Living History

Shops

I would like to take you back, in time to the period just before and during the Second World War, and in location, to Melbourne. For this period, fewer people had cars than today and more people relied on trams and trains to get around. So that when you went shopping for the daily necessities you tended either to walk to the shops or to go to a shopping centre by tram, because the shopping centres tended to be on the tram routes.

The first thing that you might notice would be that there were no supermarkets and large car parks, just small shops which individually sold a limited range of goods. The grocers shop sold only grocery items, the green grocer sold only fruit and vegetables, the chemist sold medicines, the butchers shop sold only meat, and so on. Because of this, when you went shopping you usually had to visit several shops.

When you went to a shop you were 'served', that is you went to a counter and told the proprietor (or someone employed by him/her) what you wanted to buy, item by item. It was his/her job to get for you the item that you requested. There was much less prepackaging than there is now, if you asked for a pound of flour it would probably be measured out for you into a brown paper bag on the scales while you waited. Some of the items which were prepackaged ( I am thinking now of items such as packets of corn flakes) were on shelves in the grocery store which were far beyond the reach of anyone. The grocery store had a stick with a nail at one end. The attendant grasped the stick by the end without the nail, harpooned a packet of corn flakes, dragged it off the shelf and caught it as it fell

The grocery shop had a wooden floor, but all over the floor there was sawdust to a depth of about half an inch. I am not sure what the purpose of the sawdust was, but apparently it was swept up every night and replaced by new sawdust. The butcher’s shop also had sawdust on the floor.

There were no bar-codes and no electronic calculators. Calculating the total sum that you had to pay was a feat of mental arithmetic - a feat not made any easier because there were 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in the pound. In the butcher’s shop they used to wrap the meat in white paper. The butcher would write down the cost of individual items in pencil on a corner of the white paper so that it could be added up before he secured the parcel and handed it to you.

During the War, various items (such as tea, sugar and clothing) were rationed. In addition to paying money for the item, you had to surrender coupons from your coupon book. Everyone was issued with a coupon book by the Rationing Commission . The person selling you the item would ask you for your ration book, open it and cut out the appropriate number of coupons with a pair of scissors. Each individual coupon was numbered and only certain coupon numbers would be valid at any one time.

Before the War some shopkeepers would accept orders for goods over the telephone and deliver them to your door. However, after the War started this practice was stopped.

Patrick, Sandy Bay, Tasmania

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