I can remember a time when fabric was always torn but back then it was mostly natural fibers. The draper had a gadget that measured the fabric as the edge was drawn through then a little click which put a small cut in the folded edge and then it was torn.
I'm 61 years young but can remember when rayon and dacron came into the shops. Big excitement. The fabric store where my mother mainly shopped for fabric is still a going concern all these years later. I bought fabric to sew for my eldest when she was small from the same shop. These days they even stock a very good collection of quilt fabrics but the store is still the same size as when I was small. Long & narrow. I have even taken my best friend who was born in Scotland to this shop.
Unfortunately I don't get there very often as it is across the other side of the city which is about an hours drive. A friend from school got her first job there and still works there a few days a week. She did marry and raise a family but has always kept with them. It is a family owned business so maybe this is why it has survived so long. Customer Service.