gauge block sets was established in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York, in 1919. The economic environment of the post–World War I recession and depression of 1920–21 did not turn out so well for the company, so in 1923 he wrote a letter to Henry Ford of the Ford Motor Company, where he proposed a cooperation in order to save his company. Henry Ford became interested, and on 18 November 1923 he began working for Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan. Hounshell (1984), citing Althin (1948) and various archive primary sources, says, "Henry Ford purchased the famous gaugemaking operation of the Swede C. E. Johansson in 1923 and soon moved it into the laboratory facility in Dearborn. Between 1923 and 1927, the Johansson division supplied 'Jo-blocks' to the Ford toolroom and any manufacturer who could afford them. It also made some of the Ford 'go' and 'no-go' gauges used in production as well as other precision production devices." In the early 20th century, the U.S. inch was effectively defined as 25.4000508 mm (with a reference temperature of ) and the U.K. inch at 25.399977 mm (with a reference temperature of ). When Johansson started manufacturing gauge blocks in inch sizes in 1912, Johansson's compromise was to manufacture gauge blocks with a nominal size of 25.4mm, with a reference temperature of , accurate to within a few parts per million of both official definitions. Because Johansson's blocks were so popular, his blocks became the de facto standard for manufacturers internationally, with other manufacturers of gauge blocks following Johansson's definition by producing blocks designed to be equivalent to his. In 1930, the British Standards Institution adopted an inch of exactly 25.4 mm. The American Standards Association followed suit in 1933. By 1935, industry in 16 countries had adopted the "industrial inch" as it came to be known, effectively endorsing Johansson's pragmatic choice of conversion ratio. In 1936, at the age of 72, Johansson felt it was time to retire and go back to Sweden. He was awarded the large gold medal of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in 1943, shortly after his death. In 1948 Brown & Sharpe bought the rights to the C.E. Johansson brand from Ford Motor Co., and blocks co-branded with the C.E. Johansson and Brown & Sharpe logos were made. Blocks co-branded with the C.E. Johansson and Ford logos are also sometimes still seen in use today. Gauge