Ellenwaren

Ellen merchandise (also long goods or cutlery) are goods, in particular substances, which are sold in length. These are cut off from the roll, the bar or the like before the sale in the length desired by the buyer.

In contrast, short pieces are sold by piece, volume or weight (generally general cargo or bulk goods).

The name is derived from the unit of measure used, since the long goods were measured earlier with the then customary length measure of the ell. After the transition from the elle to the meter in the 19th century, the term changed to the term "yard goods". In this case, prices for the "running meter" are then used in trade. Edit source text

wiki