My dad just sent me this picture of my great-grandfather, taken around 1904-05, in Plain City, Ohio. His full name was Lawrence Washington Bruce Chandler, but he went by Bruce or L. B I thought it was interesting to see what a well stocked grocery looked like back then. My dad also worked in a grocery store as a young lad. It wasn’t self service. The customer came in, told the clerk what they wanted and the clerk would go get it. They’d total up the cost on a small piece of paper.
That is a very interesting photo. Too bad some of the prices aren’t visible.
Totting up a sale on a piece of paper was still in use by McD’s here in OZ up until about 20? years ago.
Neat–great picture!
Bruce,
suprisingly, the first photograph I saw of my father was just such a photograph. He was a lad of 15 and was working behind a counter in a very well stocked ‘general store’, with the white apron tied around his waist. He later went on to own several stores and I distinctly remember him weighing out bulk sugar, flour, etc., into brown paper bags, for resale. At that time we did not have prepackaged goods. Biscuits came in large tins, which my father separated out into smaller quantities, as required. Early every morning, he would walk to the nearby wholesale fruitmarket, to pick up fruit and vegetables, bringing them home on a large barrow, designed to hold boxes of produce.
My favourite memory was the entrance to one of his shops. It had a display window each side of the entrance. On the left side was the fruit and vegetables. However, on the right hand side were all the lollies, displayed in their manufacturer packaging, with the lids opened showing the contents. There was so much to tempt a young child.Bruce,
That’s a great photo. Real customer service in those days. I wish I had some photos of Dad’s cabinet shops.
When I was about 3 or 4 years old the corner barber used to also sell candy, a common practice in earlier times I understand. I believe they also sold cigars and stuff for the “bigger” boys.
Mom would give me 2 or 3 pennies and I would accompany an older kid (all of 6 years old) to the barber shop. The barber would quit cutting hair and come over to wait on us even though it might take several minutes for us to make up our minds. Hmmmm! Should I get the 2 for a penny or those yummy 1 cent candies or opt for the cheaper but more numerous 5 for a penny option.
Richard,
while a dying breed here, the barber of ealier times, did sell all manner of things (mainly cigarettes and tobacco, but also prepackaged lollies). My favourite ‘one penny’ lollies were the ‘freckle’ (a disc of chocolate covered in hundreds and thousands) and the cobber (a small cube of toffee lolly covered in chocolate). Sixpence (five cents) would buy more than enough lollies to satisfy us, supplied in a small, white paper bag.
That is an awesome picture. Very very cool…
Jon.
Tim Brien said:Tim, My favorites were the licorice cigars and pipes. I moved on in later years to mint cigarettes and then chocolate cigarettes. These were long chocolate cylinders actually individually encased in paper like a real cigarette and in a realistic pack. Funny thing too, I never became a smoker. Didn't like the real thing at all. But then I used to pour my Coca Cola into a cleaned out Seagrams whiskey bottle and never became an alcoholic either.
Richard, while a dying breed here, the barber of ealier times, did sell all manner of things (mainly cigarettes and tobacco, but also prepackaged lollies). My favourite 'one penny' lollies were the 'freckle' (a disc of chocolate covered in hundreds and thousands) and the cobber (a small cube of toffee lolly covered in chocolate). Sixpence (five cents) would buy more than enough lollies to satisfy us, supplied in a small, white paper bag.
Richard,
I remember the chocolate cigarettes (and licorice is my favourite sweet). They were packaged similar to the ‘real thing’, from memory ten to a pack. We thought that it was ‘very cool’ to pretend to smoke. Of cause, in those days there was not a hint of the damage such an addiction would have and if suggested, would have been refuted by 99% of doctors as unsubstantiated. I also saw no need to pursue a tobacco addiction.
Bruce,
Do I detect a new building in the making or a revitalization of the window of an already built building? Thanks for sharing.
I have a photo of Grandfather Oliver and his older brother Warren. They were 8 and 6.
I love old phots.
Great picture, but I’m sure if all those bottles were tested by the FDA today, we’d be horrified at some of the ingredients 
Hi Folks,
looking at the picture gives me a flashback to a time where i was 7 years old. yep that is how it looked in that old “colonialwaren” store. the only big difference, it was a old women who served the clientele, and goods where already packed in cans or bags.
Regards PJ
Richard,
look to the top of the photograph at the ceiling (above the shelves). It looks like the building is in a cave.
That’s an old tin ceiling.
That ceiling is recreated by “Precision Plastics”. I’ve got that same ceiling in the station at Owl’s Bend.