Detecto Scales: Accuracy Since 1900

The Detecto Company was founded in 1900 by the Jacobs Brothers who had immigrated to New York. The three Jacobs brothers were previously butchers, so they began designing and building scales for butcher shops, bakeries, clinics, and stores. The brothers diversified their creations by making hanging models as well as floor and counter models. Cardinal Scales bought the company in 1981. Cardinal/Detecto Company is still located in Webb City Missouri.

Detecto brand scales are typically made to weigh objects under 5,000 pounds. Nearly everyone that has been to a doctor's office has stepped onto a Detecto scale. Nearly every time someone weighs a bunch of bananas at the produce section of their supermarket, they are likely using a Detecto scale. For years, Detecto has manufactured scales with a mechanical weighing system, but with time comes change. Today, Detecto's biggest sellers are their digital scales. More accurate and dependable than mechanical scales, digital weighing systems are also quicker and much easier to use.

Utilitarian in their use but beautiful in their design, vintage Detecto brand scales are now a popular collector's item. There are many restorers available that restore a detecto scale to it's former glory. Many of the larger scale models are particularly valuable on today's antique market.

Today's Detecto brand scales are much more accurate than their predecessors. Most hospitals and clinics use Detecto brand scales due to their accuracy and range of options. In a typical triage room, one will usually find a pedestal scale on which the patient stands and their weight is recorded. To assist wheelchair bound patients, there are in-floor models which are actually built into the floor of the facility. Also available are portable wheelchair scales onto which the patient is rolled and weighed. This model can be relocated easily by folding the platform up and rolling it to where it needs to go.

Of course, Detecto still manufactures the old stand-by scales such as their hanging produce scales, butcher's scales, as well as counter top models. With the addition of computer technology, Detecto brand scales are also used to compute the price of meats and produce easily and without much effort from the user. While most of today's Detecto brand scales have been digitized, Detecto continues to manufactures mechanical scales as they have done since the company began in 1900. Still popular in households and businesses around the world, Detecto will continue to build a scale for every use imaginable.