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  • The Way Grandma Used To...

Grandma's Grocery truck

4/27/2016

9 Comments

 
I live on a small farm but I am blessed to be within a 15 minute drive of all things modern.  I can hop in on of our vehicles (we have more than one as do most American families these days) and head to the grocery, gas station, drug store, mall, or any other modern convenience in a jiffy.  This wasn't the case back in my grandmother's day.  

As I have mentioned before my grandmother was born just after the start of the Great Depression and growing up during her formative years she lived on a farm.  She recently shared with me some of her memories of the grocery trucks that would cater to the farm ladies, most of whom did not drive, and her anticipation as a child of seeing the wonderful things on that truck that came down the dusty lane.

I don't know if this picture is an accurate representation, it is what I was able to find with a quick google search, both the inside and out of what a grocery truck looked like in the 1930's
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photo courtesy of Sanduskyhistory
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photo courtesy vintage truck magazine
Grandma shared with me that the grocery truck would come weekly and the sight of which was a welcome image for those farm wives whose husbands were out in the fields for long work hours. She also remembers that sometimes on Fridays a man would come by with fresh fish on ice in his truck, selling his wares, and often a Peach truck would come as well.  Grandma remembers that when the fish man came it was a treat to have fresh fish, there was no refrigeration so that meant a meal of fish was in short order.  

When the peach man came the children were not allowed but 1 fresh peach each as my great grandmother would can her precious bounty of juicy peaches for a treat in the winter. 

In the fall, grandma reports that a man would come, selling a load of coal. My great grandfather would buy his winter supply that way. The other heat was courtesy of all the wood my great grandfather would cut for the wood stoves.

Grandma doesn't remember every having boxed cereal in her younger years (something she does enjoy now).  She did tell me that her mother brought rolled oats that they sometimes had for breakfast.  Not the instant kind, the kind that you cooked and the kettle was hard to wash she remembers.

Grandma once mentioned to me the instant lemon pudding type of dessert she remembered getting as a treat from the grocery man, I searched high and low on the internet and when I showed her the pictures I found she said this was the one she remembered.
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I often wonder what my children and grandchildren will look back at and laugh about when they talk of my life as I age.  What things that I now take for granted will be so antiquated to them as to elicit a "can you believe it?"

Personally, I can see the value in a grocery truck, sometimes I wish I could just stay at my own piece of heaven and let the food stuffs come to me...
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9 Comments
Grandma Merrilyn
4/27/2016 08:49:48 am

Your article was well written. The picture of the inside of the grocery truck was very different from the one I remember. The truck that came to our farm had shelves all around the inside space, Just room for the man to walk down the inside wall and reach for the articles that the farm ladies were interested in buying.
I don't remember the truck ever having fresh vegetables because the farm ladies always grew their own. It did carry bananas which was a real treat for us.

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incidentalfarmgirl link
4/28/2016 06:44:38 am

I just thought about this but I wonder if on his way back into town the grocery man might have loaded up with some fresh produce from the country ladies to sell back in town to the city ones?

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Robert link
4/27/2016 01:39:22 pm

Great article. I guess our version of the food truck would be webvan (no more) or even amazon prime (delivery within 2 hours based on where you are located). I remember when milk use to be delivered to the house. A little nostalgia. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.

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incidentalfarmgirl link
4/28/2016 06:43:33 am

Robert,
Thanks for letting me know I brought a smile to you today, I wish there was still a milk truck too!

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Alaska Fly Fishing Trips link
4/28/2016 03:05:21 am

very nice blog thanks for sharing it.

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incidentalfarmgirl link
4/28/2016 06:42:45 am

Hi Alaska,
Thanks so much for stopping by, if you like the tales of the way grandma's life was, I have a whole section for just that under the blog bar..titled aptly "The way Grandma Used to" Hope to see you back again soon!

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Mettie
4/28/2016 01:13:45 pm

In my younger years we lived in a city. I. remember having a milk truck, a bread truck, an ice truck and a rag truck! The rag man came with a horse and wagon (early 1959's), but I'm not sure if he sold rags or collected rags or what he did with them.. Does anyone know?

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incidentalfarmgirl link
4/29/2016 06:21:29 am

Hi Mettie,
I chatted with grandma about his one and she remembers the rag man too. She said he didn't frequent the farms as most of the farm ladies made their rags into rag rugs. I then consulted my mom who shared an article in a local newspaper with me, the part I thought you would find interesting was as follows: "There was a regular "rag-man"too. He came in search of old clothes, discarded cloth of any kind, and old newspapers. With his hand held scale he would weigh what you gave him and pay a cent or two a pound for it." -Mary Alice Mielke. Hope that helps Mettie!

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Best Persian Grocery link
10/24/2018 07:32:03 am

I found your this post while searching for some related information on blog search...Its a good post..keep posting and update the information.

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    Wife to a wonderful husband, Daughter of the King, Mother of 6 (one with an xtra chromosome), and an incidental farm girl.

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