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1950s shopping list

ASTONITE

ASTONITE

master brummie
Just going through some papers when I came across this list, written in the back of a book printed in 1957, the prices are fascinating and I think the person who wrote it must have had a sweet tooth as well as a high fat intake.View attachment 68401
 
Amazing how we could eat all that and survive ..... before the health police intervened!
 
astonite that looks just like the lists our mom used to send me to the shops with...thanks for posting it...

no sell by dates then charlie and we are still here lol..makes you wonder though dont it....

lyn
 
My mom had a little red book which she kept just to keep her shopping lists in, and like your example always wrote the prices alongside, and the prices hardly ever changed, not like today when every time you shop prices have risen by 10, l5 or 20p or more from the week before. I wished I had kept mom's books.
 
The thing that sticks out in my mind, is my mom having stuff 'on the strap' and paying on a friday if she could.
 
strange isn't it how we used to live I found the little red note book my wife and I used in the 70's to get our weekly shop from tesco's stores, not superstores the shop in mill road cambridge, the average shop was £5.00 per week for the two of us, I spend on average about £7 per day now the kids have left home.
paul
 
You have to put prices into perspective. When I got hitched in 1971 I was making about £25 a week. Take-home was about £75 a month, and out of that came £34 mortgage-repayment straightaway. We used to shop at Mac Fisheries in Perry Barr - maybe our tastes were more up-market than Paul's (only kidding!) but we spent a damn sight more than £5 a week on grub. That did include a couple of bottles of plonk, though. Obviously my missus worked, otherwise we'd have been stuffed! Happy days!

When my mother sent me on an errand, she gave me the exact money down to the last penny, per her very accurate knowledge of what things cost at the local shops in Witton. If it came to less than she gave me, she let me keep the difference. If it came to more (very unusual) she'd ask me to 'take something off', as she absolutely refused to ask for tick.

The only other thing I'd say is that these days it really does pay to shop around - there are plenty of bargains to be had if you look.

Big Gee
 
The only other thing I'd say is that these days it really does pay to shop around - there are plenty of bargains to be had if you look.
Click to expand...

You're right, Big Gee. A survey conducted a week or so ago about the taste of tomato sauce put only one named brand in the Top Ten (and that was about number 7). All the preferred brands were own brands and Heinz came last of all!

I used to like Batchelors Tomato Cup-A-Soups and bought some from a local importer here. It tasted foul! They've taken so much salt out of the stuff that it really is a revolting taste now.

Maurice
 
Maurice, we don't eat anywhere near as much meat as we used to, as my missus is just about 100% veggie, and I find too much red meat starts off my IBS, so there's not a lot of point in our going to our local (very good) butcher's to stock up. Scoff if you like, but for the relatively small amount we now buy, Lidl's meat and chicken is as good or better as our local butcher's, and a darn sight cheaper. Their veg counter is pretty good, too. Unfortunately they don't do fresh bread - the stuff they do sell is garbage in comparion to Sainsbury's, and I do like good bread. And Lidl's eggs are like marbles.

I honestly think a lot of people go to Tesco's just out of habit.

Big Gee
 
Big Gee:

Well I've never liked red meat, especially lamb, and it's mainly Lidl turkey breasts and chicken and fish for me too. I'm an IBS sufferer too, but never managed to work out what triggers it. I also used to suffer with horrendous migraines - stopped having milk and it was like turning a tap off. Can't stand the stuff now!

My OH is just the opposite - carnivorous & a milk drinker to boot, but I think she's immune to all the bugs I get !!!!

Out here we have Lidl, Carrefour, and Xalkiadakis (part of the SPAR group), so we don't have to contend with Tesco or any of the other big chains. Don't buy imported stuff and you can live quite cheaply.

Maurice
 
my poor old mom used the slate or strap sometimes, harry, the corner shop knew her well and my dad and used to let us have things till friday , from about wednesday without these kind and helpfull corner stores many would have gone very hungrey in the 50's, but it kind of summed up the 50's as a poor but careing socitey especially in good old brum.
paul
 
I remember the corner shop in Newton Road Sparkhill and every Saturday through to Thursday going across to get things on the slate and then paying up Friday and then starting again next day..what a way to live but for large families like ours it was the likes of the shopkeeper, a Mrs Shipman,that kept us going ,imaging going to Tescos today and try getting things on the slate
 
hi ed and paul...same here...with 6 children to feed our mom had the odd few groceries on the slate..it was a way of life for lots of families and no one thought anything about it......there were lots in the same boat...really when you think about it the have now pay later rule is still going on....its just that we have now replaced the strap book for what called a credit card....i see no difference between the two...

lyn
 
ASTONITE said:
Just going through some papers when I came across this list, written in the back of a book printed in 1957, the prices are fascinating and I think the person who wrote it must have had a sweet tooth as well as a high fat intake.View attachment 68401
Click to expand...

I remember writing lists like this when I was a child and also first married. I used to take it to the local grocers and they would make the box up with all the goods. The way those ladies could tot up the money in those days was worth seeing. No one needed a calculator then.
 
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