The Standardization of Automobiles

There were no standardized measurements of automobile parts in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The first autos were largely hand-built, and interchangeability of parts difficult. This changed with an historical achievement in 1908. C. S. Bennett, the London importer for Cadillac, brought three single-cylinder Cadillacs to the Brooklands Racetrack near London. The cars were completely dismantled and the parts scrambled. The cars were then reassembled and run on the Brooklands track. This was done under the supervision of the Royal Automobile Club. Bennett introduced the concept of precision manufacturing and interchangeability of parts to the automobile industry.

Production lines used by Ford and later manufacturers would have been impossible without this concept. Most engine parts, for example, are made with a tolerance of one thousandth of an inch or less.

Tape Measures

Even now a tailor called me to his shop And therewithal took measure of my body.

Comedy of Errors, Shakespeare

How would this measure have been taken? In Shakespeare's time wealthier households possessed their own carefully marked measuring stick, or meteyard. It was often handed down through successive generations. Housewives buying ribbons, laces or fabrics from itinerant salesmen used the measuring stick to make sure they were not being cheated.

For her needlework, the housewife used the stick to make marks on a length of ribbon or tape. When the ribbon became worn or frayed, a new length was marked off, not from the old ribbon, but from the wooden stick. In this way the modern use of the word yardstick is derived, denoting a gauge by which value may be assessed.

On early ribbon measure, figures were seldom used. Long and short lines represented feet and inches and were marked with ink or embroidery. Some measures were marked N, HQ, Q, H, and Y, standing for nail, half quarter, quarter, half, and yard. A nail was 2 1/4 inches and was in use to the mid-19th century, mainly for measuring cloth. The metric system came into use in 1799 in Europe, but the yard had been a standard measurement of length ever since King Henry I of England (1100-1135) decided that it should the length of his arm!

As early as the 17th century, measures were housed in decorative cases of wood, ivory, brass and bone, and could be wound in with a handle. Later models used a spring mechanism for the re-winding. In the early 20th century measures were often uncased, yellow strips of tape, the first foot of which was stretched over stiff whalebone or steel, combining the functions of flexible tape and rigid ruler.

With the spread of numerary and calculating abilities among working and middle class women, accurately marked measuring tapes, yardsticks, hem markers, stitch gauges, pattern boards and the like became common products of the late 19th century.

Fabric Measurements

The width of a fabric controls how a dress pattern is laid out and affects what LENGTH must be purchased.

The thread count is the sum of two measurements: the number of yarns per inch horizontally plus the number of yarns per inch vertically. Bed linen descriptions often give the thread count l80 for everyday sheets and up to 300 for luxury sheets.

The weight of a fabric determines, to a considerable extent, how it feels, its appearance and its comfort. Many clothing catalogs give some information on weight:

Men's seersucker pants "the cotton fabric is a breezy 3.5 oz. weight."

"This skirt features 6.7 oz. combed cotton twill."

Jeans made with "sturdy 13.5 oz. denim."

. . .All useful information for a savvy consumer.

Yarn size information is given by at least one clothing catalog:

A man's cotton shirt "made with 50s single ply yarns."

Yarn sizing is complicated. For cotton, the weight in pounds of a standard 850-yard skein is measured and then the number of skeins that would weigh one pound is calculated. Numbers range from 1s (very heavy) through 30s (medium) to 160s (very fine).

The denier is used for measuring silk and man-made fibers. It is equal to the weight in grams of 9000 meters of yarn and so increases with the coarseness of the yarn. Some hosiery has the denier number printed on the label. Warm tights, for example, might be 125 denier, while sheer stockings might be 15 denier.