American Standards for Soft Wood lumber
New York Times magazine for Sunday recently carried an article that stated that charcoal briquette was introduced in 1919, and the fact that a Model T contained 100 board feet of hard wood. Henry had some control over the wood of the coach building. But what of the shipping crates?
Where 2x4s in the shipping crates actually a 2x4?
The issue of is a 2x4 a 2x4, started during World War I. According to an article in the Lumber Bulletin for 1920 , the War taught the nation a lesson about lumber. The country did not have a standard for measuring its wood. National Lumber Bulletin for 7 September 1925 carried an article about finally having standardized lumber. The steps toward standard lumber was developed by the Central Committee on Lumber Standards. By 1926 the standards were being put in place, one of the interested parties for standard lumber was the United States Navy. A 2 x4 ranged in size from 1 1/2 x 3 1/2 to 1 3/4 x 3 3/4 inches. In 1919 a conference was held where the North Carolina Pine Association made recommendations about standardization of material. So if you want to blame the California Democrats for this recent revelation in suing over size matters remembers that the South rose to the occasion first about the size of its wood.