Mainly clear. Low near 60F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph..

Mainly clear. Low near 60F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.

A ruler is an instrument that can measure distances or draw straight lines in printing, geometry, technical drawings, architectural plans and many other things. The metric system of measurement was invented in France for easier measuring instead of the English model. Most countries of the world had adopted the metric system by the end of the 18th century.

Rulers or yardsticks began to standardize measurements based on the human anatomy such as the foot, hand or cubit. By the 17th century, rulers were marked in inches and later fractional lengths in America. If workers were in the building trades, rulers or yardsticks were unhandy. Eventually, foldable rulers developed. They were folded in halves, thirds or quarters. Stanley tools made ones that folded in 15 places. They were made of wood, plastic or metal.

In later models, they included levels, inclinometers, squares or compasses. Framing squares and combination squares were usually marked in 16th inches for more accuracy. Lumbermen used “cruising sticks” to determine the board feet in uncut trees. “Board rulers” told the number of board feet in a board. Early lumber rulers were made of wood. Later models added a round or oval brass tab at one end and a handle on the other. Other specialized rulers included “patternmakers or shrinkage rulers” to determine shrinkage for foundry metal workers.

Calipers were calibrated to measure the thickness of rope and cable. Navigation rulers helped sailors and mapmakers. A parallel ruler is used to draw parallel lines. They were often made of ebony or blackened boxwood. They had a pair of metal hinges between them so that parallel lines could be drawn with accuracy.

William Bedwell (1561-1632) invented the modern ruler. He was a priest and scholar specializing in Arabic, oriental languages and mathematics. His ruler was meant for geometrical purposes like the Gunter’s scale. That scale was used by seamen and was two feet long and 1 1/2 inches wide. They were engraved with various scales or lines. Historians have found ancient rulers dating back to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks.

Modern rulers or measuring devices are produced by companies like Lufkin, Chapin-Stephens and Stanley. In the early days, they were made from boxwood or cherry while others were made from bone or ivory. They had hinges and fittings made of German coin silver or brass. Ivory rulers are the rarest and most expensive for collectors. Many of the ivory or bone ones have yellowed with age.

As a collector of many local Effingham County items, I discovered advertising yardsticks. Most of them are three or four feet long. Most have black printing on plain wood. Some are colored red, green, white or yellow. Most have the names of the businesses, along with the addresses and telephone numbers. Many of them in my collection list the businesses in Effingham County towns. Some used eye-catching fonts for the text. They older ones are one-quarter inches thick while the new ones are one eighth inch. There were even ones that were 5/16ths squares. Even today, they are useful measuring tools in homes and businesses. Black yardsticks are rare because printing on such dark surfaces was hard to read. Some of the black metal ones have white numbers and hash marks.

I have one novelty ruler from New Zealand that has one-half-inch square of all the native woods from New Zealand. Occasionally, I find a local meter stick which is 39.37 inches long. The French Academy of Science originated them in the 1790s after the French Revolution. It is 1/10 millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole along the meridian that runs through Paris, France. Jean Charles de Borda led the commission toward decimalization with measures that are multiples or divisions of 10. A platinum meter stick, which is the world standard, is housed at the Academy of Sciences in Paris, France.

U.S. Congress legalized the use of the metric system in 1866 on the basis that one meter is exactly equal to 39.37 inches. The “tumstock” (literally “thumbstick”, meaning “inch-stick”) was invented in 1883 by the Swedish engineer Karl-Hilmer. It was developed with the goal to help Sweden convert to the metric system. There are only three countries in the world that don’t use the metric system: America, Liberia and Myanmar.

Most of the yardsticks were considered giant-sized business cards. Some had catchy slogans like “We measure up to the competition,” “We go the extra foot for your business,” “Where the Greatest Number Buy Their Lumber.” Politicians like Roscoe Cunningham used them to campaign for various offices locally and statewide.

Some have interesting information on the backs. One from a real estate company in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago has an Encyclopedia Yardstick on the back to include speeds, distances, weights and measurements, lengths, cubic yard concrete, lineal feet in board feet lumber, S&S lumber “called” and “actual”, nail lengths, decimal equivalents, circles and miscellaneous. It was a quick reference for builders and contractors.

I have local yardsticks from Effingham: Baker’s Upholstery, W.S. Broom & Co. Furniture Bedding and Floor covering, Effingham County Health Dept., Samuel Music Company, Illinois Guarantee Savings Bank, Wenthe Bros. Building Center, Bob Stofer Olds-Cadillac, Loy Hardware, Murphy’s Variety Store, Effingham Equity, Wabash Independent Oil Company, Washington Savings and Loan, Kremer’s Propane-Gas-Appliances-TV, Kershner Radio and Electric, CEFS Golden Circle Nutrition Program, C&L Lincoln-Mercury, H.G. Keller’s Town and Country Store, Thies Paint Company, H.L. Dust & Son with 16 holes one-half inch in diameter, Keller’s Town and Country Furniture, Kingery Printing Company, Stevens Hardware, Effingham Builders Supply Company, Teutopolis-Siemer Milling Company with a pictorial timeline of the company, Teutopolis State Bank, B.G. Habing Funeral and Ambulance Service, Quatman Lumber Company, Weber Brothers Equipment in Teutopolis, Altamont Lumber and Grain Company, The Torbeck Store, Limerick Finance, Grobengieser & Sons, Wright Funeral Home Furniture, Rugs and Appliances, Niebrugge Lumber Company.

At antique malls and shops like our Red Coach Antiques, you can find interesting graphics and slogans on many of them. They are relatively cheap to own in the $5-25 range. Pricing depends on condition, location, size, business advertised, and other advertising graphics or slogans. Some of them have two- or three-digit phone numbers. You can also find them at thrift shops, flea markets, yard sales and estate sales. If you see some of them at public auction, you may have to pay premium prices for early rare ones or family connected.

In antique mall booths, dealers frequently display them in large 10-gallon crocks like the one I have in my office. They can hold a hundred or more of them. Tall baskets are also useful for display. In our shop, I have them mounted on a wall for easy viewing. I have several from Chevrolet dealerships from around Illinois. One advertises the 1958 Chevy Impalas. It is 58 inches long. The longest one I have is from Karpen Brothers in Chicago. They specialized in fancy carved furniture and carpeting. It is 7.5 feet long, which was half the width of a roll of carpet.

For yardsticks purchased in the $2 or less category, people can use them on craft projects like tabletop coverings, decorating wooden soda bottle carriers, peg racks, bicycle wheel/yardstick clocks, arrow wall direction indicator, drawer handles, decorating stair risers, Christmas tree toppers, lamp shades, footstools, drawer fronts, crates, etc. Let your imagination be your guide. I cringe when I see these in antique shops if they’ve used local yardsticks. Generic ones are OK.

On an old episode of “Personal FX: The Collectibles Show” (1994-1999) with hosts John Burke and Claire Carter, one collector had his whole house decorated with old yardsticks from floor to ceiling in every room. There were thousands of old yardsticks. He left most of them in original condition.

For more information, to make comments or share memories, contact Phil Lewis at 217-342-6280 or email him at wootongs@gmail.com.

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