What Grocery Stores Were Really Like In The '60s

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

Help Support :

mattl

Well-known member
Platinum Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2007
Messages
6,331
Location
Flushing, MI
Interesting, fairly accurate article of grocery stores in the 60's, and from my memory it pretty close to what I recall as a kid shopping with my mother.

 
That is a beautiful Ralphs supermarket in the top photo, but it pre-dates Beatlemania by almost ten years judging from the cars visible in the parking lot.

 

I'm also wondering about the time period cited when supermarkets started accepting plastic for payment.  When I was spending time in Santa Barbara during the summer of 1978, I used my Master Charge card to buy groceries at Stater Brothers supermarket (a central coast chain).   Maybe things happened sooner in California (for a change) in this regard.  Bank of America launched their "BankAmericard" credit card in the mid 1960s which years later morphed into Visa, and subsequently their "Versateller" ATM card in the late '70s.

 

 
 
I was always fascinated by how fast and effortlessly? the checkout person could key in prices on the mechanical cash registers of the day. Many supermarkets had great magazine stands, and many had lunch counters. Those have come back a little around here, especially at the regional Wegman's stores. Most supermarkets were air conditioned, which was wonderful for me in the part of the country I was in 60 years ago. Larger supermarkets had orange juicers which were great to watch working, the A & P sold whole bean coffee and had grinders to prepare it for your perfect brew. That has come back a little around here in coffee boutiques. The automatic swing doors that were powered by compressed air and activated by electric eyes mounted in posts-HISSS! instead of radar operated center opening doors. Getting a COLD soda out of a cooler chest filled with circulationg water cold enough to sting your fingers. Direct line telephones to taxicab dispatchers. Remote radio broadcasts. Often lavish neon signage inside and out. And don't forget the S & H (and other) stamps. If we could somehow combine the great from those times with the best of today..... Brenda
 
Brenda,

Your description of 1960’s supermarket's is spot on! I could visualize it all with every word I read, especially since I lived through the 60’s. We still have stores here that have a big coffee grinder next to the whole bean coffee.

There was also a different overall scent to supermarkets then too I can’t put my finger on the words to describe it, but your words kinda conjured up that memory.

Eddie
 
Agree Brenda got it spot on.  Hadn't thought about the pneumatic doors in ages,but remember the "whoosh".  Remember the A&P coffee grinders and the smell of the coffee that was left over in the machine.

 

When I was young we had a smallish -by historical standards- A&P about a mile away, a National's a block away and across the street from that in a moderate sized shopping plaza a Kroger's. I remember at the age of 8 or 9 being sent to store to pick up this or that.  I recall one Christmas I got to go get an extension cord, and instead of getting the standard brown style I picked out a green one that had the new at the time clear cord where you could see the wires, plus it had a long flatish end to plug stuff into.  It was great for me as a kid to get to choose an item, still have that extension cord today, brings back lots of memories.
 
I rarely set foot in a supermarket in the 60's and early 70's, as my dad worked in the grocery store owned by his uncle. Occasionally I would go in the local Kroger with a friend, or in Thriftway when at the shopping center in Cincinnati. They were much bigger than any of the other stores in my town. Uncle Fred's store had three aisles, and the sales area measured about 28' x 60', with a couple back rooms for the office, motor and compressor room, and walk in cooler. The meat department was in the back of the main room. There was also a very small restroom. The total square footage would have been about 2200. There were two registers, buy the second was used only around holidays, or if the main one was out of order. The wholesale grocery truck came once a week, and overstock was kept upstairs (a conveyor system was installed about 6 years before the store closed in 1974).

I found the article to have somewhat of a "big city" slant to it. Much of what it mentioned would have been more likely to have been found in large cities. I agree most of the shoppers were women, but men, especially older, weren't uncommon. A few women came in all dressed up, if they stopped in on their way home from an office or similar job. However, most visited in a housedress or pants (including jeans), especially if they lived on a farm. Most of the customers were white, which would be expected in an area that had a 95% population of that demographic. There were several black customers who shopped there frequently, though. Everyone was treated as a valued customer regardless. Meat WAS a big deal, and his was known far and wide for exceptional quality, Hams were Kahn's, and all beef was local farm sourced. Turkeys were from a farm about 20 miles away, and eggs from about 4 miles distant. As for produce, most apples came from an orchard about 5 miles away, with their fresh cider and candy apples in the Fall. Sweet corn in the Summer was grown on local farms, along with some other in-season items. Other produce came from a distributor in Cincinnati. The frozen section was small, as many customers had gardens, and froze or canned their own food. The majority of the merchandise was canned or packaged food, and some cleaning items, and personal hygiene (toothpaste, shampoo, etc.) Check out did take a little longer, but most orders weren't huge. And of course, many of the customers would have a short visit with the cashier, as most customers knew the employees.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top