MR LITTLE’S GROCERY. WEST PRESTON. MELBOURNE. 1953
Mr Little’s grocery store was on the corner of Gilbert Road and Cooper Street in West Preston, a northern suburb of Melbourne, about 9 kms from the CBD.
Mr Little wears a shirt, tie and white jacket. The customary outfit for store-keepers.
At the time of this photo, the store had recently transitioned into a ’Cash and Carry’ format. That is… it had moved from the traditional arrangement, whereby most of the produce was kept behind a long counter along a side wall, to one where it was stored on shelves in 2-3 aisles and selected directly by customers: a fore-runner to the widespread arrival of Supermarkets.
Here, a customer is being served on a wet day. She wears a damp gaberdine overcoat with a plastic rain-proof bonnet. She will have likely walked to the shop carrying her cane shopping basket and shopping list - and will walk home again, with her purchases.
Of interest, the products in view include…
Laxettes 2/6 (Two shillings & six pence) or 25 cents
Packets of Dolly Dye,
Tom Piper ‘Steak and Vege’s and ‘Wham’.
Imperial Camp Pie 1/10 or 18 cents.
Peck’s Paste 1/8 about 17 cents
Nestle’s Pineapple Creams: 1/10
FOOTNOTE…
I know this store. I was 5 or 6 years of age when this photo was taken and I remember both the old store layout - and the conversion to ‘Cash and Carry’ format. I also remember how impressed was my mother with the new layout. She, like this lady, would walk to the store with me in tow (in my pre-school years) with my younger brother in the pusher.
(photo credit: Laurie Richards)
Mr Little’s grocery store was on the corner of Gilbert Road and Cooper Street in West Preston, a northern suburb of Melbourne, about 9 kms from the CBD.
Mr Little wears a shirt, tie and white jacket. The customary outfit for store-keepers.
At the time of this photo, the store had recently transitioned into a ’Cash and Carry’ format. That is… it had moved from the traditional arrangement, whereby most of the produce was kept behind a long counter along a side wall, to one where it was stored on shelves in 2-3 aisles and selected directly by customers: a fore-runner to the widespread arrival of Supermarkets.
Here, a customer is being served on a wet day. She wears a damp gaberdine overcoat with a plastic rain-proof bonnet. She will have likely walked to the shop carrying her cane shopping basket and shopping list - and will walk home again, with her purchases.
Of interest, the products in view include…
Laxettes 2/6 (Two shillings & six pence) or 25 cents
Packets of Dolly Dye,
Tom Piper ‘Steak and Vege’s and ‘Wham’.
Imperial Camp Pie 1/10 or 18 cents.
Peck’s Paste 1/8 about 17 cents
Nestle’s Pineapple Creams: 1/10
FOOTNOTE…
I know this store. I was 5 or 6 years of age when this photo was taken and I remember both the old store layout - and the conversion to ‘Cash and Carry’ format. I also remember how impressed was my mother with the new layout. She, like this lady, would walk to the store with me in tow (in my pre-school years) with my younger brother in the pusher.
(photo credit: Laurie Richards)
Source: FB post on Old Time Photos of Yesteryear' by David Panther on Dec 10, 2022 - https://www.facebook.com/groups/672164369508943/permalink/6051159688276024
