Yes I remember that machine, but I don't know what it was called. It was an accurate way to measure, and ripping the fabric was a straight and accurate way to separate it from the bolt. Aaaah the good old days!

About a million years ago, I worked at House of Fabrics in So. Calif. We used those gizmos and ripped the fabric after it was notched. Fabric was 36" wide and most of it was under $1.00 a yd. That was in the late 60's to early 70's. Like I said, a million years ago(lol).

I remember the machine that measured fabric - it was very accurate, not like today when they measurewith a yeard stick on the table and everyone starts at a diffferent point.

I worked at So-Fro here in Ft.Wayne, back in the earlier 70's and remember using it.

Donna: Thank you! This is exactly it. Thanks to all of you that walked down memory lane with me. It's no fun going there all by yourself!

Our Joanns uses an updated version of this in the upholstery department. Brings back memories of when I was a kid!

Thanks, Donna...I remember the stores using these...I was in a couple of small town stores in the 90's and remember them still using these.

Yes, but wish I were too young to remember!

I too remember the good old days. When my mom bought fabric, it was usually at Woolworth's or JCPenneys, and they used them. I think I will suggest that they bring them back to Joann's. Always short. GGRRRRR

Boy this post brings back memories. I remember it well.

I remember that funny little machine-loved to watch the arrow spin around when my mom would yards and yards and yards of fabric-miss those machines.

The article said it weighted 12 pounds! Thanks for the memory.

I have no idea what it is called, but I remember seeing it being used.
Sally

I'm "only" 65 but I remember those machines; we had one in the local "Mercantile" store; that I guess was a lot like a Woolworth's.......too, I remember the ladies tearing the fabric and still love the sound of fabric being torn ! Years later we had a local shopping center with a real fabric store and they had the machines there also !

Too, at that time my foster mother made all my clothes on a little black Singer and that is the machine I learned to sew on. After her death the machine took missing and I always wished for it. A few months back I was at a yard sale in a rather upscale area of my little town and mentioned to homeowner that I really was looking for old sewing machines; she mentioned that she had her mother's old machine and would sell it to me for $25........I ran to my car to get money and she brought the machine out. LO AND BEHOLD IT WAS A SINGER FEATHERWEIGHT ! I quickly paid that woman the $25 and got the machine and as I was driving away I was crying......finally, I had my little Singer machine ! I love that little buddy like you wouldn't believe. It sews perfectly ! My biggest concern was that I had paid with a check and the seller then knew my address and I was afraid she'd show up for the machine back; one the check cleared I was ok !

I remember! I can't tell you how much fabric I saw my grandmother have cut for her like that.

Great memories!

I remember those. My aunt had one in the fabric dept of their general merchandise store. And I do remember the clerk tearing some fabrics and cutting some.

I remember..it was at the Roses 5 &10 store in our town...

OMG...I had forgotten about those, but after seeing it I remember now.....and I was just a kid too!!!! LOL

Yes I remember it but don't know if it had a name.

OMG!! I remember those too. Wow this thread really is a trip down memory lane.

I remember them as well, but no idea what they were called...

Have you let them know? They can't fix it if they don't know. I've found most retailers to be honest but staff don't always have their mind on the job these days.

I remember it at JC Penney.

Yep, I saw one in action about a year ago at our local Hancock's in the drapery dept! I don't know that they still have it though.

You'd think so but sometimes the fabric would get doubled up and the measurement would be off.

I bought off Ebay a few yrs ago. Nostalgia.

I remember those. I used those to measure fabric when I worked at So-Fro fabrics. They eventually got rid of them because they found that if you didn't pull the fabric at the right speed you either had to much or to little fabric especially with knit fabrics. Our store manger preferred that we didn't use them.

Yes I remember that, don't know why they ever quit using it. At least you were assured of accurate yardage and a straight cut.

I remember seeing them when I was really little. Guess they could be a collectible now-? :)

I remember that! Cloth World had one! Don't know what it was called though!

I remember those.

There used to be a lace & fabric place close to use. The man who ran the place had a lace measuring device - hooked the lace to it and with every turn of the handle 1 yard was measured out. At the end, he took the lace off and it was in big loops that were easy to handle.

Yes, ma'am I do. When I was a child I wanted to grow up and be able to use that tool. Our local department store had them and in the eyes of a child, it was a tool for the wise and professional sales clerk to use in her work to serve us, the customer. How disappointed I was to find that as a 30 year old with her dream job in a fabric store, that these gray exquisite tools of measurement no longer existed. Just a metal grove in a counter and a pair of scissors.

And yes, that 1940's and 1950's clerk pushed down the handle that made a little cut in the edge of the fabric that she then proceeded to rip. Ah, what a distinctive sound was made as she prepared the length of dry goods that had been requested. Her black, navy or brown dress that hid the strong arms of a quite farm maiden or hard scrabble city girl at work in the "posh" department store in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Thanks for the memory of my childhood in mid-America.

Oh, yeah! The good ole days..

Yes ! I sure do remember that machine. As I read through the description you posted above, I noticed it said that the price had been set at 25 cents per yard. :) Maybe that is why they went the way of the manual typewriter around the same time. I'll be it didn't have any figures as high as the prices now, around $10, more or less, per yard. A neat collectible!

T is a pricing/measurement chart in the machine. Chart number F10 is inserted. The chart starts with $.25 per yard.
I don't know the age of this or if t's a model number for it. T's not much information on the device itself.

Yup, W.T.Grant had that in their "department store". And I still have some fabric with the W.T.Grant label on it. 1956.

By the number of posts, there are many of us who have fond memories of the machine. I agree with the post from AprilG.

Remember the machine, not sure of the name. There is a store where I live that still uses one.

Sure I remember those. There are some quilt shops that I wish had one now :(

Yes I remember them even though I was not into sewing at the time. We sure can date ourselves with these kind of memories, but it is fun to remember some of these kind of things.

duckcall
 

Yes , I do remember. I was a child at the time. JC Penny's is the place. I am now 75.m wonder why it was eliminated?