An Egg scale?

[Skelly607]

Cleaning out some family stuff,,,,,,,Any clue of what this is? How old? Seems to be a lead counter weight on the end with "22" stamped on it.

 

[Iron Patch]

Have to wait for Bramble, the expert on all things egg.

 

[TxTim]

Yes-

Egg scale. 22 ounces is the avg. weight of an egg.
Most scales will weigh between 16 and 30 ounces.

 

[Skelly607]

Yes-

Egg scale. 22 ounces is the avg. weight of an egg.
Most scales will weigh between 16 and 30 ounces.

Thanks guy! I was thinking,,,,,,,its an egg scale or some kind of mellon scoop lol.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

SODABOTTLEBOB has a family tree of egg experts.

Similar
http://www.etsy.com/listing/43787515/antique-egg-scale-early-1900s-petaluma

 

[S IL THer]

Egg scale. 22 ounces is the avg. weight of an egg.

WOW!! you must have big hens there! a dozen eggs would weigh 16.5 pounds
(22 x 12 = 264 / 16 =16.5)

 

[Monty]

I think it must be .22 ounce. Monty

 

[S IL THer]

I think it must be .22 ounce. Monty

a robin egg would weigh approx .22 oz I believe a medium hen egg would weigh approx 2.2 oz

 

[diggummup]

I think it must be .22 ounce. Monty

a robin egg would weigh approx .22 oz I believe a medium hen egg would weigh approx 2.2 oz

now we're getting there.

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Big Cy ~

Thanks for thinking of me. I got your notice and just happened to be online. I've been hanging out on another forum lately that deals specifically with vintage soda pop bottles. Hundreds of threads - thousands of replies. I never did hear from that egg guy who was supposed to send me copies to those old magazine ads regarding the egg counter.

Anyhoo ... dad (88 years old) says it's definitely an egg scale. And that the 22 should have a (dot) .22 ounce for an extra large egg. Large's average about .15 and not sure about the mediums and smalls. He thinks the .22 piece should be removable. He also said that a true "dyed in the wool" poultry/eggman could/can spot a small - medium - large - extra large a mile away, and that the scales were primarily for legal purposes involving shipping, etc. Of course nowadays everything is done with computers and special handling equipment.

I hope this helps. I'll be back one of these days. They keep me hopping on that other forum. I have one thread involving the early history of the very first applied color label (acl) soda bottles that has appx. 5000 views and appx 300 replies.

Thanks again for thinking of me,

Bob

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

P.S. ~

This may not need explaination, but dad's additional recollection (although not as sharp as it used to be) is that they only had one scale with a removable counter weight for the various sizes. But there may have been variations of four separate scales. He says the way it worked for them is if you put an extra large egg on a .22 scale and it tipped it was obviously extra large. But if it didn't tip it likely qualified as the next smaller size (large) and was sorted accordingly, and so on and so forth.

I hope all is well in "Treasureland."

Bob

 

[S IL THer]

this might clear up the 22----read the scale numbers on the side----eggs of a certain size would weigh 18 - 30 oz per dozen

 

[taz42o]

Modern Sizes (USA) Size Mass per egg Cooking Yield (Volume)[3]
Jumbo Greater than 2.5 oz. or 71 g
Very Large or Extra-Large (XL) Greater than 2.25 oz. or 64 g 56 mL (4 tbsp)
Large (L) Greater than 2 oz. or 57 g 46 mL (3.25 tbsp)
Medium (M) Greater than 1.75 oz. or 50 g 43 mL (3 tbsp)
Small (S) Greater than 1.5 oz. or 43 g
Peewee Greater than 1.25 oz. or 35 g

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

yep 2.2

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

This is starting to make sense now. And please don't think of this as a lame attempt to refute an obviously well calibrated scale or weight chart. Remember, dad is 88 years old with a waning memory. Perhaps the dot goes between the 22 like this ... 2.2

In any event ... I just went to the frig and took this photo. "Net" means maximum weight. 24 ounces divided by 12 = 2 ounces each (average). But whether different cartons for "large" eggs have different net amounts on them I don't know. The next time one of us is at the grocery store we'll have to check. Lol ... I don't plan on going until tomorrow, but will check then if no one else does first.

I'm glad we are all in agreement and on the same page here.

Thanks,

Bob

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Additionally ...

One can't help but wonder (more research) if the U.S. Food & Drug people changed things over the years? If I'm reading the leveling box scale correctly it indicates that an average dozen of large eggs could weigh anywhere between 24 and 27 ounces. And yet as seen on my carton photo it clearly indicates a maximum weight of 24 ounces. (Which is the weight max for medium eggs ... right?) And by maximum they mean contents only and not the packaging. With some of the eggs possibly weighing more, and some less. So I wonder exactly how all of this translates into plain English? Did a dozen large eggs use to weigh more years ago, but with the times got changed? Hmmm ... I'm befuddled now! And don't even ask about "Double-Yolker's" That'll really drive you crazy!

Don't ya just love it? Lol

Egghead Bob

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

It appears the eggs have gotten smaller, Egghead. Anyone have a carton of Extra Large?

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Big Cy ~

I bet you wish you had left me outta this! You know I'm a trouble maker from way back!

Anyway ... please bare with me on this one as it's a little difficult to explain. A typical poultry ranch (which is different than an egg ranch) would produce fertilized eggs and sell them by the truck loads to the hatcheries. The hatcheries would do the incubation and, of course, the hatching. Okay fine. But let's back up for a minute ... To insure the hatchery got it's money's worth, most poultrymen would include additional eggs because it was common for some eggs not to hatch, (dead chicks inside). And for anyone (poultrymen or hatcher) to determine the status of a chick inside, whether it was fertilized, dead, or whatever, they would "candle" the eggs; which at one point was a literal candle, and later on they started using candling "lights." So irregardless which candling device was used they could immediately tell if the egg was fertile, plus the growth status of the chick. (Dad recalls candling eggs by the "thousands!")

Bottom line ... No one along the line would need a scale of any kind to determine if an egg contained a chick. And while I'm on the subject, a "pullet" is a female chick that offically becomes a "hen" once she starts laying again to produce ... 1. More fertilized eggs. Or ... 2. Eating eggs.

And where does the rooster fit into all of this? If you don't know the answer to that one then I recommend we go back to page one and start all over again.

Please note; I'm not trying to be a wise guy, nor upset the flow of this thread. And hopefully you are getting as big a kick out of this as I am. Plus, I would say the item in question has been fully identified right from the get-go.

So the question still remains ... What's the story on the conflicting weights for various sizes of a dozen eggs? Dad doesn't have the answer and neither do I. I think I will run down to the grocery store with my camera and see what I can find. I just hope the "eggman" in the store doesn't think I'm weird.

Respectfully,

Bob

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Eggs (But Were Afraid to Ask)

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Okey dokey ... I got this thing figured out ... (I think). I actually went to a major grocery store (Albertson's) and talked with the assistant poultry/egg guy. I even took about a dozen photos, but they shouldn't be necessary to present my findings. To my surprise I discovered they no longer package a "small" egg. The current cartons are labeled as follows ... Medium - Large - Extra Large - and "Jumbo." So it appears somewhere along the line they just changed the description. Take another look at the leveling scale (box type) and you will notice there is no Jumbo. So all it amounts to is that nowadays ...

The old Extra Large is now called a Jumbo
The old Large is now called an Extra Large
The old Medium is now called a Large
The old Small is now called a Medium
No Small!

Otherwise the weights and everything else coordinate to newer size descriptions. In other words ... The new Jumbos weigh what the old Extra Large's used to. Example : A dozen Jumbo's now have a net weight of 30 ounces. With the other sizes following suit, so on and so forth.

I hope this makes sense, and if necessary will gladly post my photos upon request. But I would rather not have to do that and mess up this thread any more than I already have.

It's been fun while it lasted. And my apologies again if I've stepped on anyone's toes. That was not my intent.

Thanks again,

SODABOTTLEBOB ANDDAD

Ok heck ... a couple of photos couldn't hurt ...