Dear Bill, John, and All, I have interspersed some remarks.
on 2003-02-12 17.29, Bill Potts at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Liter bottles of wine are very rare. However, liquor comes in 187.5 mL, 375 > mL, 500 mL, 750 mL, 1 L and 1.75 L bottles. Wine is more typically in 187.5 > mL, 375 mL, 750 mL and 1.5 L bottles. Champagne may also be in 3 L and 6 L > bottles. (Still wine can be in those two sizes, but very rarely is.) Litre bottles of both wine and spirits are more common as 'duty-free' items available in airports. No doubt this is due to the importing laws in various nations that use rounded litre values. > I haven't included boxes or jugs of wine. The stuff that comes in those > containers is only marginally potable, anyway. We call these 'Chateau Cardboard' but this name does little for the quality. The common sizes here are 2�L, 3�L, 4�L, and 5�L. > In your definition of a "fifth," you've taken the long way around. It simply > means one fifth of a US gallon. I've never heard anyone refer to it as four > fifths of a quart (even though, technically, it is). I think that this size bottle was originally 1/6th of an imperial gallon. This had 8 pints of 20 ounces or 160 ounces per gallon. The old beer and wine bottle size, here in Australia and I think throughout the world, was 1/6 x 160 = 26�2/3rd fluid ounces. This is equivalent to about 755�mL. The reason for this size is the packaging of these bottles in dozen lots where twelve bottles contained two gallons of fluid. I suspect that when this bottle size was introduced into the USA, it was measured and found to be 1/5th of the local (Queen Anne?) gallon and the name 'fifth' has stuck since then. Cheers, Pat Naughtin LCAMS Geelong, Australia > Bill Potts, CMS > Roseville, CA > http://metric1.org [SI Navigator] > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of > kilopascal > Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 20:46 > To: U.S. Metric Association > Subject: [USMA:24816] Re: Fwd: Milk by the liter > > > 2003-02-11 > > This guy has an error that needs to be pointed out. There are actually > litre sizes of wine and whisky. They are rare, but they exist. The quart > sizes were changed to litres. It was the old four-fifths quart, popularly > stilled called "the fifth" that became the 750 mL size. The fifth was > actually 757 mL, so the reduction only resulted in a 7 mL decrease. In fact > the 750 mL size is a 50 mL increase over the European standard of 700 mL. > > I don't understand why this guy insists that metrication must mean reduction > in sizes? If milk and milk products are sold in every country in the world > in 1 and 2 L sizes, why would the US be different and go with odd sizes like > 750 mL and 1.75 L? That makes no sense. > > I think you need to contact him back and point out these facts to him. > > John > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: John Woelflein > To: U.S. Metric Association > Sent: Tuesday, 2003-02-11 14:46 > Subject: [USMA:24813] Fwd: Milk by the liter > > > Sent to the American Dairy Association's Boston branch. > > "Erik Rasmussen" > > lk1.com> cc: > Subject: Milk by the liter > 2003-02-11 13:40 > > > I remember when the Carter Administration tried to convert the entire > country to the metric system in the late 1970s by Executive Order. > Congress and most industries were against it, so it never happened. The > one exception was the liquor industry which immediately converted the > half gallon to 1.75L and still charged the � gallon price. The quart > became 750 mil. > > I suspect the same would occur in the dairy industry. The next time > you are in a supermarket look for Garelick's "Kids Milk". It's in a > 1.75L package with the ounces stated as well. This is a different > Received: from fmneast-MTA by raptor-nw.fedmilk1.product category so you > shouldn't really compare prices with a regular � > gallon of milk, but a � gallon it's not. > I haven't heard of anyone pressing for a metric conversion so I doubt > it is likely in the near future. > > Erik Rasmussen > > > ----- Message from "MABoston Boston" on Tue, 11 Feb > 2003 12:19:56 -0500 ----- > > To: "Erik Rasmussen" > > > Subject: Fwd: Milk by the Liter > >>>> 02/11/03 11:58AM >>> > Is there any chance that the dairy industry will convert its packaging > to the metric system? It seems as though many other beverage/food > industries have begun or completed their changeover to metric sizes for > consumer > products. An example is the soft drink industry, which now sells most > sizes in liter-sized bottles. The liquor and wine industries have sold > their > products in liter sizes since the late 1970s. Bottled water is about > halfway through its conversion to liter sizes. > It would seem logical that the dairy industry--liquid ! milk in > particular--would begin a conversion to metric sizes. The easiest way > would > be to simply replace the gallon jug with a four-liter jug. That way, > you > would be selling more of your product, since 4 L is more than 1 gal. > Then > you could replace the quart and half gallon sizes with 1 and 2 L > sizes. > Again, this would sell more milk for you. > Ice cream could also be sold in 1- and 2-liter packages, as is done in > Canada and most other countries. > Could you please let me know if this has occurred to anyone in the > industry? Thank you very much. > > > > John > > > > > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day >
