[jonathankoren]

The reason why volume measurements developed in the US rather mass measurements can be traced back to Frankie Farmer’s The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book of 1896. The first cookbook with accurate and repeatable recipes. Volume measurements were a practical matter. Every kitchen had measuring cups. No one had a scale.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boston_Cooking-School_Cook...

[Mikeb85]

And now you can buy a digital scale for like $20. It's the 21st century, weight measurements are way more accurate, easier too for small quantities.

[jonathankoren]

It's almost as if legacy recipes don't exist, nor are very important to people, nor have working knowledge built around these units.

[Mikeb85]

And? Legacy units can be converted.

I've got cookbooks that date back to the 17th century. Lots of recipes from the 19th century. And old family recipes too. Doesn't mean I won't use metric and weights when I create new recipes, write recipes down, etc... And all my professional cookbooks are metric and by weight.

[_carbyau_]

While this is true and adds effort, it is relatively easy to convert them too.

[bluGill]

Interesting, the 1860 historical farm I toured as a kid had a balance and they were careful to not have volume measures at all in the house. Most general store exhibits of that time have kitchen scales and no volume measures.