Hunter, John William (1866?-?), an African American inventor, created an improved portable scale . Storekeepers could use his invention to weigh goods for customers. Hunter lived at a time when the activities and achievements of African Americans were largely disregarded. As a result, little is known about his life. The United States Patent Office awarded him a patent for his scale in 1896.
By the 1800’s, spring scales had become common in grocery stores and other businesses. At the time, many food items were sold loose. Rather than purchasing goods in standardized packages, customers needed to ask grocers for a particular weight of an item—for example, a pound or kilogram of flour. Hunter’s scale was designed especially for shopkeepers. It included a built-in scoop. Storekeepers could use the scoop to measure out a specific amount of flour, sugar, grain, or other loose material. In place of a scoop, a flat pan could be fitted to the scale to weigh out cheese, butter, or similar solid items.
The patent documentation is among the few surviving records of Hunter’s life. Census records indicate that he was born in Alabama around 1866 and moved to Iowa around 1894, where he worked as a shoemaker.
