This week’s chosen artifact is a Victorian-era weighing scale. The scale, produced in the mid-1800s by the Sirret Scale Co. of Cuyahoga Falls, was invented by Emile Sirret of Buffalo, New York. The scale was so impressive that the Falls company exhibited their product at the Universal Exposition of 1889 in Paris. Not bad visibility for a local item, eh?

Few details have been found to indicate exactly where the scale factory was located in Cuyahoga Falls or how long it was in business, but apparently the scale was so popular that operations eventually expanded and moved to Akron.

Our archives indicate that the scale in these photos was purchased by the donor at an antique shop for $145.