antique Chesterman 100 foot cloth tape measure in leather case, brass hand crank winding reel

Chesteman Sheffield England 100 foot tape measure, 1880s vintage. This is the longest Chesterman measure I've ever seen, most are much shorter.

The first two feet of the 100 foot length are worn away or so ragged as to be nearly so. I unwound this completely, and it doesn't look as though anything beyond the 50 foot mark was ever used before.

It winds back up with the brass hand crank, works smoothly and well. The leather case shows scuffing as you'd expect, but nothing that detracts from it's very cool steampunk style. This I think is more of the sort of measure that a mad scientist would carry than the ones you'd think that a builder or cabinet maker would choose!