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The rise of the supermarket (compare 1950's grocery prices to 2024)
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Nov 30, 2024
Join me as we look at the rise of the supermarket in the 1950's, what a typical family of 4 grocery shop looks like and how the prices compare to today. Discontinued cake mixes: https://youtu.be/cUPQqR7pz04
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[Music]
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the 1950s are often remembered as the
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Golden Age of Supermarket retailing by
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this time the shift to larger full
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service stores was nearly complete and
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supermarkets were expanding alongside
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the growing Suburban population in the
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booming post World War II economy
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Americans embraced a vision of living
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bigger and
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better spacious homes modern appliances
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like state-ofthe-art refrigerators and
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freezers and other luxuries of the era
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were really taking off this lifestyle
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perfectly complemented the supermarket
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model which offered convenience variety
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and a modern shopping experience the
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decade also gave rise to some iconic
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Supermarket designs A&P stores featured
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Colonial inspired architecture while
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Safeway became known for its distinctive
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glass Arch designs the opening of a new
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Supermarket was a significant event for
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many communities often celebrated with
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ribbon cutting ceremonies bright
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expansive buildings and newspaper
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coverage some Supermarket chains
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established during the 1950s have become
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enduring fixtures in the industry
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including Food Lion Trader Joe's and
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roundies these Innovations and retailing
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marked a significant moment in the way
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Americans shopped for groceries setting
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the stage for the supermarkets we know
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today yes you did hear me say Trader
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Joe's has been around since the 1950s
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it's only more recently that it has
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expanded to Nationwide
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locations it began in the 1950s as a
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small chain of convenience stores called
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Pronto markets in the Greater Los
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Angeles area the name change happened in
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1967 was changed to Trader Joe's and the
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first Trader Joe's market opened in
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Pasadena California the employees were
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also outfitted in those signature
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Hawaiian
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shirts people in the 1950s generally
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spent a higher percentage of their
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income on groceries compared to today
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even though the actual dollar amounts
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were much lower let's look at why in the
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1950s the average American family spent
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about 20 to 30% of their household
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income on food today that figure has
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dropped to about 10 to 12% for most
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families in the United States now why
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the
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difference first it was postwar income
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levels in the 1950s average incomes were
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lower so even though food prices seemed
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inexpensive compared to today they took
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up a larger share of the family budget
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there were fewer subsidies and
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efficiency gains technology global trade
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and government subsidies have made food
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production more efficient reducing the
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cost of Many Items over time our
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families were doing home cooking in the
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1950s most of the meals were cooked from
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scratch so Staples like flour sugar and
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milk were purchased regularly
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convenience foods which can sometimes
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cost more weren't as widespread as they
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are
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today dining out was far less common in
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the the 1950s so nearly all food
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spending went towards groceries today
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many households allocate a significant
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portion of their food budget to
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restaurants and take
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out now let's go into a grocery store
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and with us we will be armed with a
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typical family of four shopping list
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just the weekly Staples to make several
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meals for the whole family and I have to
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say looking at this list it very much
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looks like what I buy on a weekly basis
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I did not have to dig much to find some
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of the current prices because I know
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these prices I buy them every 1 to two
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weeks now the pricing that I am using is
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from a mid-price store so not a Whole
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Foods this is not organic items it's
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also
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not uh generic brands now yes generic
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brands were absolutely available in the
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50s but at this time with the rise of
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the supermarket and manufactured Foods
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starting to come in like Jello-O and
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cake mixes women were being very heavily
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marketed to on these fancy new
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television sets and many many women's
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magazines would have recipes using
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commercially made Goods if you look back
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at the video I did I'll link it here in
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one of the cards and in the description
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the box cake mix or discontinued box
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cake mix video you'll see many Magazine
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recipes advertising these cake mixes and
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what you could do with them to make
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yourself seem special and it was
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probably a lot of keeping up with the
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Joneses you wanted to make the new best
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prettiest most popular cake for your get
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togethers with your friends or School
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children's
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parties all right let's go into the
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store our first stop of of course is the
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produce department canned goods were
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huge in the 1950s vegetables soups and
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fruits were often bought canned because
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fresh options weren't always available
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year round today we have fresh produce
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from all over the world and of course
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frozen vegetables as a
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backup now depending how old you are you
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may or may not remember there was milk
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and Dairy Delivery available until about
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the mid 1970s I know we had a
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a Dairy Delivery box outside our front
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door it looks something like what you
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see here so it's a thin metal box I
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believe it was aluminum it was
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lightweight with about a/ inch thick
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styrofoam lining inside just to keep
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your goods cool while you retrieve them
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between the time of drop off and when
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you went outside to collect your items
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we also had a dry cleaning delivery
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service my father had a suit and tie job
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and about every two weeks a UPS sized
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silver truck would come around with the
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racks inside and he would bring in my
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father's suits for that were clean and
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press so that was a little bit different
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than how things are done
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[Music]
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today meat was a big deal in the 1950s
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but it was simpler ground beef for
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meatloaf whole chickens for roasting and
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maybe some pork chops fast forward to
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today and we've got boneless skinless
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everything plant-based meats and
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pre-marinated options for convenience
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even rotisserie chickens have become a
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staple in many households
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[Music]
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let's not forget desserts Jello was
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practically a food group in the 1950s it
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showed up in salads molds and even main
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dishes today desserts tend to be Bakery
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bought or something quick like a brownie
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mix though Jello Nostalgia is making a
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comeback what's your favorite flavor
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[Music]
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now here in the household cleaning items
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you'll see bar soap in a three pack
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liquid soap was not available until soft
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soap kicked in our grocery store doors
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in 1980 and put themselves on the
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shelves you can see the total overview
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for the price of a weekly shop in the
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1950s versus today the average family in
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the 1950s spent about $18 to $22 per
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week for groceries and today as you see
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it's much higher and although prices are
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higher today the increase in wages along
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with lower food costs relative to income
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means people spend a smaller percentage
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of their earnings on groceries than they
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did in the
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1950s tell me what surprised you the
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most in this video
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[Music]
#Convenience Stores
#Food
#Food & Grocery Delivery
#Food & Grocery Retailers
#Grocery Delivery Services
#Mass Merchants & Department Stores