Midwest Weigh-In, October 2022

A warm and sunny day in beautiful Sycamore, Illinois, greeted ISASC members from four states on October 22nd. The occasion was the annual Midwest “Weigh-In” graciously hosted by Jan and Bill B. As always, their home was abundantly filled with scales and scale related items throughout, making it a great setting for a meeting of Scalies!

Illinois residents in attendance were Aviva and Allan R., Mary E. and EQM graphic designer Ruth N. Larry and Dee Dee H. joined us from Michigan along with Erv B. coming from Indiana. Rounding out the group were Bob J. and Fred R. who travelled from Minnesota.

There is never a food shortage at these events! Our hosts provided their special meatballs, a delicious salad and a couple of tasty homemade pies. Bob brought his world-famous chocolate chip cookies and the rest of us contributed more sides and salads than we could possibly finish. The day was temperate enough for us to eat circulating between the front porch and the dining room where we were surrounded by a variety of scales and scale signs.

Show and Tell is always a fun feature of these meetings. Bob showed us a set of, most likely, homemade weights in a custom wood box. Made of brass, they are barrel shaped and well-constructed. They are marked from 1-23 but give no indication of their intended use. After being inspected by all the “experts”, we agreed that we still don’t know much about them.

Erv regaled us with his description of how he acquired some interesting scale patent models and told Ruth he planned to write an article about them for Equilibrium. Bill had a couple of brass weights, 9 and 18 grams, which are used to determine the butterfat content of milk. We learned a bit more than we knew about these specialty weights.

Fred showed a unique Milwaukee scale manufactured by C.F. Kleinstuber that he was delivering to another member. Its uncommon quadrant design with a griffin motif makes this a very collectible item. And, of course, Jan and Bill showed us many, many great scales on special display in their living room and the official “scale room.”

To add to the fun, a number of scales were bought and sold. Some of them large cast iron and porcelain coin-ops, which always present fun, or maybe more aptly described as unique, challenges to transport. All reports indicate they were delivered intact and happy in their new homes.

Soon it was late afternoon and time to say goodbye. As we packed up, all agreed it was a wonderful day spent on worthwhile pursuits. Looking forward to next year’s gathering!