What Grocery Stores Have Looked Like Over the Years
Before shopping carts, clerks used to fetch your items—kind of like lo-fi Instacart.
A lot has changed through human history, but one constant is that we have always needed food—and thought of many ways to trade for it. An open-air market in ancient times wasn't all that different from a farmer's market, besides the apparent wardrobe and hygiene changes. If you wonder how much things have changed and stayed the same, here's what grocery stores have looked like over the years, from old-timey general stores to shiny modern supermarkets.
General Store in Minnesota, 1867
Before there was the Mall of America in Minnesota, residents were served by smaller general stores for their needs. Clearly, one of these shoppers either lives far away or is getting a big grocery haul since there's a horse and buggy parked in front.
Wicker & Krebs Dry Goods
In another 19th-century Minnesota spot, a few men are lounging outside. The term "Dry Goods" in U.S. stores referred to textiles, toiletries, and staples like flour, sugar, tobacco, and coffee that could be stored dry.
Lee Family Store in Manhattan's Chinatown
Founded in 1888 by the Lee family, this store on 32 Mott Street in Manhattan's Chinatown sold imported Chinese goods. Members of the family later played an instrumental role in early Chinese cinema.
Parisian Grocery Store During Franco-Prussian War
The long queue outside this grocery store in Paris may have been a side effect of slower service due to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.
Gwalia Supply Store Display
The Museum of Welsh Life has a display of the old Gwalia Supply store, which was a family business founded in Ogmore Vale, Glamorgan in 1880.
Gwalia Supply Interior
Here's a peek at what the inside of the store looked like. It was founded by William Llewellyn and expanded to have a grocery, bakery, ironmonger, pharmacy, and more. It became so popular that "Gwalia Store" is now a somewhat common term in Wales with imitators unconnected to the original still around today.
San Francisco's Chinatown, 1885
This store has both meat and produce set up in an enticing display in a shopping area of the Chinatown neighborhood in San Francisco.
Parisian General Store
Here's a general store taking up a whole block in Paris with some extravagant window displays clearly meant to capture the attention of passersby in buggies or walking by.
Chinese Merchants in King's Bazaar, Burma
These vendors are working in a stall in King's Bazaar in the city of Mandalay, Burma. It must have been a crowded and hot workday since both people posing have fans at the ready.
Best of Both Worlds, Grocery Store & Bar
Here's a shot of a bunch of locals posing in front of their town's grocery store. There's even an attached bar room on the right if you want to take the edge off before haggling.
Grocery Store & Customers, Egypt
This circa-1888 shot in the Egyptian capital city of Cairo shows customers and vendors outside a grocery store. It seems a textile merchant is set up next door given the huge stack of rugs.
The Roell Bros Store, 1890
The Roell Bros. store in the U.S. clearly had a hefty budget when this photo was taken, given the massive display of whole chickens on the right. The fruits and veggies on the left look super fresh even in black-and-white.
R.H. Cleaves Grocery & Bakery
On the much smaller side of things, here's a tiny grocery store and bakery operating somewhere remote in America. The guys in buggies could be customers or maybe even workers getting ready for deliveries.
Antique General Store Toy, 1890s
Kids in the 19th century liked playing pretend just as much as now. Here's a cool toy set featuring a general store along with figurines of the clerk and customers.
Klondike Trading Co., Alaska
Sometimes a tent will have to do the trick! During the Klondike Gold Rush between 1896 and 1899, some 100,000 prospectors traveled to the Klondike Region in northwestern Canada. Alaska was a pit stop for many of these traveling prospectors, so this trading tent probably helped them get new supplies for their long journeys.
Men in Doorway of Dresbach & Hollinger Store
General stores seemed to be a great place for locals to meet up and hang out after work, or maybe even during work if you worked at the store.
Shopworker & Bananas in Grocery Store
Here's a photo of a young shop assistant adjusting a huge hanging display of bananas. There seems to be a sense of pride in his expression—maybe he just went through a tough process of hanging them up.
Fourth of July Parade Store Float, 1897
This horse-drawn store float dedicated to the superiority of Empress Flour was part of a 4th of July Parade in Kansas in 1897. We wonder if there were any baking bandits in the parade audience—this setup seems quite easily robbed!
Family General Store, Oklahoma
Here's another small, family-run business serving the farming communities of Oklahoma in the late 1800s.
Worker's Well-Deserved Break
A worker lounges while others pose in the back. Note the impressive can stacking in this shot.
Jacob is a Temporary Partnerships Editor at Hearst based in Queens, New York with his partner and cat Tiger. He loves learning and writing about Film and TV, Video Games, and the weird histories of unexpected subjects.
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