The Dating Game: Patent Search

Instructions: Patent numbers can help you estimate what year an object was manufactured. Keep in mind that the same patent can be used for many years, so the patent date(s) actually give you the EARLIEST date an object was likely to have been made. Try to determine the manufacturing date of the Steam-o-Matic iron shown here. The patent numbers on it are listed below the picture. Use the Internet to conduct a search for patent number charts, then use the charts you find to date the iron.

Steam-o-Matic Iron

Object Information
U.S. Patents:
2,178,512
2,279,179
2,338,739
other patents pending

Watts: 1000
A.C. Current
VOLTS 120
Serial No.: 610973
Model No.: B-300
MFD. By Waverly Products Inc.
Sandusky, Ohio
Bridgeport, Conn.