C.O.C.A. Times

Some of the "Pioneer" scales had a
indicator knob on the front of the scale,
which allowed the patrons to guess their
weight (photo 4). A button on top of the
scale head was used to engage the coin.
This scale had the money-back feature
which was powered by batteries to operate
the coin return. Some early money-back
Watling scales also had a large battery to
power the "free" weight mechanism.
Photo 5
We would like to thank Jeff Storck and Bill
& Jan Berning for their invaluable input.
HAPPY SCALE COLLECTING!
The above scales are other "Pioneer" models made
by Bill Watling and distributed by Tom Watling,
known as the "Old Man" . The scales were made by
the PIONEER SPRINGLESS SCALE CO. located in
Chicago. Shown in (photo 5) are other variant mod-
els only 50 inches in height. Two of the models have
a small three paneled aluminum mirrored marquee.
They have no free weight indicator strip but instead
have a metal strip saying "HOW MUCH DO YOU
WEIGH?" They all have black porcelain footplates.
The "Pioneer" scale was used for a very short pe-
riod of time making it somewhat scarce. The scale is
very similar to the Watling "Tom Thumb" scale which
1s more common.
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