Quill stem question

I have a nearly-new 1980 Huffy Mixte that I picked up at a garage sale. The thing is beautiful for a Huffy. Not a scratch on it, and the price tag remained on the handlebars from a local, now defunct, bicycle shop.

Anyway, I will use the bike as a commuter and it needs a taller stem for me to ride it. How are quill stems measured? How do I know what I have, vs what I need? Are the measurements the total quill distance? Is a 180 mm quill stem tall? It's kinda weird, but the origonal stem on the bike is so short, it barely makes the safety line marked on it when I put it back together. It nearly hubs the handlebar mount.

Thanks for the info.

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Quill stems are measured by the total length, though they may list the maximum distance above the safety line. It's possible that an old Huffy used the old American stem size, not the current standard for a 1" threaded headset. You also need to check what size handlebar diameter you have and whether a new stem would fit that, or if you'd need new handlebars to match a new stem.