I picked this up at a sale yesterday. A sweet little wooden Lufkin rule, marked in civil engineer's increments - 16ths and 10ths of an inch. Flipping it over revealed a confusing message.
I don't know how common A. Lietz surveying instruments are in other parts of the U.S. - the company was based in San Francisco from its founding in the late 19th century until 1965, when it moved to Kansas City, Missouri. At least around here, they get lots of respect; I've kicked myself more than once for passing on a Lietz transit, even though I don't really do enough such work to justify it. I was a bit puzzled: Lietz made (and its successor company makes) tapes, so why Lufkin? I speculate that, at one time, Lietz wasn't making its own tapes or rules, and had a marketing deal with Lufkin, with this being one of the advertising giveaways.
Giveaway it may have been, but the fractional increments, at least, measure accurately against my machinist's rule.
