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Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

-0001

1937

  • Work on this object began.

2014

2025

  • You found it!

Sketch For "Cork Or Stopper To Measure Pills From Bottle" (USA)

This is a Sketch for "Cork or Stopper to Measure Pills from Bottle". It was made by Earl Silas Tupper. It is dated September 10, 1937. Its medium is ink on paper.

Earl Tupper is best known for his “Tupperware,” its airtight “Tupper Seal” (US Patent 2,816,589, granted December 17, 1957) for food containers giving rise to an entire industry. But many of his earliest designs—like this “Cork or Stopper to Measure Pills from Bottle”—reflect the flexibility of his ingenuity. Tupper’s ideas, visualized in an invention notebook, are clearly laid out, demonstrating Tupper’s attention to detail: “Bottle of pills with stopper in place ready for pills to roll into hole,” he wrote. “When pill is in hole, withdraw stopper far enough to hold it, then tip bottle right side up and pull stopper clean out and deposit pill in hand. Stopper with hole to receive pill.”

It is credited Earl S. Tupper Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, 1992.3213.

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Its dimensions are

H x W (drawing): 27.8 x 21.5 cm (10 15/16 x 8 7/16 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Tools: Extending Our Reach.

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<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/51682557/ |title=Sketch For "Cork Or Stopper To Measure Pills From Bottle" (USA) |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=13 March 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>