It is Tuesday, November 6th, and I have just retrieved The Bellingham Herald from my front porch. It is election day and so there aren’t any more letters to the editor or articles about various candidates and issues, so I have my yellow scratch pad ready to deal with the specials and coupons for this week listed at grocery outlets. Fred Meyers has already been evaluated since Sunday, and the rest will arrive in the afternoon mail.

So many choices: fruits and vegetables from Chili, Costa Rico and Mexico; avacados, oranges and grapefruit are beginning to come in from Florida and Texas, with some oranges from as far away as Australia; fancy cheeses from near and far; pasta in all sizes and shapes; virgin olive oil, canola oil, corn oil, and shortening; olives, pickles, catsup, mustard, mayonnaise, and salad dressing mixes; ice cream of all varieties, including sorbets. The meat counter is endless: chicken whole and cut up in many ways; pork in any cut you desire including bacons and hams; beef steaks, roasts, stew meat, hamburger; lamb too, as well as processed meats of every kind. And fish products from all over the world. Then there is the wine section as well as beer, soft drinks and cases of water.

As I think about it, I am suddenly staggered at the difference between now and when I was just a little girl. I go back eighty years, remembering what grocery shopping entailed at that time. So much simpler. In Bellingham all of the major stores were in the downtown area: There was Piggly Wiggly near the corner of Railroad and Holly, later moving to the 1300 block of Cornwall Ave. (an out-of-town franchise); the Home Market on the corner of Magnolia and Commercial (now the home of Cost Cutter’s corporate office) and the Public Market at the corner of Magnolia and Cornwall (now the home of Rite Aid) both of which were a compilation of meat and fish markets, groceries, each privately owned, with the Public Market also having a floral shop and ice cream outlet; and the Fair Market on the corner of Grand Avenue and Champion and I believe a Mr. and Mrs. Ennen were the owners. There were three Brown and Cole stores: one at the corner of James and Iowa; one in Fairhaven; and one up where Holly St. begins at Lakeway and Ellis and Jersey St., each smaller than the downtown stores but where many people called in their orders and the groceries would be delivered.

Milk was delivered to each home every day, arriving very early in the morning. Parents of teenagers were, on occasion, heard to say: “He/she came in with the milkman.” If you wanted anything special like buttermilk or whipping cream you would leave a note saying so. There were few refrigerators, some people had ice boxes (an iceman made daily rounds just as the milkman) and everyone had a cooler which was a cupboard on the outside wall of the kitchen with holes cut through covered with screen. Consequently, ice cream was a rare treat because it had to be eaten as soon as it was brought in. Soft drinks simply were not a part of our lives; and since Prohibition was a reality there wasn’t any wine, beer or hard liquor of any kind. Fish was available depending on the season. Leftovers from dinner were always eaten the very next day, usually for lunch.

Most families made their own bread, pies, cakes and cookies (oatmeal were the chocolate chip of the day) were everyday fare baked in a wood stove. Mother also made our mayonnaise, pickles, sauerkraut, jellies and jams. Since we didn’t have a car until 1932, my father always carried home 100 lb. sacks of flour and sugar on his shoulder. We could ride the streetcar from downtown to the corner of Humboldt and Lakeway, but our home was at 1800 Lakeway, which is at the corner of St. Paul St.

I doubt there was much advertising in the paper in reference to groceries. You just learned from experience where the best buys were, there weren‘t special sales. The things to buy were really very simple things. Fresh fruits and vegetables were almost nonexistent except in the summer, as well as chicken fryers. Cabbage, squash and root vegetables were about it, come fall. Anything else came in a can. Peanut butter was a staple. There was bologna and wieners; I remember standing by my mother at the meat counter and when she had finished her purchase the butcher would always give me a wiener to be eaten on the spot. Many families had gardens and canned profusely, many had their own chickens and rabbits in their backyards. Staples were what you bought: sugar, flour, lard, meat, fish, baking powder, soda, macaroni, etc. There weren’t many extras. The Watkins and Fuller Brush men stopped by houses selling their wares.

There were many small stores everywhere, where people could just drop in to get some needed item. They were called Mom and Pop stores. Saturday was the day everyone went to town to shop and visit on the street, usually buying the majority of their groceries then. I was always rewarded with an ice cream cone, purchased at the Public Market, always wanting chocolate to my mother’s chagrin, because it could be messy and she had a high cleanliness standard.

My list is complete now for this week, and includes fruits and vegetables completely out of season, as well as prawns and fish from as far away as the far East. I have a freezer filled with ice cream and meats, etc., that could last me for some time. My refrigerator is stocked with cheese, milk, various salad dressings, fruit and vegetables too. My milk is purchased by the gallon. Our family is not fond of leftovers and so if there is something left it used up later. Not the next day.

The news is constantly reminding us of the correct balance necessary to be healthy with the foods we eat. Looking back so long ago, I realize how fortunate I was because all of our meals were well balanced and contained many things which are considered essential. Fresh fruits and vegetables were short for 6 months of the year, but there was always all of these things that had been canned. There was always our added daily dose of cod liver oil. Yuk! I remember well our dinner, in the dining room with a white linen tablecloth and napkins at a time when washing was done every Monday on a washboard in a tub in the kitchen. My responsibility after dinner was to take a small silver tray and silver handled brush to brush the crumbs off the table. All of the family were together. I’ve always wanted to go back to 1800 Lakeway to see what the house is like now that nurtured me in so many way.

Geneil Chevalier

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