No, it's not a pair of brass knuckles, but it was used to keep yellow pine flooring manufacturers in line. It’s a 1/4-inch-thick steel gauge to measure the flooring standards established in 1908 by the Yellow Pine Manufacturers Association. The cutouts at the top measured widths of 2 1/4 inches and 3 1/4 inches. Along the sides and bottom are cutouts to measure the thickness on both the tongue and groove sides of a piece of flooring. Those cutouts measure 3/8, 1/2 and 3/4 inch. The Yellow Pine Manufacturers Association no longer exists under that name—it’s now the Southern Pine Association—but the gauge is still worth carrying, said its owner, the late Tom Macedo, founder of Valley Hardwood Flooring in Fresno, Calif. Macedo brought it with him to trade shows and, when socializing, would drop it on the bar counter with a loud clunk. Industry guys swarmed him for stories, and he said he didn't pay for a drink all night. Sadly, Macedo, a beloved de facto industry historian, passed away as this article was going to press.
