Miriam,
I love your walk down memory lane posts!!
I too remember going to the fabric stores with my mom. She was always looking for the right fabric she wanted for her Vogue pattern. She loved Jackie Kennedy's fashion, and the vogue patterns of that day had a line that was similar to what Jackie wore. My mom mainly loved to sew her own clothes, but she did make clothes for her kids. My favorite was a navy blue wool coat with red buttons; it was gorgeous! I also remember going to Hutzler Department store to look for fabrics. If we were good while waiting, my mom would buy each of us a special pastry from the pastry department of the store before leaving. We could eat the bun on the ride home. That was the best part of shopping, the food!!! I can still smell their special raisin buns.
Thanks for posting the fabric measuring machine. I remember those machines. I know we had a discussion on this once before on QB. This time it's good to see a photo of the machine posted into the files of vintage machines.