The Story of the Blue Scale from 1916

梅特勒 - 托利多 can trace its history back to 1901. Traces of that history can be found in plain sight for anyone who cares to look. This is one unique story. It's about a scale from 1916 that travelled from Toledo, OH to somewhere in Montana and then on to Maumee, Ohio pretty much coming full circle in 106 years. And, here's the kicker: the 5 pounds of coffee currently sitting on the scale measures at exactly 5 pounds, even though it has not been calibrated since the 1930's!

It all started when a coffee shop in Maumee, Ohio reached out to METTLER TOLEDO for details on this scale, used as a display in their store. From the serial number and model number, we could piece together quite a colorful history. Here are a few highlights:

• Broad Use: This scale was sold as a computing cylinder scale and was used widely in meat markets, specialty stores, and grocery stores in the early 1900s.
• Innovation: The scale is from 1916 with seven patents that all pre-date 1916 with more pending. It's interesting to note that one of the patents was granted on December 25th, 1906. Because, back then, Christmas Day was a regular working day.
• Brand Differentiation: It was an important part of the design that the customer could see the moving weighing mechanism through a glass window. "No Springs, Honest Weight" was part of our differentiation at the time as it was more accurate than competitors that used a weighing principle based on stretching a spring.
• High-Tech Efficiency: The scale is an example of an early computer. It calculates the total sale price for the storeowner automatically (see the image above). The total sale price is read at the intersection of the horizontal line showing the weight and the column representing the cost per pound on the scale's display. Ingenious! A store owner could instantly tell a customer the item's price without any hand calculations. That was a major time saver back in the days before calculators.
• Quality: To this day, commerce scales need to be inspected by the state. This scale still has a state inspection sticker from the state of Montana dated in the 1930's. Though the ink has long faded away, this scale was inspected and in service in the 1930's. Today, the 5 pound bag of coffee is still registering at 5 pounds!
• A Worthy Investment: The original list price for this scale was $130 in 1916. In today's dollars, that would be equivalent to $3,534.

You don't need to be a mechanical engineer to appreciate the complexities of a mechanical scale and how it worked back in the early 1900's without the aid of any software or electronics. And, one more thing that is worth noting, so much of this functionality is still built into our scales today. We still make the most accurate and reliable scales. We are still innovating and getting more patents, just not on Christmas anymore.

Why is this history important? Weighing may not be thought of often, but it is essential. Just about everything gets weighed at some point or another, whether it's during manufacturing, R&D, quality testing, inspection, transportation, or sale. Innovations don't just appear out of thin air. The new offerings within our company rise on the shoulders of the past. For me, it's a sign of strength, durability, and pride to honor our past. It's interesting to think that something we worked on today might still be around 106 years later.

As the Talent Acquisition leader here, I know that job candidates are smart and weigh a lot of factors when considering their career home. This is not just a story of a pretty cool-looking antique scale. It's really a way of saying that a company's history should be one of those considerations alongside culture, work-life balance, and benefits.

If you are interested in exploring a career with us, visit careers.MT.com.