Reading and commenting on Five Centres blog post about various old supermarket brands kicked off a bit of reminiscing within me this week. Of course in the context of the piece, I thought about the different brands I had possibly seen in a little over 25 years. It also got me thinking about how our family shopped back in those days.
My parents did frequent the Supermarket on a weekly basis, right from the late 70's when they got married. However, unlike most modern families, this wasn't their only shopping trip of the week. Many a Saturday morning would be spent picking up the Fruit and Vegetables, Meat, Toiletries and Household Cleaners, Haberdashery and Hardware needed for the following week from the various market stalls and the small independent shops in the town centre. Don't forget that this was in an age when the only shops that opened on a Sunday were probably the Newsagents, Petrol Station and the odd Convenience Store if you were lucky. Most supermarkets only had one night a week where they would open late, and even then it would be until 20:00. Obviously to any younger readers who might stumble across this blog (god I make myself sound old!), this would seem a far cry from the one-stop shops we have now which come in the form of Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Tesco that only close for two days of the year now. Having your shopping delivered by these shops wasn't even thought of. If you were lucky, one of the local 'Corner Shops' might drop it off in the van whilst they were out and about but the price of your shopping would be alot more.
These memories date back to a time when the housewife was more common in the average household. They would have more time at home to carry out the chores and therefore had plenty of free time at weekends to do the shopping and spend with the family. By this comment I don't wish to come across as sexist. In fact I would go as far as to say that they should be celebrated for the way they kept all the family together and how their homes were run efficiently. No mean feat in my eyes.
As times have changed, so have people and families. There are alot more families where both parents go out to work to keep a good standard of living. This is clearly where the one-stop shop comes into its own. A couple of hours can be spent in one place picking up all the items you need. For the sake of a small charge, you can even do it from the comfort of your armchair and have it delivered to your door. Some believe this is a small price to pay for the time and stress it saves, particularly if ill-behaved children really get on your nerves!
In our house, we still do a weekly shop to the supermarket. Mrs. S does this most weeks at the moment as she is still on maternity leave from work. This is interspersed with the odd visit to Costco for bulk buying of certain items and some meat. The main meat purchases are made through our local butcher. These are a dying breed on our local High Streets unfortunately as people look no further than the supermarket. Our local family run butcher produces first class quality meat. I hope to enjoy his meat for many years to come.
What I hoped to achieve with this post was to illustrate the changes in our shopping habits due to how peoples lifestyle have altered. From where we currently are with our lifestyles and habits, I wonder how they will change next.
These memories date back to a time when the housewife was more common in the average household. They would have more time at home to carry out the chores and therefore had plenty of free time at weekends to do the shopping and spend with the family. By this comment I don't wish to come across as sexist. In fact I would go as far as to say that they should be celebrated for the way they kept all the family together and how their homes were run efficiently. No mean feat in my eyes.
As times have changed, so have people and families. There are alot more families where both parents go out to work to keep a good standard of living. This is clearly where the one-stop shop comes into its own. A couple of hours can be spent in one place picking up all the items you need. For the sake of a small charge, you can even do it from the comfort of your armchair and have it delivered to your door. Some believe this is a small price to pay for the time and stress it saves, particularly if ill-behaved children really get on your nerves!
In our house, we still do a weekly shop to the supermarket. Mrs. S does this most weeks at the moment as she is still on maternity leave from work. This is interspersed with the odd visit to Costco for bulk buying of certain items and some meat. The main meat purchases are made through our local butcher. These are a dying breed on our local High Streets unfortunately as people look no further than the supermarket. Our local family run butcher produces first class quality meat. I hope to enjoy his meat for many years to come.
What I hoped to achieve with this post was to illustrate the changes in our shopping habits due to how peoples lifestyle have altered. From where we currently are with our lifestyles and habits, I wonder how they will change next.
