Beyond The Counter - The Grocery Store

 

Burridge's Grocery Store, Miramar, Wellington 1948

One of the reasons that grocers and greengrocers (see previous posts) were able to maintain such an orderly arrangement of their wares was to bar the customers from hands-on contact with the merchandise. There was to be no squeezing of the plums and tapping or sounding of the watermelon, not even a caressing of a jar of raspberry jam or even a can of baked beans, thank you very much! 

Hard to imagine that today's customers would tolerate for a minute being separated from their prospective purchases. Counters would be stormed, food riots would ensue if the punters couldn't read the nutrition labels, fondle the packages etc.

I vaguely recall memories as a young child of being in the premises of a store like Burridge's grocery pictured above. Smith's grocery store, I believe it was called - after Mr Smith, of course. It was a Four Square store, I think, a grocery cooperative chain but with individual stores owned by proprietors.

I recall a long counter, not so much light as in Burridge's, the smell of flour and other food items, hardwood floors, and a wooden chair or two next to the counter on the customer's side, presumably for housewives to rest their shopping bag upon or to pop a small child on for a moment or two while groceries were ordered and placed on the counter and the total tabulated. Men in white full length aprons waited upon the customers, mainly housewives. I must have been small because the memory of the counter is that it was high! 

Soon the first supermarket opened down the street and Smith's in a very short time was no more. Fickle customers. The corner dairy across the street, however, survived for decades afterwards because the supermarket didn't keep the "open all hours" schedule of a corner store. Not until a change in the shop trading hours laws occurred in the 1980s, anyway.

 Four Square Jigsaw Puzzle Cover circa 1950s

 

Some of the groceries offered for sale by Four Square grocery stores in the 1950s. Brands such as Weet Bix, Milo, and Pam's survive down to the present, but the packages are brighter, more alluring, and on-so modern... 

Green Grocers of New Zealand, 1920s - #4

A Chinese family in their green grocer's store, circa 1910s or 1920s. Unidentified.

The images in this short series of green grocer stores underscore the orderliness of the produce, everything stacked in its place, or strung like this row of pineapples above the patrons' and greengrocer's heads.

One wonders how many of the young 'uns in this photo led this business into the next generation. I'd pick all three were and that they passed it on to the next generation.A few of the descendants will, of course, have escaped the kingdom of pineapples and thickets of asparagus.

Green Grocers of New Zealand, 1920s - #3

Green Grocery store interior, circa 1920s, unidentified.

If you look closely you can see you can also buy a man's head to go with your basket of apples! A woman (?) (blurred image) sits behind the counter to the right.

The Chinese lanterns hanging from the ceiling and the green grocery staff are subtle reminders of the success with which Chinese entrepreneurs developed the retail trade in fruit & vegetables around the globe, including New Zealand. This often extended into a vertically-integrated business enterprise that began in market gardening, extended to processing, and retailing.

Green Grocers of New Zealand, 1920s - #2

Greengrocer store interior, circa 1920s. Unidentified location.

Greengrocer's store interior from the 1920s, bunches of grapes hanging by the hook. The individual grapes appear to be larger than the insipid ones on offer at my local supermarket.

Another apple poster displayed on the back wall - top left corner of photo. Click image for larger view.

Once again store, location, & photographer unidentified.

Benge & Pratt Store Fire and Explosion, The Funeral Procession, 31st March 1914, Upper Hutt #6

 

The Funeral Procession for four of the those killed in the Benge & Pratt store explosion, 31st March 1914. Photo: Joseph Zachariah. Alexander Turnbull Library.

The funeral for four of those killed in the Benge & Pratt store explosion on 28-29 March, 1914 was held on 31st March. Constable Mahoney, Postmaster Comeskey, Messrs Flynn and Toohey were interned in Upper Hutt while separate funerals were held in Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt respectively for Messrs Vivian and Taylor on the same day. The last named was given a military burial in Wallaceville.

The funeral cortege assembled outside the police station and post office directly opposite the site of the disaster. It then proceeded south down Main Street to the Roman Catholic Church where all four of the deceased were members.

The funeral procession was headed by a large contingent of police followed by uniformed railwaymen. They have already passed the place where the above photo is taken as the four caskets borne by pall bearers follow. Immediately following the caskets are family members of the deceased with the next group just making the corner turn including the mayors of Upper Hutt and Wellington, the local MP, Mr Wilford, and the Ministers of Internal Affairs, Justice and Public Works. Some 250-300 members of the public were estimated to have participated in the procession. 

Source: The Evening Post, 31 March 1914, p. 8.

Benge & Pratt Store Fire and Explosion, 28 March 1914, Upper Hutt #5

 

The Benge & Pratt Store Fire & Explosion. The body of William Flynn, 35, railway guard, was recovered approximately where the man is standing on the footpath in the middle of the picture. The Provincial Hotel may be seen in the background. A garden hose was deployed from the upper landing on the staircase in a futile effort to hold the flames back. Click on image for larger view. Photo: Joseph Zachariah, "Zak", 1914. Alexander Turnbull Library

Renowned Wellington photographer, Joseph Zachariah, was quickly on the scene of the Benge & Pratt store fire and explosion in the days following. In the early 1900s, photographs were not yet printed in daily newspapers. By 1914, they were starting to appear as seen in yesterday's post from the Evening Post of 30 March 1914. 

Residents of a community instead relied upon local photographers to capture images of local happenings such as parades, sports events, and disasters. Typically, these would be sold as real photo postcards by photographers and buyers would either keep them in their personal collections or send them to family & friends elsewhere to keep them up to date on the local happenings. The emphasis was on timeliness so photographers such as "Zak", who became a master at the art, would appear on the scene smartly to take photos and within just a few days have copies for sale from their premises, newsagents, bookstores and the like.

Benge & Pratt Store Fire & Explosion, 28 March 1914, Upper Hutt #3

 

 

Evening Post, 30 March 1914, p. 7

The massive explosion that ripped through Benge & Pratt's store at 12:10 am on  29 March 1914, killed five men instantly, a further three were to die of their injuries later, and another 6 or so were injured. 

Just prior to the explosion, Constable Mahoney realized that the fire had taken such hold that it was now time to abandon rescue efforts and he declared it was time to go in and get the boys out. As he entered the building, it was the last time he was seen alive.

A bystander observed that when the explosion occurred, the roof of the store opened up like the petals of a flower and a spout of flame shot high up into the air with a deafening roar. Those gathered outside were knocked to the ground, stunned. Windows were blown in up to half a mile away, while the post office across the street received the full blast of the explosion. 

A shower of  glass, corrugated iron sheets, heavy verandah posts, and heavy scantlings rained down on the surrounding area. All who were present or who saw the aftermath were amazed that more were not killed or injured.

The explosion was heard in Lower Hutt and Petone, and even as far away as Kaiwarra gorge. 

Three helpers seriously injured by the explosion were rushed by special train down the line to Wellington Hospital, but all ultimately succumbed to their injuries over the following month, raising the final death toll to 8.

Evening Post, 30 March 1914, p. 7