Multi-Estate Spring 2026 Auction
Lot 508:
Description
C-19605
c. 1940s; Pelouze Manufacturing Co. – Chicago, Illinois / Montgomery Ward & Co. – Chicago, Illinois
Two mid-century household scales representing common weighing tools used in American kitchens and homes during the early twentieth century. The first is a compact countertop grocery or kitchen scale manufactured by Pelouze Manufacturing Co., a Chicago firm well known for producing durable commercial and household weighing devices. The scale features a round dial face with numbered increments and a flat metal weighing platform above, designed for measuring produce, dry goods, or small household items.
The second is a Montgomery Ward step-on bathroom scale housed in a black painted metal body with rounded corners and a viewing window at the top. Montgomery Ward, one of the largest mail-order retailers in the United States during the period, offered a wide range of household appliances and personal scales through its catalog distribution network. The example shown retains its original dial window and adjustment mechanism, with the tare adjustment knob still functioning.
Both pieces display typical mid-century industrial construction with pressed steel bodies and mechanical dial mechanisms. Surfaces show moderate age-related wear including paint loss, oxidation, scattered scratches, and staining consistent with decades of household use. The Montgomery Ward scale’s tare adjustment button operates when pressed, though both scales have not been formally calibrated or tested for weighing accuracy.
Pelouze: 6.25" W x 8.25" D x 8" H
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