Meter (Measuring device)
circa 1882
To make money selling electricity, Thomas Edison had to know how much his customers used. This meter used electricity to plate zinc onto electrodes. By weighing the electrodes to see how much zinc had accumulated, Edison's company could calculate how much electricity was being used. This is one of the earliest surviving electrical meters. It was part of Edison's pioneering September 1882 Pearl street system.
29.1980.275
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of the Edison Pioneers.
Not on exhibit to the public.
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