The Yardstick

Ruth and Bernard Alter, with their three children moved to San Jose from Chicago in 1957. San Jose only had a population of around 50,000 and the Santa Clara County was still primarily orchards. The 1960’s were a time of great growth and The Yardstick was started as a fabric store for all the home sewers. This was before Walmart, Before Ross and other stores of that ilk. It was still less expensive for women to sew their clothes than to buy in stores.

As the town grew and houses were being built, it beca