Caldwell County MO Archives History .....EARLY GROCERY STORES IN CALDWELL COUNTY ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mo/mofiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Karen Walker khw4@yahoo.com September 4, 2008, 4:36 pm EARLY GROCERY STORES IN CALDWELL COUNTY Narrators: Roy White, George Dudley, and Ollie Howard These narrators all have had experience in selling groceries in early and modern grocery stores, and hence have noted the differences which existed. In very early days, often the grocery store as such meant a saloon. The Uncle Davy Buster Saloon on Broadway in Hamilton is usually termed a grocery- saloon. This was in the 50s and 60s. Old timers say that in that time, most of the grocery stores sold whiskey from a barrel. "It was cheaper than kerosene," said Wm. T. Trosper of Breckenridge. Whiskey cost 35 cents the gallon and kerosene cost 75 cents. This was at the old Ollie McWilliams store in Breckenridge in the 60s. In the late 70s in Hamilton near the location of the present First Bank, was a small shack grocery which the paper called "Oasis" where whiskey was sold, but by that time, whiskey in a grocery store was disreputable business. John Spratt began his business life in Hamilton by running a grocery just south of the old elevator on south Main. It was in 1868 and he, on his opening day, had a barrel of whiskey with tin cups handy for all who wished to take a drink at his expense. His son and daughter-in-law tell this. One of the early grocers was Squire Otis Richardson who had a small shop east of the Kemper store on the moving picture site. He also ran the post office there. In general, however, grocery stores were simply a "department" of general stores, where one side was given to groceries and the other to dry goods and hardware. This refers to the 50s, 60s, and 70s. A few stores in town continued this into the 80s. The old McCoy stand, corner Mill and Broadway in Hamilton, sold bolts of muslin, shoes, thread, calico up to the late 80s in order to draw country people who would bring in butter and eggs and take the pay out in trade. That was a common way to do in early stores. The stock in early grocery stores was quite different from today. Sugar was largely dark or light brown. White was higher. Coffee was sold largely green and of course unground, for every one had a coffee mill used every morning. The green coffee was roasted in the home oven. Robert Morris says that you got a great big sack for a dollar, the way most folks bought it. It was about 1880 that the first package coffee came into the county, Arbuckles, it cost about 15 cents a pound and was fine. Lyons package coffee soon followed. Crackers came in a barrel, and the merchants sold them at ten cents a pound. He picked them out of the barrel with his bare hands and no one thought of hygiene. Sweet crackers were about the only type of cookies. Candy was kept in candy jars, and not many jars at that. They were set on a shelf. At Christmas, a large supply was brought on, in fancy shapes like candy apples, pears, rabbits. Hourhound and stick candy were usually seen. Besides the cracker barrels, other barrels sat along the store walls, with sugar, beans, coffee and dried fruit. Loafers found these barrels good seats and sampled the contents. Flour also was brought on in barrels and the old saying "She must have stuck her head in the flour barrel" as applied to an over powdered woman, had its origin in the fact that some women did use flour (possibly from the barrel) as a cosmetic. Tea and spices were kept in small compartments of a tin container, all labelled. No foods were sold then as package goods. The first package goods were shunned by the careful housewife as needless extravagance. Lemons in the early 70s were not seen in a grocery store and if you got one, you either bought it from a train boy as the train went thru or you sent off for it. Bananas were not in Caldwell county stores at that time. Most any middle aged person around here can remember his first banana. Oranges were brought on for holiday trade, but were not an ordinary staple food as now. Mrs. Eldredge says that her father Dr. Tuttle came here in 1870 and the grocery stores did not keep cod fish, so when he had business in Kansas City, he would bring back cod fish for all the Yankees in town. Later such fish were for sale in barrels. Some goods were not even dreamed of in the early grocery stores: jelly, preserves, lettuce, olives, bread, cakes, rolls, milk, macaroni, soap, pencils tablets. You bought ink, tablets, soap from the drug stores. Meat came from the meat markets. Part of the business fifty years ago consisted of barter for butter and eggs. When he bought butter, he often would take out his pocket knife and sample it. Chewing gum was sold about 1880, may be earlier. It was in the form of an immense heart with a big picture on it and cost a penny. Children picked out the heart with the prettiest picture on it to save for their scrap books. Black Jack soon came out and made a big hit because it could be pulled out. Queens ware and glassware were considered a part of the grocer's stock, often a whole side being given to it. Few grocers had refrigerators even in the 80s, but all had good cellars where lard, butter, eggs and the like were kept. The first grocery store delivery wagon in Hamilton was run by R.L. White, grocer on the east side of south Main from 1879 on for several years. In the 80s, most of the grocers had a joint delivery wagon, and the grocer hung out a red flag when it was needed at his store. Grocery stores kept open till 10 or 11 o'clock for the convenience of tardy customers. besides it made an excellent free loafing place. Customers frequently let their bills run for a long time, paying once a year. Sometimes the customers carried a small book in which the merchant entered the purchase. Then sales slips were unknown, and people had to depend on the merchant's entries on the books. Interviews Fall 1934. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mo/caldwell/history/other/earlygro262gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mofiles/ File size: 6.5 Kb