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(Unnecessary?) Objects for Measuring Children's Heights

By Rain Noe - August 26

in Object Culture | Toy

A number of older houses across the world will have penciled height marks on the wall, in what was once a child's room. These marks were simple to make, requiring just two already-owned items in the kitchen junk drawer: A tape measure and a pencil.

These days, however, we're apparently running out of things to spend money on. Rather than relying on a pencil and tape measure, which most households already own, you can splash out on something far more expensive and ultimately disposable. Companies like Pottery Barn Kids will sell you a $130 piece of MDF with markings on it. (Ironically, you still need a tape measure and pencil to accurately install it; it doesn't start at 0, to accommodate for trim.)

You can even order custom versions with your child's name written in Garamond.

And in Japan, they have of course solved this "problem" with technology. This Digital Height Meter by Tomica is a toy bus concealing a laser measuring unit. It runs ¥3,850 (USD $26).

But if your child prefers giraffes to buses, no worries:

Admittedly I'm not a parent, so it's perhaps not my place to criticize these objects.

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Jason Pokines

an hour ago

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I agree with the outrage over the prices, though. DIY is far better.

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Jason Pokines

an hour ago

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I have a ruler I made myself with pine wood and vinyl, that *does* start at zero because I routed out the back to allow for trim. It turns what would otherwise be graffiti into a functional piece of artwork. When (mostly the younger) guests come to visit, they enjoy seeing how the measure up, literally, to the rest of us. And because it's essentially a non-permanent, wall-mounted piece, we were able to take it with us when we moved to a new house rather than leave it to be painted over by the next owner. So it's really not all that frivolous!

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