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A couple of weeks ago my post was about industrial art and featured a water meter box cover. That photograph had been taken in Charleston, South Carolina (USA).<\/strong><\/p>\n This week\u2019s art challenge image is a photograph of a different water meter box cover, also taken in Charleston, South Carolina.\u00a0 As I said in my earlier post I will be processing multiple photographs of different utility covers in the next few weeks.<\/strong><\/p>\n The photograph of the first box cover that I processed was in a rectangular format and the box cover was an oval.\u00a0 This week\u2019s box cover is circular and the photograph was cropped as a square image.\u00a0 Both water meter box covers were manufactured by the Ford Meter Box Company in Wabash, Indiana (USA).<\/strong><\/p>\n The Ford Meter Box Company, a family owned manufacturer, has been in business since 1898. Edwin Ford, who was a water system superintendent, designed and built the first underground meter box in his basement. His invention solved the problem of installing water meters where homes did not have basements. The meter box could be put in a pit to protect it from freezing during the cold winters in Indiana.<\/strong><\/p>\n Throughout the decades the Ford Meter Box Company continued to design and build products for the waterworks industry.\u00a0 Their products can be found internationally as well as domestically.<\/strong><\/p>\n Fun fact found on the company\u2019s website: \u00a0In 1921 Edwin Ford visited New Orleans, Louisiana on a sales trip.\u00a0 The design for the lid to cover the Ford\u00ae Crescent Box was made from a quick drawing made on a borrowed drawing table at the New Orleans water department.<\/strong><\/p>\n