This is a set of apothecary weights made by H.T. Troemner in Philadelphia, PA. The fitted wooden box holds a 20 gram, 10 gram, 5 gram, (2) 2 gram, and a 1 gram weight. The paper label from Chichester Chemical Company is missing and there are no tweezers or aluminum weights. The brass weights are exactly the right weight (see photo of the 2 grams weight on a digital scale.)

The wooden case is in very good condition with the original hook latch and hinges.

A similar set is in the collection of the Smithsonian’s American History Museum in Washington DC.

This is a description of the similar set of weights in the Smithsonian’s collection:

“Set of circular brass and smaller square aluminum weights in a wooden box. A label on top of the box reads “CHI-CHE-STERS PREMIUM / PRESENTED BY / CHICHESTER CHEMICAL COMPANY / PHILADELPHIA, U.S.A.” A paper label inside the box reads “CHICHESTER CHEMICAL CO.’S PREMIUM PRESCRIPTION WEIGHTS . . . Made especially for the Chichester Chemical Company, Philadelphia, and guaranteed and accurate by / Henry Troemner, Manufacturer, Philadelphia, Pa. U.S.A.”

The Chichester Chemical Company was a patent medicine firm that was in business by the late 1880s, incorporated in 1918, and led by Davitt D. Chidester (1851-1927). The firm fell afoul of the federal government in the 1920s when the Food and Drug Administration found that its Diamond Brand New Style Pills consisted essentially of ferrous sulphate and plant material, primarily aloe, and the claims on the package were “false and fraudulent.”

Location: Currently not on view

Object Name: weight set

Date Made: 1898-1907

Maker: Troemner

Place Made: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

See more items in: Medicine and Science: Chemistry

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Physical Description: cellulose nitrate (label material)wood (overall material)metal (weights material)paper (label inside material)Measurements: overall: 2 cm x 12.7 cm x 7.5 cm; 13/16 in x 5 in x 2 15/16 inoverall; in box: 13/16 in x 5 in x 3 in; 2.06375 cm x 12.7 cm x 7.62 cm

Id Number: 2006.0098.1573Catalog Number: 2006.0098.1573Accession Number: 2006.0098

Record Id: nmah_1347427