Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Template, Drafting |
Object Number |
2020.033.054 |
Description |
Drafting Template Thin green plastic drafting template with various sized arrow-shaped and road sign-shaped cutouts; template is rectangular with rounded corners; compass rose cutout with the four cardinal directions and four intercardinal direction located in the top centre of the template; black printed text located below the compass rose reads: "Berol RapiDesign/ R-53 ARROWS;" raised thin rectangles on the backside of the template. |
Provenance |
Drafting template used by employees at the Fraser Valley Regional District [FVRD]. This drafting template is a type R-53, made by Berol - RapiDesign in the United States, to draw arrows, North indicators, and road-sign markers. Drafting templates are stencils that allow the user to draw specific symbols and shapes that are repeatedly used in a design. By tracing around the holes, the user can quickly and accurately draw the shape required, in this instance, arrows and road-sign markers. RapiDesign was patented on May 15, 1943, the company specialized in drafting instruments namely triangles, irregular curves, drafting guides, templates, and graduated scales (United States Patent Office, Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, Vol. 864, p.230). The American-based company Chartpak (1949 - present) acquired the RapiDesign brand in the 1980s (https://www.chartpak.net/tradition). It is unclear when the Berol - RapiDesign brand was established. The Fraser Valley Regional District (1995 - present) is a local government that delivers over 100 separate services to over 280,000 residents in the Fraser Valley. Services include: fire protection, sewer, water, storm drainage, building inspection, bylaw enforcement, planning, and zoning and development. Communities include eight unincorporated Electoral Areas as well as the municipalities of: Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Harrison Hot Springs, Hope, Kent, and Mission. The headquarters is based in Chilliwack at the intersection of Cheam Avenue and Young Road. Employees in the Engineering and the Planning and Development departments, particularly surveyors, drafters, and GIS technicians, likely used templates such as this arrow template in their work. |