RE: [lace] Ells and other old measurement
As Brenda reported 30 July 2007 an English ell is 45 inches whilst a French ell is 54 inches. In August last year I accompanied DH to a conference in Prague. And I just happened to photograph a standard ell - an upright metal strip attached to a door frame. Too many photos that day to write the location of them all but it is sandwiched between a picture of a gate at Stara Radnice and a picture of Schwarzenberg Palace. Tycho Brahe's fatal illness originated at a banquet in the Palace on the 13th of October 1601 - I was being shown places relating to Tycho's stay in Prague by Alena Solcova, a mathematician /historian, and the ell just turned up! Never thought to measure the ell itself but Alena bent her arm against it for the photo; it is about twice as long as the distance from her elbow to the centre of her palm. She was my build so, assuming our arms are of similar length, the Czech ell at some time in its history was about 64 cm (25 inches). Jay in Sydney [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Ells and other old measurement
I too was taught to wind bobbins by the arm length of thread. Brenda On 29 Jul 2007, at 22:41, Sue wrote: This line reminds me of my first lovely lace tutor who now sadly suffers with Alzheimer's she used to say wind on three armfuls of thread onto the bobbins and would pull off three arm lengths from chin to the end of fingers. Brenda in Allhallows, Kent http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.uk/index.html - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Ells and other old measurement
According to How heavy, How Much and How long by Colin R Chapman a lot of old measurements were based parts of the (male!) human body. A foot is 12 inches or 16 digits. A digit is the width of a man's middle finger at the base of the nail and an inch the width of his thumb at the base of the nail. A yard was the distance measured by King Henry I between the tip of his nose and the tip of his middle finger with his arm outstretched. The same book states that an English ell is 45 inches whilst a French ell is 54 inches. Brenda On 29 Jul 2007, at 04:36, Tamara P Duvall wrote: On Jul 28, 2007, at 17:52, bevw wrote: An ell is about 45 inches. Does that help? It is an English measure. Perhaps there is a French measure which the wooden piece would represent. On 7/28/07, [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Assuming it has anything to do with lace at all, could it be the measuring device for an ell of lace, which was the increment in which lace was sold. Some of the old measuring devices/terminology are thought-provoking. Take, for example, a foot... When did it become 12 inches (ca 20cm)? My foot is nowhere near that, though my husband's closer. In pre WWI Poland, all textiles used to be sold by an elbow (lokiec) -- a measure which was based on the length of an arm between the elbow and the wrist. I never even knew how much that was but (have only met the term in books), checking on the Polish version of Wikipedia, I found that it varied -- from century to century and from region to region. The shortest (and most common g) was 50.6cm (just short of 20 inches) and the longest was 77.9cm (30.5 inches). So, I expect, the French would have had some such measure too, before the French Revolution (which brought us the metric system and the lovely decimals). -- Tamara P Duvallhttp://t-n-lace.net/ Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland) - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Brenda in Allhallows, Kent http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.uk/index.html - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Ells and other old measurement
Hi All, The measurement from King Henry I's nose to tip of middle finger made me think - when I tell my students how much thread (very 'ish' measurements, I might add) I always say So many noses - which is the length from nose to outstretched arm.I have never given much thought to this - I learned it as a child, doing embroidery, long before lace - but wonder if it could be a throw-back to this very early measurement! CArol - in Suffolk UK - Original Message - From: Brenda Paternoster Subject: [lace] Ells and other old measurement King Henry I between the tip of his nose and the tip of his middle finger with his arm outstretched. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Ells and other old measurement
We had the same measurement in Germany. A Elle in German is one of the forearm bones as in English too. And in former time the salesman measures the textiles or similiar things along their forearm. And it was between 50 and 80 cm. We have also an old saying: Etwas mit der Elle messen - measering something with the ell. What means you handle it indiscriminate. Ilske - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: [lace] Ells and other old measurement
This line reminds me of my first lovely lace tutor who now sadly suffers with Alzheimer's she used to say wind on three armfuls of thread onto the bobbins and would pull off three arm lengths from chin to the end of fingers. Sue M Harvey Norfolk UK -- Subject: Re: [lace] Ells and other old measurement Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.2/894 - Release Date: 10/07/2007 17:44 - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Ells and other old measurement
I, too, was taught to estimate yards by holding fabric to my nose. If I strike a certain pose, the measurement is fairly accurate. I learned in the early forties; no doubt Mom had learned in the teens, and her mom in the nineteenth century. -- Joy Beeson http://joybeeson.home.comcast.net/ http://roughsewing.home.comcast.net/ http://n3f.home.comcast.net/ -- Writers' Exchange west of Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S.A. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
