I guess people shopped differently back then......

Jewel Tea, Watkins spices -- my grandmother had them all sitting around her kitchen. I remember the Jewel Tea Man and MomP sitting in her living room pouring over the catalog. Sitting in her living room, with a cup of coffee or tea, perusing a catalog, deciding what to order, placing that order, and then waiting for its delivery to her door. Not too much different from online shopping, huh? Except for the fact that there was a real-live human being sitting next to her showcasing the items, taking the order, and then delivering them to her door -- instead of a computer and USPS/UPS/FEDEX....

Then there was the egg man, and the vegetable man, and (could there have been?) the meat man. These men would appear on the side of Avenue Z, selling their wares out of the backs of their trucks. I can see my grandmother along with the other ladies gathered around the back and sides of the peddlers' trucks, picking and choosing the fresh produce that would soon make its way to family tables. Even though these men must have run regular routes from farm to city, it was a bit magical to me how they seemed to just......appear.

For some reason, the egg man stands out in my mind. I can't really say what was so different about him except for the fact that I remember how he would holler out -- eeeeeegg man, eeeeeeeeeegg man, eeeeeeeeegg man's here. In the days when screen doors were all that separated the outside from the inside, that sound carried all through the house. Scared the bejeezus out of me! I'd run and hide under the table -- the one with all the butcher knives taped underneath (out of reach of anyone deciding to break in).

Today, I do lots of my shopping online, yet I still find myself dreading those stock-up trips to Target or WalMart. ......It wouldn't bother me one bit to have trucks filled with produce stopping at my door. Nope, not one bit, and you wouldn't find me hiding from the egg man anymore.


Yes, I guess people shopped differently back then. But, then again, maybe not so very differently. And......maybe it wasn't such a bad way to shop.



** The picture of the Jewel Tea cookie jar on top is just like the one resting in my china cabinet. It's one of the few items I have of MomP's.