Neat find out of a home. This is a vintage & collectible advertising ruler for the Chicago Daily News Newspaper. This dates to 1949, showing monthly calendars for that year on the back side. The front side shows measurements both in inches and agates (for sizing newspaper ads), up to 6 inches or 80 agates.

Copy on front side states, "To Get The Best and Most Complete House and Family Coverage Use CHICAGO DAILY NEWS WANT ADS, Chicago's Most Widely Read List of Offerings. The phone number, presumably for the Want Ad or Classifieds Department, is shown on each side of the copy as a 7 digit number, DE 2-1111. From some internet research, area codes trace back to 1947 and were first used by long distance operators between toll offices, with the first customer-dialed direct call using area codes in 1951, so the lack of showing an area code in the phone number supports the 1949 age. Also, for perspective, the last issue of the Chicago Daily News was distributed in March 1978.

While this ruler provides measurement for 6 inches it is slightly longer than that, measuring 6 1/4 inches from outer edge to opposite outer edge, with a vertical/width of 7/8 inch. We don't know what metal this is made of, but a magnet does not stick to this (so it isn't made of steel, perhaps tin or aluminum, we don't know). The metal is about 1/32 inch in depth so this is a thin, light ruler, weighing about a quarter of an ounce unpacked (we will ship this encased in cardboard to help prevent bending, then placed in a small padded envelope).

We've provided 8 images to show both sides as well as all detail on the ruler, some shown in sections. This is the expected light to light medium silver color in person, with all markings and decor in black print. As made, when you look very closely you can see the metal surface has an all-over thin wavy line decor as background under the black print (these are thin silver gray wavy lines, differing just slightly from the base silver gray color). Given the overall silver look, it was hard to photograph due to light reflection from the camera off the smooth surface. Please use the zoom feature to examine closely.

Very nice vintage used condition but shows age & wear and is not mint looking. Everything is still fully readable, but we expect someone did use this, or they just kept it in a drawer where it experienced wear knocking into other items. Both the top and bottom surfaces show a good bit of lines, scrapes, dots (both dark and red dots, perhaps this was used with a red marker or red ink or kept near one), rubbed wear and other general surface wear, definitely having an aged/used look, but not unexpected for a vintage piece (not all of this is visible in the images due to some of this being somewhat light and the camera lighting "blanding it out"). It is not tarnished, just exhibits wear. When looked at from the side, this piece shows very slight waving/bending, nothing severe but it is not totally flat or straight as it was made (you don't notice this when it is lying on a table). In some spots it looks like some of the thin silver wavy background lines may also have been worn or worn away (this is most noticeable on the back side of the ruler). There are no chips or cracks.

A nice addition to any collectible advertising ruler grouping or a collection related to newspapers in general, the Chicago Daily News in specific, or one related to Chicago, Illinois overall.