I also remember them. My Mother worked in a dry good store that use them and I got to try one one time. Boy, brings back lots of good memories. Love ready this board. Makes me remember lots of things that are foggy in the memory bank. LOL.

I remember that gadget from our "material store" on the main drag in our town. I still have the apron I made in the 6th grade from the "material" the ladies helped me pick out. That was about 55 years ago!! I remember that most of the "material" was behind the counter and you pointed to what you thought you wanted and the ladies brought it down and then a discussion ensued. Boy, were things different!!!!

When they had the fabric at the right spot, they would push down a handle to cut a starting spot for the clerk to cut the fabric!

I remember using that machine when I worked Montgomery Ward's fabric department. There were lots of comments about shorting fabric if an inexperienced clerk pulled the fabric tightly as it was measured ... and we couldn't use the machine on much of the polyester fabric. Those were the days!!! LOL

It's amazing what is discussed on this board ... love it! brings back oldddddd memories!!!

The discussion of fabric in department stores really brings me back, and fabric stores being downtown. Amluxen's had the best collection of wool, right on the mall, down from YQR. And department stores also had books, and chocolate, and records, and restaurants to stop and get coffee and pie or coke and fries after a long day's shopping. The flip side--you had to dress up to go to Dayton's or Marshall Fields, unless you didn't want to go with my mother.

and JC Penneys, and Woolworths, and Ben Franklin's and, and,....lol

the Singer stores had nice fabric in the 60's...and classes to teach the teens to sew in the summer.

I remember them from a ways back. I'd think fabric would stretch too much----------specially those that are stretchy. Never heard a name.

Ahhhhh, memories! Yes, I remember those cool cutting machines! Also remember having to put on a dress, to ride the bus into town, with my mom. That was in New Orleans and all of the "big stores" were on Canal St.

We used to have a Cloth World. Not too long ago, I pulled some fabric from my stash (inherited from many sources) that had a Cloth World tag on it. I just assumed they went under, nothing more.

Cloth World was an acquisition of parent company of JoAnn's. This was of the time of conglomerates swiping up all the competitors in an area. In Kansas City there was also Sew-Fro fabric stores .... I soooo wanted to work there but landed in fabric dept. of Montgomery Wards instead! I miss all those old stores ..... and old times with lots of tradition.