Back to the Intro Page
As this period began there were very few supermarkets. You would shop at the butchers (for meat), a greengrocer (for vegetables and fruit), a bakers (for cakes and bread), a newsagent (for papers and sweets) and a grocer (for things like jam, sauces etc.). In every shop you would be served by a person. There was no self-service. In Sainsbury's, which was really just a grocers shop, the assistant would take your money, put it in a tube, send the tube around the shop to the people who dealt with money, they would put the change in the tube and it would be sent back to your assistant who would give it to you. Richard says shopping was fun for a 4 year old. Just 5% of households had a fridge. We used to keep things like butter and milk in a room called the pantry which was at the side of the house and quite cool. Milk would also be kept under a clay container. The idea was to soak the container until it absorbed a bit of cold water and then use it to cover a milk bottle where condensation acts as a coolant for the bottle. But things changed. Frozen food replaced tinned food as the most popular way of buying food that would last as more and more people could afford a freezer or, initially, as refrigerators had a small freezer compartment. The local grocery store, the local butcher, baker and greengrocers started to be replaced by large supermarkets which stocked everything, including households items and clothes.
Back to Around WWII Hoots - FoodForward to the Birth of the Millennials Hoots - Food
