Any item will do that has little quality change. That’s a matter of taste, however. So, instead why not use labor wage rates? This morning I found a Bureau of Labor Statistics survey that gives the wage of a carpenter in 1914 as 50 cents an hour. This is prior to the Fed’s inflation of World War I, so it is a good starting point. Gold was $21 (rounding from $20.67.) Thus carpenters had to work 42 hours to buy 1 ounce of gold. I also found this morning the current wage of a carpenter. Experienced carpenters get $18-$22 an hour. Call it $20. Then 42 x $20 = $840. It still takes 42 hours of a carpenter’s labor to buy an ounce of gold for $840. This is the same result as with the t-bone index.