I've been reading the Savoy Cocktail book for a bit now, and after poking around online (http://savoystomp.com/2008/07/21/savoy-cocktail-volume/) have found that the measurements are likely to have been based off a half gill cup. While I can find cups that measure a half gill, I haven't found any with fractional measurements printed in/on the cup. Anyone know of anything like this floating around out there? I don't really mind continuing to convert them to oz based measurements, but the nerd in me secretly wishes I could easily measure fractions of a gill.
The British used the "out" system at the time, with jiggers that were marked with a number on the bottom that indicated how many of them made up a (5-oz) gill. Common was the 3-out/6-out back-to-back pair, enabling you to do thirds, sixths and 1/2 gill (1/3 + 1/6). It's worth noting that the Savoy book shows a marked preference for drinks broken up into halves, thirds and sixths over ones in quarters or eighths.
Oh the Bartender is just like a mother to me / And I am his favorite child. --Slim Gaillard
I should add that the 5-out (=1/5 gill = 1 oz) measure was also common, but one rarely sees it as a basis for dividing mixed drinks.
That helps quite a bit, i do see some fractional gill cups available online, but most seem to be antiques of one sort or another, usually in some metal I'd rather not use with my drinks. Anyone know of modern reproductions? Maybe some small country or industry still uses the gill for some wonderfully antiquated reason? Or will any such thing have to be a DIY project.