On November 2, 2022

Grocery shopping in the 1950s to 1970s

By Mary Ellen Shaw

Shopping for food in Rutland back in the ’50s was an entirely different experience than it is today. The Rutland Directory for 1955 has 50 listings under the heading of “Grocer.”

Only two of those stores were large chain stores. One of them was the A & P (Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company) at 105 West St. The other was the First National store located at 9-13 Merchants Row. Both stores were on corners and parking was on the back side of each building. My mother usually shopped at the First National but there was often something that they didn’t carry so A&P would be our next stop.

I remember the aroma of freshly ground coffee beans as you entered the back door of the First National. They offered many choices when it came to grinding coffee. A store employee ground it for you as you waited.

There were a few grocery stores that were mid-size — smaller than the two main grocery stores but larger than the numerous neighborhood markets. One of the main attractions of these mid-size stores was their meat counters. A butcher/meat cutter provided you with such things as a steak of your choice or freshly ground hamburg. My father was the “meat shopper” and it was a weekly event for him to go to the Percy P Wood Store at 109 Lincoln Ave. He always went on a Tuesday afternoon which was his scheduled time off from work. It was a ritual for him to come home with cube steaks for supper that night. The well stocked shelves usually had something else that we needed and my father would pick up items as he made his way from the meat counter to the checkout.

At the other end of town was the South End Market at 102 Strongs Ave. That meat counter was also at the back of the store. Their shelves were also full of grocery items that you could purchase while you were in there. South End was still popular in the ’70s when my husband, Peter, and I began our married life. It was our “go to” place for meat. Owners and brothers, Ted and Sal Salerni, would custom cut whatever we wanted. I remember they were quite disappointed when I told them I didn’t like meat that was “marbled.” They couldn’t convince me that it was more tender that way!

Another mid-size store that had a meat section was California Fruit Market at 186 West Street. If you went strictly by its name you would expect to shop there for fruit, but meat along with numerous grocery items could be found there. The meat was nicely displayed at the front of the store. When I was a child in the ’50s, I remember seeing owner, Tony Poalino, behind the meat counter. By the late ’70s, the next owner, Mike Henry, had the honor of providing customers with meat. On Sunday afternoons my husband and I would stop there to get steaks on our way home from a summer afternoon at Lake Bomoseen. They were a delicious treat on the grill. The wives of both Tony and Mike had an active role in the store. The Poalinos’ son, Dick, also worked there. Running the store was a family affair.

Smaller in size than the three previously mentioned stores but another great place to purchase meat was Carrigan’s Market at 47 Woodstock Ave. Owner Marty Carrigan could be found behind the meat counter and his wife, Mary (Mae), was often at the cash register up front. Their son, Tommy, also worked at the store — another family venture.

There were too many neighborhood grocery stores to mention individually. It was a way of life back in the ’50s to be able to walk to a nearby store and get the essentials. Most families only had one car and the husband usually drove it to work. The majority of their wives were “stay-at-home-moms,” so when they needed something at the neighborhood grocery store they often sent their children to pick up the items. In my neighborhood we went to Pete’s Market on Terrill Street. That store even had a small meat counter. It seems like meat was the draw to getting customers inside many stores back in the day.

In the good weather kids would ride their bikes and put the items in a basket that was attached to the handlebars. We were given money for a popsicle or ice cream sandwich which we “scarfed down” before we headed back home on our bikes.

Life was pretty simple back in those days and the older one gets the more appealing a simple life looks!

Do you want to submit feedback to the editor?

Send Us An Email!

Related Posts

What if Vt’s housing crisis was a bridge?

April 23, 2025
On June 11, 2023, a tanker truck full of gasoline was traveling on Philadelphia’s Interstate 95 when it approached an off-ramp and overturned. The truck spilled 2,500 gallons of gasoline mixed with ethanol, which then ignited. Philadelphia Fire Captain Boyd reported, “Every square foot of the underpass was nothing but flame.” The fire ran into…

Green Up Day is May 3

April 23, 2025
When I went to Kent Pond the other week to launch for the first time, I was all stoked to enjoy the beauty of nature right from the boat launch. But the joke was on me because right behind the treasured bench was a bag of unattended—you guessed it—dog poop. How nice of someone to…

A puzzling situation

April 23, 2025
Over the years, I’ve told my son at least a thousand times, “It’s a puzzle, figure it out.” Borne of necessity, I used the phrase to promote action in my child, given that his first response to difficulty, traditionally, was to either give up or make a half-hearted attempt. Because of his laissez-faire attitude, my…

Mating rituals of muskrats

April 23, 2025
Muskrat mating is so sensational that songs have been written about it. Fans of 1970s pop music might be familiar with a certain ballad, written by Willis Alan Ramsey and popularized by bands like America and Captain & Tennille, about two anthropomorphic muskrats falling in love. Though you probably won’t find breeding muskrats “nibblin’ on…