Vintage GAEBEL 612-G Typographic Ruler with mm, inches, 6 & 12 pt, and agate

This 1960s professional-grade ruler, sometimes called a ‘pica pole’ or ‘line gauge’, was designed to help typographers in the printing and graphic art businesses with the design and layout of publications, especially newspapers. 
 
It features millimeters and inches on one side, and 6&12 point font lines as well as agate measurements on the other side. Agate refers to a specific typographical unit of measurement, approximately 1/14th of an inch, used to measure the size and depth of advertising space and, for stock tables or sports scores, a single line of smaller type font, one column wide. The ruler also has a hole to allow the user to hang it when not in use.
 
This Gaebel was made in New York, first introduced in the 1960s. We do not know when our mother would have bought this for her work, but it has since been discontinued due to advent of new technology. Made of stainless steel, it is in very good condition.
 
L 25 1/2” x W 1 1/8”
 
Disclaimer: We have tried to make sure colors shown in photos are representative of the real colors of each item. We have tried to identify all imperfections in descriptions, but we may have missed some. If you are unhappy with your purchase, let us know.