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The Villages
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Grocery shopping used to be so easy

Barry Evans
Barry Evans

The other day, I was in the supermarket with a list from the Blonde in the house that had the groceries which I was to purchase for our use. Let me say at this point that I am quite aware that supermarket is a term that is not used much anymore. It seems that just about all grocery stores nowadays are supermarkets.  Back in the day, when I was growing up, they were not. In fact, in the two small towns in Pennsylvania, which were about a mile and half apart, that I lived in (not at the same time) had no such animal. Stoneboro had a meat market and a IGA store which really did not have much of a selection. A lot of small towns had IGA (Independent Grocery Association) stores back then.

Sandy Lake also had a meat market and a A & P.  The A & P was definitely not a self-service supermarket.  I worked there when I was in high school at the princely wage of 65 cents an hour.  Hey, it provided for date money!  After a 15-cent movie we would go to Vengolds and get hamburgers and milkshakes for less than a buck for both of us.  In any case, this A & P was one where we would stand behind a counter and the customer would tell us what they wanted and we would fetch it.  This sometimes took a while as many of the ladies (men for some reason seldom came in) were not certain what they really wanted.  Heck, there were three kinds of A & P coffee to choose from – Eight O’clock, Red Circle, and Bokar. Bokar was the most expensive so you knew who had the money in town. 

One of the nice things about Stoneboro and Sandy Lake is that when you go back things haven’t changed much. Unfortunately, the IGA store in Stoneboro is no longer there – nor is there a supermarket. Sandy Lake also does not have a supermarket. In fact, the A & P store is no longer there.  However, Nowry’s which was the meat market when I lived there has grown to be a full-fledged grocery store. In fact, you can even pick up groceries yourself like in a convenience store – but no gasoline pumps outside. The latter is no big problem as there is a gasoline station in town.  The gas station used to be Perrine’s where we would put in a buck’s worth of gas and have a great time.  However, even though gas was cheap, cars did not get great mileage.  One of my friends somehow found and purchased a 1936 Cadillac.  It was huge and had jump seats in the back which you could pull up and face those sitting in the regular back seats.  It had side curtains and some other perks.  However, it only got about six miles to the gallon.  My friend had to sell it as he couldn’t afford to run it!

To move back to the present time, I mentioned above that I was in a supermarket with a grocery list courtesy of the Blond.  One of the items thereon was for milk.  Buying milk today is not the simple task that it used to be.  If you approach the section where the milks lie in waiting, you have to pursue the multitude of milk to find what you want. In the old days, you went in the store and picked up a quart or so of milk and that was it. Now there is whole, two per cent, one percent and fat free milk. That is just the start as you have the same types in lactose free!  Then there is oatmeal, coconut, almond, cashew, organic and heavens knows what other milks.  Some of these come in paper cartons while others come in the dreaded plastic. Once upon a time, milk came in glass bottles.  The milkman would leave them at the front door. The milk even had cream at the top.  In the cold weather, the milk would freeze and push the tab out of the bottle and the yellow cream would show. When the milk was gone, you would wash the bottles out and put them in the milk box for the milkman who would take them and give you full bottles. That was easy and continuous recycling! 

Life used to be so simple!

Columnist Barry Evans is a resident of The Villages.

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