T h e A u t o m a t ic A g e
39
T H O U S A N D S OF MODELS OF IN V E N
TIO NS JAM P A TE N T OFFICE
SOME A R E H IS T O R Y M AKIN G
Models o f history-making inven
tions dating back to the time o f
Abraham Lincoln and even to the
early days o f the republic, along with
thousands o f others o f every type and
description, must be disposed o f
before
very long,
according to
an announcement today from Com
missioner o f Patents Robertson of
the Commerce Department. Those
considered o f historical or other value
will be selected and preserved. The
others unless applied fo r by some one
may be destroyed or sold, as author
ized by a recent act o f Congress.
From the first days o f the Patent
Office up to 1880 the law required
that all applicants fo r patents must
submit a model o f the invention with
the application. As a result the
Patent Office acquired over 155,000
models, including such outstanding
inventions as the Bell telephone, the
Howe Sewing Machine, Abraham
Lincoln’s device fo r lifting vessels
over shoals in the Mississippi and
many others. It has cost the Gov
ernment over $200,000 to take care o f
this collection since 1884, Commis
sioner Robertson estimates.
An act o f Congress approved Feb
ruary 13, 1925, provided a commission
“ to select such o f the Patent Office
models and exhibition exhibits as may
be deemed to be o f value and o f his
torical interest ’ * * and cause
the remainder o f said models and ex
hibits to be disposed o f by public
auction, gift to Federal, State, or pri
vate museums or institutions, or re
turned without expense to the Gov
ernment to the original depositors or
their representatives, where demanded
in writing by them.”
The Commission composed o f Com
missioner o f Patents Robertson, Dr.
W alcott, Director o f the Smithsonian
Institution, and Wm. G. Henderson,
© International Arcade Museum
Esq., Patent Lawyer o f Washington,
I). C., has given notice to all Federal,
State or private museums or institu
tions, and to all other parties entitled
to receive any o f the models or ex
hibits under the act o f Congress, that
claim thereto must be made in writ
ing to the commission on or before
July 15, 1925; otherwise may be sold
or destroyed, as authorized by the
act.
Claims and applications should be
addressed to the Patent Office, W ash
ington, D. C. Commissioner Robei’t-
son urges that intei'ested parties make
application at the earliest possible
time.
The First Subscriber
The first
subscriber to
THE
A U T O M A T IC AGE was W alter J.
Kennedy, 50 Broad St., New York,
Mr. Kennedy is head o f the Invest
ment Securities Company, brokers in
stocks and bonds, who has taken
especial interest in the vending ma
chine business.
A Dice Machine
A dandy machine for penny arcades
is a dice machine put out by the
Keystone Novelty Company.
The
total figures on the face o f the dice
pay out given premiums. It operates
with either a penny, nickel or dime.
The player turns a knob on the side
to shake the dice which are enclosed
in an attractive glass case.
The Bermudas may be said to be a
land o f perpetual springtime, fo r
their monthly temperatures average
between 62 deg. and 79 deg. F.
Two thousand plains buffalo have
been liberated by the Canadian Gov-
ei-nment in the Great Slave Lake
country to roam at will.
http://www.arcade-museum.com/