauctions.co.uk/catalogue giving details and prices realised of lots sold. The auction held by Sworders including the Brian Brass Collection in June 2013 was also a great success. Following that, in October, our AGM and main meeting was held near Warwick. Some fascinating talks, an update on the situation at the Avery Historical Museum and a superb hot carvery lunch made for an enjoyable day! The meeting at Alvington on 17th July 2012 was a great success, despite the unkind weather. Short report and photos in the August 2012 Fulcrum, available now from the Fulcrum page on this website. An auction of great interest to members took place on Wednesday 9th May 2012 at Stroud Auctions in Gloucestershire UK. It featured items from the collection of the late Gordon Meek, a member of the Society. Around 100 lots of weights and a similar number of scales were offered, and the take-up was almost 100%. There is now a link to this and other auction house sites at the foot of our 'Links' page. Our April 2012 meeting was a great success, and some reports and other wonderful material appear in the May edition of Fulcrum, available on this website now. Please go to the Fulcrum page by clicking on the link at the left of this screen. Sunday October 23rd 2011 Our AGM was accompanied by displays and talks on scales and weights of the Georgian period. 35 members old and new came to swap collecting tales, buy and sell and catch up through personal contact. See the Fulcrum page for a full-colour copy of our newsletter and a report! Sunday April 17th 2011 One of our established venues in Leicestershire was the scene for an excellent meeting with a great atmosphere. Members trekked from Cornwall, Kent, East Anglia, Scarborough and points near and far to enjoy some fascinating information exchange and a fulsome lunch. The full report appears in the May 2011 edition of Fulcrum! Sunday October 10th 2010 The AGM with an excellent lunch in Kegworth, Notts, England. We had visitors from as far afield as Chicago USA, and a wonderful 'Dramatic Presentation' by Andrew Lound of the Avery Weigh-Tronix Historical Museum on the topic of 'Victorian Scales / W&T Avery and the part they played'. Catch up with the report in the November 2010 edition of Fulcrum! Sunday July 4th 2010 A full day with an excellent lunch at Sutton Cheney, Leicestershire, England on the topic of 'Non-Metropolitan Scales, Weights and their makers'. Some lovely displays, intriguing items on slides and 'in the flesh'- catch up with the report in the August 2010 edition of Fulcrum Sunday April 18th 2010 A great meeting near Lydney in beautiful Gloucestershire - see the report and photos in the May 2010 edition of Fulcrum 2009 Autumn Meeting and AGM Sunday 11th October 2009 Held at the Best Western Yew Lodge Hotel Packington Hill Kegworth DE74 2DT Tel 01509 67472 The theme of the meeting was London Scalemakers. Two main presentations covered aspects of the way the trade altered in the 19th and 20th centuries. During this period the highly-regulated system of master-and-apprentices was transformed into a more diverse system with large and small firms competing in a free market. Barry Oliver gave a most interesting talk on The inter-relationships between De Grave, Oertling and W.A.Webb, and Jenny Hutchinson gave an excellently-researched audiovisual presentation on Thomas Williams and his clan. In addition our Information Officer, Diana Crawforth-Hitchins, presented an exhibition of coin scales from London, and gave a short talk explaining how they can be dated by looking at the trade labels. Members also gave 10-minute 'show and tell' presentations related to the general theme of the meeting. 2009 Spring Meeting Sunday 5th April 2009 Held at the The Charnwood Arms Hotel, Bardon Hill, Coalville LE67 1TB The theme of the meeting was Coin and Bullion scales and weights, and the speakers included Jaap Visser and Howard Simmons. 2008 Autumn Meeting and AGM Sunday 12th October 2008 Held at the Best Western Yew Lodge Hotel Packington Hill Kegworth DE74 2DT Tel 01509 67472 2008 Summer Meeting The summer get-together was at The Royal Arms, Sutton Cheney with tea back at Lindridge. The date was Wednesday 15th July. 2008 Spring Meeting 19th and 20th April 2008 (Liverpool). 2007 Summer Meeting Held on Wednesday 11th July 2007, at: The Royal Arms, Sutton Cheney,CV13 0AG 2007 Spring Meeting Held at the Yew Lodge Hotel, Kegworth on Sunday 22nd April 2007.
2006 Autumn Meeting and AGM The Autumn meeting was on Sunday 8th October at: The Falcon Hotel,Stratford upon Avon2006 Summer Meeting Held on Wednesday 12th July 2006, from 10am onwards, at: The Royal Arms, Sutton Cheney CV13 0AG 2006 Spring Meeting Held on Sunday 2nd April at the Charnwood Arms Hotel,Coalville,Leicestershire LE67 1TB Copyright © 2008 All rights reserved ------ Last updated 9th January 2020 |