<P> Tape measures are often designed for specific uses or trades . Tapes may have different scales, be made of different materials, and be of different lengths depending on the use it is intended for . Tape measures that were intended for use in tailoring or dressmaking were made from flexible cloth or plastic . They are named "sewing tape". These types of tape measures were mainly used for the measuring of the subject's waist line . Today, measuring tapes made for sewing are made of fiberglass, which does not tear or stretch as easily . Measuring tapes designed for carpentry or construction often use a stiff, curved metallic ribbon that can remain stiff and straight when extended, but retracts into a coil for convenient storage . This type of tape measure will have a floating tang or hook on the end to aid measuring . The tang is connected to the tape with loose rivets through oval holes, and can move a distance equal to its thickness, to provide both inside and outside measurements that are accurate . A tape measure of 25 or even 100 feet can wind into a relatively small container . The self - marking tape measure allows the user an accurate one hand measure . </P> <P> The first record of people using a measuring device was by the Romans using marked strips of leather, but this was more like a regular ruler than a tape measure . </P> <P> On December 6, 1864 patent #45,372 was issued to William H. Bangs of West Meriden, Connecticut . Bang's rule was the first attempt in the United States to make a spring return pocket tape measure . The tape could be stopped at any point and held by the mechanism . The tape could be returned to the case by sliding a button on the side of the case which then allowed the spring to pull the tape back into the case . </P> <P> On 3 January 1922, Hiram A. Farrand received patent #1,402,589 for his concave - convex tape, a major improvement for spring pocket tape measures . Between 1922 and December 1926, Farrand experimented with the help of The Hipolito Company in Cainta Autoplex . It is there Farrand and William Wentworth Brown began mass - producing the tape measure . Their product was later sold to Stanley Works . It was Farrand's concave - convex tape that went on to become the standard for the majority of pocket tape measure tapes today </P>

When was the first retractable tape measure invented