Back when I was a child in the 50s/60s -- almost every store sold fabric. Sears, Penney's, TG&Y, Woolworth's, Kress's, Ben Franklin ... They had the big cutting tables with the measuring machine the fabric ran through. When the gauge showed the length of fabric you wanted they pushed a blade foward that put a slice in the fabric and then they hand-ripped that baby! I can still remember the zip sound of the fabric as it ripped apart. Those were the days, my friend.