OT What hours were the supermarkets open?

OT As Black Friday creeps forward to Wednesday, I'm trying to renew my recolletction of what days and hours supermarkets were open in the early 50's.

I lived in Western Pa. near Youngstown, Ohio, in a city of 50,000 people, and my earliest recollection is that it was open from 9AM to

5PM, M-F, not on Sunday, and I can't remember about Saturday.

What about Saturday?

Later, maybe by 1956, the store started staying open to 6. There was only one supermarket on the north side. .

Even though my father worked downtown, and we lived in a nice totally residential area, it was only 1.5 miles. So he usually either walked to work or took the bus, and he often got a ride home with a friend while he was waiting for the bus to go home. There were only two streets that went north from downtown, and one was really northwest and went from industrial almost straight to farmland.

So my mother usallly had the car and she could go shopping between 9 and 3 (I got home from school at 3:35.) but women who worked or whose husband took the car must have had a problem.

Anyone remember? Where were you in the 50's?

Reply to
micky
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In the 50's I was in grammar school in Philadelphia. One car family, dad took it to work, mom walked to the supermarket. At least one or two days a week it was open until 9 PM. Other days, it was at least until 6 PM. Not sure of the opening time, it was about 8 or 9 AM.

Of course it was closed on Sunday. After all, who would want to go shopping on a Sunday?

About that time, in New Jersey the Pennsaulken Mart opened four days a week, Thursday to Sunday. It was just across the Tacony Palmyra Bridge (5¢ toll) and there would be a lot of car from Philly heading there. The Mart has a long building with many stores renting space on the outer two aisles and the center aisle. Everything from food to furnishings to haircuts was available.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

pennsylvania had sunday blue laws that kept most stores closed on sundays till perhaps 1980...

currently the biggest shopping day is sunday...

Reply to
bob haller

Philadelphia is a big city. They probably had that in New Castle, Pa. a few years later, but I'm prtty sure they cloesed at 5 or 6 -- wish I knew wish -- until 1955.

I've been across that bridge. Missed the Mart, however.

Reply to
micky

I was born in the mid-50's so I can't speak to store hours during that decade.

However, I do remember that is was in the early 70's when the Pathmark chain in NYC began staying open 24 hours on workdays and until midnight on weekends. As far as I recall, they were the chain that started the 24 hour supermarket hours that are so common today.

It's interesting that Pathmark (and other "modern" (at the time) chains) basically knocked A&P out of the supermarket business - a space that A&P once dominated - only to have A&P purchase Pathmark sometime in the 2000's, once again becoming once of the largest supermarket chains in the NYC area.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

No, but I'm just glad I never lived in Youngstown. Scary place. Are you Italian ?

Greg

Reply to
gregz

Another defeat for the USA.

Reply to
harry

Bergen County NJ still has those blue laws. Stores are closed on Sunday. I think supermarkets selling food are exempted. I remember back in the 60s when Monmouth County, where I live, had the same laws. We all went on Sunday just across the border to Ocean County, which was open. And the whole state must have some law on motor vehicle dealerships because I have never seen one open on Sunday.

Around here supermarkets were all open evenings and on Sunday in the early 60s.

Reply to
trader4

Back in the day, when my state had a "Blue Law," stores could be open on either Saturday or Sunday - pick one.

The demise of the silly Blue Laws was encouraged by one super-store chain's novel solution: A new company was organized. Named "SUNDAYCO" and was a wholly-owned subsidary of this city-wide chain.

Each Saturday night, it bought the entire physical plant and existing merchandise from the chain for "One dollar and other good and valuable considerations," ran the enterprises for 24 hours, then sold their holdings back to the parent company Sunday night.

Our betters who ran the state government were none to pleased with this affront. Even a couple of lawsuits were filed.

As I recall, the stores were full to overflowing every Sunday.

Reply to
HeyBub

No, I'm just young..

Actually my grandparents lived in Youngstown for a few years when they arrived in the US about 1892 and then moved to New Castle Pa. about 20 miles away.

Reply to
micky

Lawmakers still don't get it after all these years. Any capitalist enterprise is going to find a way around any stupid law the lawmakers can come up with. Like what's happening with Abomination Care right now. O_o

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

On 11/24/2012 3:01 PM, micky wrote: ...

In _early_ 50s, I was just beginning grade school (in town because mother insisted we go there instead of the one-room school where were intended to go up at Brown's corner a mile-and-a-half away).

So, I don't really recall store hours at the time altho I'm aware enough to know there were still the blue laws and very little other than service businesses were open at all on Sunday. I'm certain the grocery stores were open on Saturday; I'm guess their routine closing hours were probably about 6PM. There were nothing that would qualify as a "supermarket" although there was a Safeway and one or two stores of a local/regional chain that were of similar size and content. I say "or" because while I recall when the new south store was built (about 10 years later) I can't now recall whether there was another one or not--I have things I recollect that make me think both ways but the specifics just aren't there to be certain and I'm not up to looking for confirming data one way or the other... :)

This was a fairly small (15K) SW KS farm community w/ newly arriving oil/natural gas exploration and some small manufacturing for Cessna and Beech aircraft. It had more retail and services by far than the local population alone would suggest being the largest (by far) town for an area of roughly 80 mile radius to the east, south and west and 30-40 mi to the north. The estimated retail service population was probably about 50-60k at the time if included that service area...

Today the population of the town has almost doubled and it still serves as a regional center but the demographics and work other than farm has shifted radically. Amazingly there were crowds at the W-M supercenter to the extent the fire marshall locked them down to letting others in only as a group left...can't imagine what could _possibly_ be worth the hassle.

--

Reply to
dpb

It is hilarious though how the "conservative family value" stuff such as spending time with your family doesn't align with the conservative "absolutely anything is OK as long as someone is making money" mantra. Can't have it both ways.

Reply to
George

Larry Flint is big on family values? Wow, you sure have a distorted view of just who a capitalist is. O_o

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

Back in the 50s the standard was for most businesses to open at 8am - a practice that badly needs to be reinstated. Time I wait until a bank opens these days it is at least 9:30am - shoots then entire morning.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

You have an odd idea of a defeat seeing as how we achieved our stated goal.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

I remember them being open from 9 AM into early evening including weekends. A&P at least.

The Navy and college (IU).

Reply to
dadiOH

Micky,

I lived in Boston at that time. The local supermarket, Elm Farms, opened at 8:00 or 8:30 and closed at 19:00, I think. In the 60s the closing time was 21:00. That was Mon through Sat.. Only small "convenience" stores were open on Sun.

Dave M.

Reply to
David L. Martel

Here the grocery stores were open 9 to 5 during the week, and Saturday morning. Bakeries and butchers had the same hours. Dairy products, and ice, if you still had an icebox, were delivered to your home during the week. To this day I won't take my wife to the market on Saturdays, because all the really old coots still shop then, slowly. Banks had even worse hours for the consumer. The unions really fought to keep those hours; I never understood why, as they would have gained more members if the stores were open longer.

In the middle sixties we moved to Illinois and it was wonderful finding you could shop in the evening.

Reply to
Notat Home

chicago had union rules for the meat department, i am not certain of the rules just visiting as a kid, but in the evening when the butchers werent there the fresh meats were covered and locked securely you couldnt buy meat.. this was true up till the early 70s when i got my drivers license and helped drive me and my mom to chicago from pittsburgh. i was 16...

Reply to
bob haller

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