what the heck is this

[wendy177]

Hi all I am seeking help for any info. on this      thingy

The eagle seems to have a weight on the back, No makers marks, The curved piece has measurements in oz 0-2 approx. 5-6" high by 3-4" wide. Was at an auction house yesterday they had no clue!
Thanks

[ironlord1963]

That a scale,  prime item for us use to be hippies  .  Used to weigh stuff.

[cogar]

Wendy, I will have to say it is a "letter scale" for determining the price of the Postage Stamp to mail a letter.

If the Mail Carrier “clipped” the letter in the spring loaded clip and then held it up by the Eagle Head, (which is the USPS “logo”), then the weight of the letter could be read on the scale of 0 to 2 oz. 

Now I have never seen one but that just gotta hafta be what it is.

[talesofthesevenseas]

You hold eagle and clip whatever you are weighing in the clip!

[ironlord1963]

Yea Letter Scale, that is what it was used for.       .

[fancypants]

i'm with ironlord's 1st post.
if the postman used one of these,he had more than mail in his bag.
a.k.a. an alibi 'postal' scale - they never fooled the narcs,though.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Well, if Wendy ever gets busted, she can use this thread as evidence of her innocence!

[Texasbadger]

For making brownies,,,,,mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[KC]

Must say I have to agree with ironlord, fancypants and texasbadger.  Clips on the baggie!  Creative hippies!

Never seen a postal person carrying a hand held postal scale like this!!!  Nor have I ever seen one listed.

[cogar]

 
My Weigh Metal Hand Scale
Classic hand held postal scale ~ FREE SHIPPING via USPS First Class Mail
100 gram capacity x 1 gram resolution
Old Will's Price: $4.90
http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/my-weigh-metal-hand-scale.aspx

[talesofthesevenseas]

Maybe its not a postal American eagle, but a biker-type American eagle? As we say in Santa Cruz- "Duuuude! Excellent!"

[wendy177]

OH Thank god cogar found that site!!! Guys I was getting nervous! Found it in an old box of buttons. Thought I was going to have to make a trip to the local PD. to turn it in!! Thanks again

[cogar]

Wendy, my guess is that say pre-1950/40 the Rural Free Delivery (RFD) postmen or letter carriers all had a set of scales like that to insure that the letters they picked up had the correct Postage Stamps on them and/or that the person mailing them had left the correct amount of money in their Box with the letter that they wanted to mail.

Most rural families never actually purchased a Postage Stamp, they would just give the letter carrier the money and the Stamp would be placed on the letter when it got to the Post Office. Given said, it saved a lot of confusion, time and returning of said letter to the sender if the correct number of pennies were paid in the 1st place.

Anyway, I’m also pretty sure that most of those reproduction Postal Scales being sold today are actually used for weighing Wacky Tobacco and other illegal drugs, ….. but being they are ACTUALLY new versions of old Postal Scales the Cops or ATF can’t really bust one for having “drug paraphernalia”.