Description

The Weston Electrical Instrument Company was founded in 1888 by Edward Weston in Newark, New Jersey. Before founding the company, Edward Weston developed a saturated cadmium cell, a battery that produced a voltage stable enough to be used as a calibration standard for voltmeters. His eponymous company later went on to sell these standard cells, as well as portable test equipment. They were the first to develop accurate portable direct reading voltmeters and ammeters, and the first portable light meter.

The MIT Museum frequently receives offers of donations of Weston Electrical instruments. Since the Museum already has a large collection, only items with an explicit MIT connection are taken under consideration for new accessions. Other institutions that collect these instruments include the Weston Museum in the libraries of the New Jersey Institute of Technology (https://library.njit.edu/archives/weston/museum/index.php) and the Westinghouse collections at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh (www.heinzhistorycenter.org).