When it was easier – I miss the metric system

I was explaining to my adult children that the metric system was a very different and difficult measurement when introduced into Australia. Few people realise that Australia signed the Metric Convention to use metric in 1947. However, once the 14th February 1966 went so well, they decided to do all other measurements.

But, unlike dollars, it took almost 18 years to introduce all of the measurement changes. Wool was the first in 1971. In 1972, school children were to be taught the metric system only, no imperial system, so they had no idea what their parents were talking about.

In August 1972, the government changed the next most important sector to metric, the horse racing industry. At that time only school children knew how far the next horse race would be – I am not sure whose idea that was. But to clear the air in September 1972, the government changed the air temperature to Celsius so the punters not only never knew how far the race was, but they never knew if the
weather would be a hot day or freezing cold for the poor horse.

By early 1974 most industries changed a little at a time. All of a sudden when we watched the weather on TV, instead of a low pressure in PSI, we had some rascal called hectopascal all over our screens…no one knew where he came from. My father though it was a shambles. Then, in July 1974 the speed changed from our well-known mile per hour, to some silly thing called a kilometre per hour. All of the signs changed on that one day. All this was fine but all of our speedos were still in miles per hour. I do remember being pulled up for speeding in that time and explaining that I was only doing 90 on the highway, a 100km zone. My speedo was in miles and it was nearly there. I was given a severe talking too, but no fine.

It was in the home where the troubles began, for everyone knew that there were 16 ounces in a pound and 16 drams to an ounce. 28 pound was a quarter, and 4 quarters made a 100 weight (which as shown as CWT) but was actually 112lbs, that meant that 2240 pounds was a long tonne. Everyone knew and used the simple system every day. When the imperial system was designed many years before, the ladies had a problem, which was cleverly catered for. When ladies met in the street, “Oh, yes, I have lost weight; I’m down to 4 and quarter, quarters”. They certainly were not going to say “I’m over a hundred weight”! So for the ladies, stones were invented. One stone was 14 pounds or half a quarter. So now when ladies met in the street, “Oh, yes I have lost weight: I’m down to 8 and a half stone”. That had much more of an appeal to it.

Sorry, I digress, back to the metric change.

When you were born you were a 6 pound 5 ounce baby. When it turned metric there was some confusion about how big, or small the baby was. Of course at work the 3/16” drill bit, which drilled a hole for a 5/32” bolt, for years was now going to be wrong. The 5 3/8th bolt, that had been doing the job it had done for years, was about forty five sixty fourths too short. The building industry had its own problems as the sheets were metric and the tape measures were still in imperial feet and inches. The four foot sheets of fibro for the walls, in metric, were all too short.

To convert, the builders were told 1 inch was 25.4 mm or 1 centimetre was .3937 inches. For tens, move the decimal point one place to the right, for hundreds two places etc. So 2ft 9in was 33inches, or 76cm + 7.62 = 83.82 centimetres. Many of the older builders struggled with the conversions of the measurements, while the younger ones went out and bought a metric tape measure.

In the kitchen the ladies struggled to make their favourite cakes because the two gills of milk was now too much out of a 600ml bottle.
The quarter of a pound of butter, which of course was 4 ounces, was now…? The butter was in 500 gram container, do we put a quarter of that in? But a third of a cup which had always been 3½ fl oz still didn’t look enough in metric. And how the hell they convinced the chooks to lay a metric 60g egg, had my mother beat. Then a dash of vanilla which had always been three shakes, what is three shakes in metric? Of course the oven was now never hot enough at 200 degrees.

My father said the worst thing about changing to metric was that our house was now so far out of town.

How did the change from imperial to metric affect you or your family? Which do you prefer?