While thumbing through a box of old photos I came across this one of my Aunt Carol and Uncle Lloyd in their grocery store, circa 1947…taken three years before I was born!
This photo speaks volumes to me…in many ways.
Aunt Carol and Uncle Lloyd owned this grocery store, located on the first floor of The Grady Building in Kalona, Iowa. (My Grandma Grady owned the building.) As I studied this photo, the first thing I noticed was how radiantly happy my Aunt Carol appeared to be. And the next thing I saw was HOW FEW items were actually for sale in that store. That’s when I began to think about the array of products we see in the aisles and aisles of the huge grocery stores today. So many products. So many choices. But do all of those choices really make our lives better? Do we really NEED two hundred kinds of cereal?
Here is another view of that tiny grocery store…
Life appeared to be so much simpler back then. And people seemed to be happier with whatever they had. Even if what they had wasn’t much.
Check out the rows of cans and boxes on the shelves. So little to pick from…and yet the needs of the customers were met every day. If Uncle Lloyd didn’t have it on the shelves, you probably didn’t need it anyway. And I’m guessing they never heard of “rain checks”.
And credit cards? Nope. They kept a ledger book and simply wrote down the names and amounts owed by customers who didn’t (or couldn’t) pay that day. And my older brother Tom tells me he remembers making Saturday grocery deliveries with Uncle Lloyd. He said the customer’s groceries were stacked in individual wire baskets in the back of Uncle Lloyd’s old gray Jeep. And Tom would lug each basket up to the customer’s door. The lady of the house would thank him for the delivery… and that was that. No money changed hands. It was all on the honor system. The customers would then stop by the grocery store whenever they were downtown to “settle up.”
I actually remember something called “counter checks”. Every local bank would provide blank checks to local businesses to keep on their counters by the cash register…and if you didn’t have cash you simply picked up one of those blank checks and filled in the amount! No such thing as identity theft in THOSE days. See all those slips of paper stuck on the front of the cash register next to Uncle Lloyd? I’m guessing those were IOU’s from customers!
And notice the fan above the door. Air conditioning? No way. (And humid summers in Iowa can be brutal!) Bug sprays? No such thing. Just buy one of those FLY SWATTERS hanging on the wall.
Fresh fruit for sale? Probably only what was in season and picked from trees and gardens by local farmers. Fruit that had to be shipped in by train was a rare treat. In fact I remember Dad telling me that, as a child, his gifts on Christmas morning would be found next to his plate on the breakfast table. His gifts? Usually a pair of socks, several walnuts and AN ORANGE. That piece of “exotic” fruit was a really big deal back then.
Can you imagine children today if an orange was their gift on Christmas morning?
Like I said…these pictures speak volumes to me, and the images warm my heart. They show me a time when life was, in some ways, simpler and happier.
Just look at that smile on Aunt Carol’s face.
Great history some of which I remember in Conn. stores when I was a young girl–corner stores with all you needed- I think life was a lot simpler and I never remember needing something we could not find!
of course I was a kid and hardly paid attention but the owners always gave us a free candy!!
Good point Linda! When our sons were little they used to make the trip together (several blocks) to the tiny drug store nearby…The penny candy was a magnet that attracted all the neighborhood kids!
When I was in my early 20s we lived across the street from Watt’s Grocery on Muscatine Ave. It was a very small store with the necessities, plus a small butcher shop. We paid our bill once a month. Good memories.
Nancy…thanks for sharing YOUR memory with me. The trust between storekeepers and customers was a beautiful thing!
My dad worked in a citrus fruit factory several yrs before he got married. It was in Tampa Fla. For many yrs we would get a crate of fresh oranges delivered to our farm. Those oranges were the most sweet and juicy oranges I have ever eaten. I remember when the oranges stopped coming and I felt so bad.
Also many yrs ago when my kids were small and I would be visiting my dad on his farm in Michigan, he would give me a blank check with his name signed to it and tell me to get groceries and whatever else I would be needing and there would be no problems whatever in filling in the amount of money the things would cost. I wouldn’t have to show all kinds of ID either to prove who I was. Those days are long gone but not forgotten in my life’s journey. MM
Ahhh…Mary…The memories we have of growing up in simpler times. Thanks for sharing yours with all of us!
All these memories and the ones I have are why I’ve said so many times “we were the lucky generation”. We lived in innocence, peace in our par of the world, before electronics like cell phones and computers,after the depression or at least the end of it for our parents, still free to play outside til dark and weren’t tied to televisions. A world future children will never know or understand. We were blessed!
Thanks Kevin…And leaving a legacy of stories and recipes for my grandchildren is EXACTLY why I write my blog! I’m so glad my stories tug on the heartstrings of others who just want to preserve the past. So welcome to my blog…and I’m glad you’re here!