US Period Comparisons

From The Olde Cookery Book

Measurement comparisons in the 1830s

The following text was taken from the cookbooks "Seventy-Five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes and Sweetmeats" and "Directions for cookery, in its various branches", by Miss Eliza Leslie (1787-1858). The books was published in 1832 and 1837 respectively and may be of some interest when doing period recipes (at least from this book). In the following text, the tables are taken from the former book, while the text comparisons are from the latter.

As all families are not provided with scales and weights, referring to the ingredients generally used in cakes and pastry, we subjoin a list of weights and measures.

WEIGHT AND MEASURE

Wheat flour	one pound is	one quart.
Indian meal	one pound, two ounces, is	one quart.
Butter--when soft	one pound is	one quart.
Loaf-sugar, broken	one pound is	one quart.
White sugar, powdered	one pound, one ounce, is	one quart.
Eggs	ten eggs are	one pound.

Of dry measure--

Half a gallon is a quarter of a peck.

One gallon--half a peck. Two gallons--one peck. Four gallons--half a bushel. Eight gallons--one bushel.

Of flour, butter, sugar, and most articles used in cakes and pastry, a quart is generally about equal in quantity to a pound avoirdupois, (sixteen ounces.) Avoirdupois is the weight designated throughout this book.

Ten eggs generally weigh one pound before they are broken.

A table-spoonful of salt is generally about one ounce.

LIQUID MEASURE

Sixteen large table-spoonfuls are	half a pint.
Eight large table-spoonfuls are	one gill.
Four large table-spoonfuls are	half a gill.
A common-sized tumbler holds	half a pint.
A common-sized wine-glass	half a gill.

Allowing for accidental differences in the quality, freshness, dryness, and moisture of the articles, we believe this comparison between weight and measure, to be nearly correct as possible.

Let it be remembered, that of liquid measure--

Two jills are half a pint. Two pints--one quart. Four quarts--one gallon.

About twenty-five drops of any thin liquid will fill a common sized tea-spoon.

Four table-spoonfuls or half a jill, will fill a common wine glass.

Four wine glasses will fill a half-pint or common tumbler, or a large coffee-cup.

A quart black bottle holds in reality about a pint and a half.