Vintage Grocery Stores

About Vintage Grocery Stores

Take a stroll down the aisles of memory and recall the grocery stores and shopping habits of yesteryear! Vintage Grocery Stores packs 15 multiple-choice questions with a mix of 8 easy, 5 medium, 2 hard questions into a relaxed session of roughly 7 minutes — no sign-up, no timer pressure. An explanation appears after every answer, and finishing once a day keeps your streak alive.

A few sample questions

1. 1. Which grocery store chain introduced the first self-service shopping concept in 1916, allowing customers to select their own items?

   Answer: Piggly Wiggly

   Piggly Wiggly, founded by Clarence Saunders in Memphis, Tennessee in 1916, was the first self-service grocery store, revolutionizing the way Americans shopped for food.

2. 2. What did A&P stand for, the grocery chain that was once the largest retailer in the world?

   Answer: Atlantic & Pacific

   A&P stood for the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company. Founded in 1859, it was the largest grocery chain in America for much of the 20th century.

3. 3. What collectible items did many grocery stores give to customers with their purchases in the 1950s and 1960s, which could be redeemed for household goods?

   Answer: S&H Green Stamps

   S&H Green Stamps were given out by grocery stores and gas stations from the 1930s through the 1980s. Customers collected them in booklets and redeemed them for merchandise.

4. 4. Before self-service, what did grocery store clerks do when a customer came in with a shopping list?

   Answer: Gathered all the items for them

   Before self-service stores, customers handed their shopping list to a clerk who would gather all the items from behind counters and shelves. This was the standard until the 1930s-1940s.

5. 5. Which iconic grocery store feature was introduced by Sylvan Goldman in 1937 at his Humpty Dumpty stores in Oklahoma City?

   Answer: Shopping cart

   Sylvan Goldman invented the shopping cart in 1937 to help customers carry more groceries. Initially, shoppers resisted using them until Goldman hired models to push them around the store.

Things you'll learn along the way

• ✓Corner stores or mom-and-pop shops were the backbone of neighborhood grocery shopping before supermarkets dominated. The shopkeeper often knew every customer by name.
• ✓A&P created the Ann Page brand as a private-label line for baked goods, preserves, and other food products. It was one of the earliest and most successful store brands.
• ✓The deli counter in 1960s grocery stores commonly offered cold cuts like bologna, salami, ham, and cheeses like American and Swiss, all sliced fresh to order.