I only remember one greengrocers from when I was growing up in Edgware in the
1940s. It was called Waltons and was
next to Edgware tube station. All I ever remember my mother buying there were
potatoes, although I suppose she would have bought other seasonal vegetables
and fruit. The potatoes were weighed out for each customer using the
'balance' type of scales with
heavy weights on one side and a large dusty scoop on the other. The potatoes were
then tipped into a brown paper bag.
The door of the greengrocers was always open and it was always draughty inside.
It was also scruffy because the the potatoes, carrots and other vegetables
came straight out of the ground unwashed and unbagged in rough wooden crates.
Layers of dust seemed to cover everywhere.
Greengrocers,
probably late 1940s or possibly early 1950s: a special display for the Empire
Window Dressing Competition. The shop was in Finsbury Park, north London
and belonged to Roy Eustance. The photo is courtesy of his relative Viv Nunn.
Placard showing the purpose of the display, which helps
with the dating of the photos. Detail from the above photo.
Placard advertising Canadian apples carries reminiscences
of the Canadian merchant seamen who risked their lives bringing in apples
for children during World War II. Detail from the above photo.
This display is worth examining in some detail because it is so different
from anything that I ever saw in wartime. In fact that is how it can be dated
to after the war when the seas had become safe for merchant seamen to bring
in more than our basic necessities. Yet it would not have been very much after
the war because the British Empire was gradually dismantled after that.
The imported goods that would never have been seen on display in wartime
Britain are the grapes and bananas. Nevertheless, the display show the
continuing shortages in that so much of it is made up of British seasonal goods,
particularly apples and pears.
The display prices are clearly marked in the old money of
pounds, shillings and pence.
Another detail from the above photo, showing the propensity of apples and pears, ie
home grown produce with prices marked in the old money of
shillings and pence. Another indication of
the general shortages is the notice suggesting that customers simply need
to ask in order to buy bananas. Only the bananas at the back and the grapes
are imported.
This website Join me in the 1900s is also known as
Join me in the 1900's and is © Pat Cryer.
The 1940s and 1950s are also written as the 1940's and 1950's.
