Saturday, June 27, 2015

When New is Old - Shopping Saturday

In recent years I've heard Kroger's advertising incentive, "Let's Go Krogering."  I thought it was new.  Not so.  When searching the August 14, 1958, edition of The Youngstown Vindicator online I noticed a Kroger ad.  And there, in the middle of the page, was the suggestion, "Let's Go Krogering."  Who knew!

The ad suggests to me that the 1950's were the days before prepared foods had become so popular.  Days when people usually used real, unadulterated food and made meals from scratch.  Oh, yum!

If only we could return to 1958 prices (without returning to 1958 incomes). 

White potatoes    25 lb. bag  79¢
Peaches    4 lbs.  49¢
Blueberries    pt. box  29¢

Ground Beef   lb. 49¢
Tenderay Round Steak   lb. 89¢
Tenderay Sirloin Steak   lb 89¢
Tenderay Porterhouse Steak   lb. 99¢
Tenderay Chuck Steaks   lb. 69¢

Campbell's Soup, your choice   6 for 99¢
   Cream of Mushroom
   Cream of Chicken
   Chicken w ith Rice
   Chicken Noodle
   Turkey Noodle
   Tomato
Vegetarian Soup   8 for 98¢

I guess there were some prepared foods available.  (In our family we most always cooked from scratch except for an occasional box cake.)
   Banquet Frozen Dinners   2 for $1
   Ballard or Pillsbury Biscuits  pkg. 10¢
   Macaroni and Cheese  6 for 88¢
   Peach Pie   49¢
   Grape Juice  5 for 88¢
   Spaghetti   4 for 89¢

More "real food."
Swiss Cheese   lb. 49¢
Sharp Cheese  lb. 59¢
Fresh Eggs, Grade A Small  doz. 41¢
Fresh Eggs, Grade A Medium  doz. 53¢




I don't remember a Kroger in the Niles/Youngstown area when I was growing up.  In fact, I don't remember when I first encountered a Kroger store.  These days they are prevalent primarily in Ohio and neighboring states.

This post was prompted by a pattern my grandmother cut from a newspaper which my aunt gave me.  There are some ads for cleaning supplies but since the date was cut away with the cutting of the pattern, I decided not to scan and post it.  The ad also has coupons for Top Value Stamps with the purchase of various items.  Businesses don't give stamps these days but so many stores have scannable customer cards which, if a customer registers and uses the cards, may offer them points for later use or discounts at the register.  Of course, it's a way for the store to track the spending habits of people who use the cards:  more invasive than those old paper stamps we licked and pasted into books to turn in.

I often stop by Kroger to pick up a few items these days but it's not my primary store for groceries.  What about you?  Do you go Krogering?

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.

10 comments:

  1. What great deals, but I guess it was relative to what the income was back then. A fun post!

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    1. Thanks, Brenna. I think the economy was generally in better shape in the 1950s than it is now so the prices were probably very reasonable.

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  2. My mom went to the Kroger store every Friday night when I was a little girl. Now I go there often, as well! I love the house brands, and the fuel points that give you a discount when you buy gas. Loved this post!

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    1. Thanks, Dorene. I use and like Kroger's house brands, too. I especially like their unbleached flour. My husband's the one who buys the gas around here most often and I know he loves the fuel points.

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  3. There was no Kroger where I lived growing up, but they're everywhere now. I like our new and improved Kroger Marketplace.

    As a kid, I loved being in charge of licking the stamps and lining them up neatly in the books. It was fun shopping at the redemption store to see what Momma earned with all her stamps. I can't imagine anyone being bothered with that today. We do enjoy using our Kroger points at the gas pump though!

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    1. Oh yes, Wendy, those Marketplace stores are great. We have plenty of Kroger stores here, too, now (but not when I was a kid). I think we can go in any direction the road takes us for a few miles and find a Kroger.

      My mom collected several kinds of stamps and remember helping to lick and stick them into the books. I don't remember redeeming them, though. Maybe my mom took them when I was in school. Yeh, I doubt people would collect stamps these days. People are in too much of a hurry to get out of the stores. Do you remember sales tax "stamps?" They weren't the lick and stick variety but all the clerks in all the stores had little 1" x 2" or a little larger "tablets" which they would rip from for however many cents or dollars of sales tax people paid. I wonder if my mom saved any of those.... Yes, we like the fuel points, too.

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  4. When my family moved to Warren in 1969, there were three grocery stores in the Elm Road Plaza. Kroger's, where we did most of our grocery shopping, Loblaw's, and in the detached section near the road, the A & P. The Golden Dawn was in the next plaza toward town. I can't remember if Value King had opened yet or not, but it was just down the road. Now all that's left is the Big Bird.

    We actually got a b & w "portable" TV through Top Value Stamps.

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    1. Hi, Michael. I didn't grow up in Warren but we shopped at both Loblaw's and the A & P (different locations than Elm Road, though). I don't remember The Golden Dawn, Value King, nor Big Bird. We used to have a Big Bear in Central Ohio but it has been out of business for perhaps a dozen years. Our local chain grocery stores now include Kroger, Giant Eagle, and Meijer.

      Your family must have saved stamps for a long time to be able to get a TV with Top Value Stamps. I wish I could remember what my mom "bought" with her stamps.

      Thanks for sharing a comment.

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    2. Sorry, the "Big Bird" is Giant Eagle.

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    3. Ah, got it. Funny nickname, and one I've not heard before.

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