Jiffy Way Egg Scales
Jiffy Way was originally in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company produced egg scales in the late 1930s, claiming to use the Jiffy Way name since 1937. The label said “Patent pending” after filing for what became US Patent 2,205,917 (filed Apr. 8, 1938; issued June 25, 1940).
After a few years, it called itself the world’s largest egg scale manufacturer. Early models showed no maker’s address (image below, left), while later models have labels showing the city of manufacture. Known examples with the city-label show "T.M. Reg. Pat. Off." and the trademark was registered Feb. 27, 1945 (image below, right).
In 1948 the company and machinery were sold to C. C. Jolly Co., Owatonna, Minn. (below, left) Jolly advertised it sold a million scales a year. In the late 1990s, the patent and machinery were sold to Kuhl Corporation in New Jersey. (below, right) Production continued until about 2008 when the dies could no longer be maintained. Kuhl now sells the "Jiffy-III" in blue, which is produced by a third party.
The original counterweight was a cavity of two pieces of pressed metal that had weight added until it was balanced. About 1953, the counterweight was changed to a steel cylinder on a threaded rod that could be adjusted to set the scale at the first egg weight.
Jiffy Way produced scales for Brower, Cyclone, Dekalb Chix (below, left), David Bradley (below, right) and Farm Master brands for Sears & Roebuck Co., Purina, Val-A Co., and others.
There is evidence that Jiffy Way existed since the early 1930s. Please use Contact Us if you have more company history.
A detailed history is available from Charley Amsbaugh, North American Egg Scales from ABC to Zenith, ECKO House Publishing, 2011, scales 28–33.
Also see: Robert Jibben, “Jiffy-Way Egg Scale,” Equilibrium, Issue No. 4, 1998, pp. 2295-2299. (CLICK HERE to read this article posted by the Newman Numismatic Portal on the Internet Archive website. It opens in a new window.)