Measurement

Appears in
Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America

By Andrew F. Smith

Published 2004

  • About
Throughout history, food measurements have had more to do with experience and judgment than objective amounts. However, when needed in the English-American colonies, they followed a loose and variable adaptation of the English imperial system. Originally based largely on weight, they gave way to volume measurements by the late nineteenth century, at about the same time a single American standard was adopted.

Alice Ross