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As far back as 5000 years ago, there is evidence that humans and civilizations had developed standard systems of measurements. It is very likely that even further back in history groups or tribes of humans had devised ways to measure distances, volumes, time, and weights. Most historians recognize the development of an organized system of measurements as an important tool in the development of a civilization. Even primitive societies needed simple measures for many tasks. Measurements were critical for constructing dwellings of an appropriate size and shape, making clothing, or bartering (trading) food and/or raw materials.
Businesses and merchants, going back thousands of years, needed a system of measurement to exchange goods. Carpenters and builders even in ancient times would need an accurate set of measurements to construct something as simple as a table or as complex as the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. Going back in history, we notice that most civilizations developed their own set of measurements. One can read ancient writings and find evidence of these older systems. In modern day India and Pakistan, the Indus Valley Civilization developed a system of measures and weights that dates back to 3000 BC. Early writings and documents from Egypt and Babylon (southern Iraq) show evidence of a system of measurement based on the human body. In the Bible, there are several references to weights, distances, and volume scattered through out the Old Testament. There is evidence from the Americas that the Aztecs in Mexico had a measurement system to determine distances and area to divide fertile land into assigned plots for farmers.
Hopefully, the last paragraph hammered home that measurements have been around a long time. As time went by people from different areas started to travel and trade with each other. This created a need to standardize measurements. The problem was that a trader from Egypt might measure out a length of cloth in one unit of distance but another merchant from Babylonia would most likely use a different measurement. Over the past 1000 years, different groups have tried to standardize measurements so they won’t change over time. People have also tried to develop a common system of measurement. Our Metric (and the International “SI”) system is the result of over 200 years of work to develop one common measurement system.
Despite the fact that we now have a universal system of measurement around the world, some of the old units still are used in specialized settings for various reasons. The following sections will highlight a few of those measurements, how they were developed and why they still are used.
Volume
Liquids like alcohol, water, and petroleum all have been measured, in some cases, for hundreds of years. They even have their own unique systems of measurements. Cooking in the United States has retained a traditional system of measures. Measures like a teaspoon, a tablespoon, a cup, a pint, and a quart are commonly found in recipes and on the packaging of most food and ingredients. These measures were developed independently of the metric system so there are not any easy conversions.
The gallon is the basis of most liquid volume measurements in cooking in the US. A gallon equals 3.785 liters. 128 fluid ounces (fl ozs) is equal to 1 gallon. Most can or bottled liquids smaller than a gallon will list the contents in fluid ounces along with the metric counterpart, milliliters. One fluid ounce is equal to 29.575 mL. For smaller amounts the traditional system starts with a teaspoon which is equivalent to 4.929 mL. A tablespoon is equal to three teaspoons. For extremely small amounts cooks may use terms like "a dash", "a pinch", or "a smidgen". A dash is equal to 0.125 teaspoons (1/8 teaspoons). A pinch is equal to 0.0625 teaspoons (1/16 teaspoons). And finally, a smidgen is equal to 0.03125 teaspoons (1/32 teaspoons). For slightly larger volumes, a cup, a pint, or quart is used. A quart is equal to 32 fl oz or 964.35 mL. Four quarts is equal to a gallon. A pint is equal to 16 fluid ounces and it takes 8 pints to equal a gallon. Finally, a cup equals 0.5 pints or 8 fluid ounces. It would take 16 cups to equal a gallon.
If those measurements aren’t confusing enough, distillers of alcoholic beverages and brewers developed their own set of measures. These too are based on the gallon. Brewers were able to produce large amounts of their beverage and they were shipped in oak barrels.
Hogshead barrel (left) next to a bourbon barrel (right)
Today, vineyards and breweries often measure their production in barrels. One standard barrel in the United States holds 31.0 gallons of liquid. Brewers of beer nowadays no longer use oaken barrels to ship their product; they use kegs which are smaller. A half-barrel keg holds 15.5 gallons and a quarter-barrel keg equals 7.25 gallons. For even larger amounts a unit called a hogshead was used. This typically was a large cask that held 69 gallons of liquid. A bourbon barrel, typically used to age spirits like whiskey, rum, brandy, or bourbon typically only holds 53 gallons.
Alcoholic spirits (hard liquor) are often dispensed and sold in much smaller amounts due to their higher alcoholic content. Typically a fifth of liquor is equivalent to a large bottle. One fifth of liquid is equal to 0.20 gallon (a fifth of a gallon) or 757.08 mL. Bartenders selling individual drinks developed standard measures also. Measures like a shot, a jigger, and a dram are commonly used. Shot glasses that are calibrated will measure out 1 fluid ounces or 29.6 mL. A jigger equals 1.50 fluid ounces.
Volumes are also used to measure dry volumes like grains, seeds, firewood, and lumber. For fruits and seeds, farmers often measure their fruits in terms of bushels. A bushel is meant to approximate the size of crate that fruits would be shipped in. As with many other measurements, a US and UK bushel are slightly different. The US bushel equals 35.239 liters. Trees are often measured in how many “board feet” of lumber are obtained from it. A board foot is a piece of wood that would be 12 inches in length, 12 inches wide, and 1inch thick. This equals 144 cubic inches or 2.36 L. A cord is a term used to measure firewood. It typically measures a stack of wood that is 4 feet wide, 8 feet long, and 4 feet tall. This would equal a volume of 3,624.55 L. Now because firewood does not stack perfectly this is an approximation. In fact, in Maryland the law states when measuring the stack should be “tight enough so that a chipmunk could not run through the stack”.
Distance or Length
The system for measuring length in the United States customary system is based on the inch, foot, yard, and mile, which are the only four customary length measurements in everyday use. However, there are additional unit that were historically used by surveyors. This system is called the U.S. Survey Measure. Besides inches, foot, yard, and mile this set of measures uses measures like links, rods, and chains. Much of land in west of the original 13 colonies in United States was surveyed using this system of measurement. The original survey notes often are filled with references to distances in rods or chains. Today, canoeists who portage canoes from lake to lake in places like the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota still encounter these measurements when looking at maps of the area. In this system 1 link equals 0.66 feet. One rod equals 25.0 links. Finally, one chain would equal 4.0 rods.
Body parts (like the foot) also historically have been used. Horse breeders use “hands” as a unit of measurement. One hand would equal 10.16 cm. Typically this distance was the distance across the hand when all the fingers lay side-by-side. A cubit in the Bible was typically the length of the forearm (from the elbow to the wrist). One cubit equaled 428.2 mm. But this was hardly set in stone, as many other groups like the Greeks, Persians, Romans, and Egyptians around that time also had measurements called “cubits” that had different measurements.
For ships sailing the oceans, different units of measurement have been used. Often to measure depths of a lake or ocean, sailors would drop a rope into the water and measure the depth in fathoms. A fathom would equal the lengths of rope a that a person can extend from open arm to open arm, which officially is said to be 6 feet or 1.8288 meters. Related to this measurement was a cable length, which equals 100 fathoms and was equal to a ship’s cable. A nautical mile (which is not 5280 feet long) is equal to 10 cable lengths and equates to 1.1508 miles.
Calculating distances in outer space require extremely large distances. The parsec unit was likely first suggested in 1913 by the British astronomer Herbert Hall Turner. Named from an abbreviation of the parallax of one arc second, it was defined so as to make calculations of astronomical distances quick and easy for astronomers from only their raw observational data. Partly for this reason, it is still the unit preferred in astronomy and astrophysics, though the light year remains prominent in popular science texts and everyday usage. 1 parsec equals 19.2 trillion miles (19,200,000,000,000)
Aztec culture in central Mexico also developed units of distance to measure. Archeologists that study the Aztecs have found various hieroglyphs and writings that reference a unit called the tlalcuahuitl. There is strong evidence that the tlalcuahuitl (translated roughly to "land rod" in English) and other related distanced units were used to determine the area of field that Aztec farmers grew crops in. Based on the area of the plot Aztec farmers were taxed accordingly. A Tlalcuahuitl (pronounced ta-kwawit) is known to measure approximately 2.5 meters in length.
Mass
In the United States the Metric system of grams, milligrams, and kilograms is the preferred system of units. Most people in the United States still refer to weights in pounds (lbs), and ounces. This is known as the Avoirdupois system. One pound equals 0.454 kilograms.
Unless, that is, they are referring to an ounce of gold, silver, platinum, gemstones or gunpowder. In that case chances are, they are referring to a Troy Ounce. The two ounces are not the same! The prices of Gold, Silver and Platinum we hear quoted in the commodities markets, are for Troy Ounces. However, not everyone knows the difference; and if you are buying precious metals you really need to be sure which type of ounce you are getting - because a Troy Ounce is over 9.7% heavier than an Avoirdupois Ounce!
One (Avoirdupois) Ounce is exactly 28.349523125 grams - or 437.5 grains. You still sometimes see weights of silver bullion bars denoted in grains. (Grains are also still used in the USA in weights of certain armaments - for example, gunpowder, arrows and fencing foils.) One grain equals .064 grams.
For larger weights, the ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. Its original use as a measurement of volume, but the unit more often is used to describe mass. In the United States, a ton is defined to be 2,000 pounds or 907 kilograms.
An old discarded system of measurement for smaller masses used stones and quarters. This system used rocks of specific masses as weights to measure out specific amounts. Versions of this system prevailed around Europe. A stone in England was said to equal 14.0 kilograms and a quarter equaled 28.0 kilograms. This system had slight variations depending on which country or city in Europe you went to. Scotland’s stone and quarter were slightly heavier than England’s version. The Dutch in Amsterdam used a “stone” that was only about half the mass of England’s. As soon as the metric system was agreed upon, this spelled the end for the use of the stone as a unit of measurement.
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