While most of us grew up with supermarkets and shopping malls already existing; some of us remember the family-run grocery stores where your options were often limited. Others might even have had the chance to grow their own food, but once general stores grew bigger and became more convenient, there was no way back. Still, the consumerist lifestyle as we know it didn’t happen overnight, and we got where we are now gradually.
Bored Panda has collected a series of vintage photos that take you through different grocery stores across America in the olden days. It’s safe to say we came a long way from grocery shopping in our Sunday best to browsing the aisles in our PJs. But of course, it is only one of many ways shopping malls have changed. From wider aisles and more elegant stores to small homegrown businesses, these cool photos reflect a very vintage life. Take a look at all the interesting photos from a long time ago below and don’t forget to upvote for your favs!
#1 Country Store On Dirt Road. Note The Kerosene Pump On The Right And The Gasoline Pump On The Left. Brother Of Store Owner Stands In Doorway. Gordonton, North Carolina, 1939
Image source: Dorothea Lange
#2 The Grocery Store Of The Late 19th Century, USA
Image source: skipperbob
#3 1980, When Every Soft Drink Bottle On The Shelf Was Still Glass
Image source: Dave Aldrich
#4 Cashiers At The Piggly Wiggly Continental, Encino, California, 1962
Image source: notbob1959
#5 Grocery Shopping, 1960s
Image source: skipperbob
#6 Publix Supermarkets Showcased Their Wide Aisles And A Self-Service Dairy Case By Driving A Shopper Around A New Store In A Tiny Car, Circa 1957
Image source: Publix Supermarkets
#7 A Large Sign Reading “I Am An American” Placed In The Window Of A Store, On December 8, The Day After Pearl Harbor. The Business Was Owned By The Matsuda Family. The Store Was Closed Following Orders To Persons Of Japanese Descent To Evacuate From Certain West Coast Areas
Image source: Dorothea Lange
#8 Interior Of The Original Piggly Wiggly Self-Service Grocery Store, Memphis, Tennessee. The First Self Service Grocery Store, Opened 1916. Picture From 1918
Image source: Clarence H. Saunders
#9 Publix Market In Sarasota, Florida, 1961
Image source: State Archives of Florida/Steinmetz
#10 Two Women Shopping In An American Supermarket, Circa 1970
Image source: H. Armstrong Roberts
#11 Shopping In Coop Store, Greenbelt, Maryland, 1938
Image source: Marion Post Wolcott
#12 My Great Great Grandparents At The Counter Of Their Grocery Store In Bremerton, Washington (1925)
Image source: PavementBlues
#13 James Dean Shopping For Groceries In Marfa, TX, 1955
Image source: Richard C. Miller
#14 Jitney Jungle Checkout Clerk Billy Barineau In Tallahassee, 1962
Image source: Tallahassee Democrat collection
#15 My Great Grandfather Standing In His Grocery Store, Evansville, IN, 1960
Image source: CincyNat
#16 Man And Dogs In Front Of Grocery Store, Robinson, Illinois, 1940
Image source: John Vachon
#17 Children In Front Of Grocery Store, Chicago, Illinois, 1941
Image source: Russell Lee
#18 Jayne Mansfield Grocery Shopping In Las Vegas, 1959
#19 Supermarket In 1960s
Image source: the60sbazaar
#20 Working Mother Jennie Magill Shopping With Her Children At The Super Market, 1956
Image source: Grey Villet
#21 My 2nd Great Grandmother Opening Her Store In Cincinnati, Ohio
Image source: Edonlin2004
#22 Home Turned Into Grocery Store, Omaha, Nebraska, 1938
Image source: John Vachon
#23 The Super Giant Supermarket In Rockville, Maryland, 1964
Image source: John Dominis
#24 Shopping In Coop Store, Greenbelt, Maryland, 1938
Image source: Marion Post Wolcott
#25 Working At A General Store, 1973
Image source: Meunderwears
#26 Tulip Town Market, Grove Center By James Edward Westcott, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, July 4, 1945
Image source: National Archives, General Records of the Department of Energy
#27 Buying Groceries In Store At Blankenship, Indiana, 1938
Image source: Arthur Rothstein
#28 Food Shopping And Mini-Skirts, 1970
Image source: Brett Streutker
#29 Three Women Talking In Frozen Food Aisle Of Supermarket, 1950s
Image source: Camerique/ClassicStock
#30 Mayfair Supermarket Cookie Display, 1950s
Image source: Roadsidepictures
#31 Proprietor Of Small Grocery Store, Jeanerette, Louisiana, 1938
Image source: Russell Lee
#32 Kroger Grocery Store, Lexington Kentucky, 1947, By Lafayette Studio
Image source: michaelconfoy
#33 1920 Interior View Of A Chicago Grocery
Image source: twixonurface
#34 Shopping In The Cooperative Grocery Store, Greenbelt, Maryland, 1942 (Colorized)
Image source: shorpy.com
#35 Kings Supermarket, 1950s
#36 Interior Of A Piggly Wiggly Grocery Store, 1959
Image source: 14thCenturyHood
#37 Box-Boy In A Small Rural Grocery Store In Southeast Idaho, 1972
#38 Dairy Counter At Clark’s, A Grocery, Drug, Sundries, And Department Store And Lunch Counter, Charlotte, NC, 1962 Or 1963
Image source: General Negative Collection, North Carolina State Archives
#39 Scene In The Cooperative Store At Irwinville Farms, Georgia, 1938
Image source: John Vachon
#40 Grocery Store Parking Lot, West Covina, CA, 1959
Image source: KubrickIsMyCopilot
#41 At Nixon, Wife Of VP, Grocery Shopping With Her Daughters Julie And Tricia, 1958
Image source: Hank Walker
#42 Grocery Cart, 1974
Image source: 14thCenturyHood
#43 Vintage Trade Ad With Ruffles Potato Chips, Flings, Etc. At A Checkout
Image source: Jon Anderson
#44 Delivery Vans, 1942 Style, Line Up Outside A Greenbelt, Maryland, Grocery Store Awaiting Customers
Image source: Ann Rosener
#45 Interior Of Northland Foods, Thief River Falls, MN, In The 70’s
Image source: Pennington County Historical Society
#46 Grand Grocery Company, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1942
Image source: John Vachon
#47 Ralph’s Supermarket, Los Angeles, 1942
Image source: I_POST_ON_WEDNESDAYS
#48 U-Pak Kmart No Frills Supermarket Pontiac, Michigan, 1979
Image source: Phillip Pessar
#49 Duke’s Mayonnaise Jars Assembled In A Display At Cozart’s Grocery Store, 1965
Image source: Joyner Library
#50 Sunkist Grocery Store Display, 1940s
Image source: Dan Goodsell
#51 Grocery Store Window, Dubuque, Iowa, 1940
Image source: John Vachon
#52 At The Grocery Store, 1950s
#53 Kroger Grocery Store, Lexington, Kentucky, 1947
Image source: michaelconfoy
#54 Cooperative Store At Greenbelt, Maryland, 1938
Image source: Marion Post Wolcott
#55 Store Operated By John Zabala Until 1979
Image source: Carl Fleischhauer
#56 Cigarette And Cigar Displays (Camel, L&M, Etc…) At Clark’s, A Grocery, Drug, Sundries, And Department Store And Lunch Counter, Charlotte, NC, 1962 Or 1963
Image source: General Negative Collection, North Carolina State Archives
#57 Boy On Porch Of General Store, Roseland, Virginia, 1938
Image source: John Vachon
#58 Rear Of Grocery Store, Baltimore, Maryland, 1938
Image source: John Vachon
#59 My Dad Doing Groceries During His High School Exchange Year In Michigan, 1962
Image source: mk-bn
#60 Houchens Grocery Store, Kentucky, C. 1950s
Image source: ProbablyNotKelly
#61 Interior View Of A Ralphs Grocery Store At An Unknown Location In Los Angeles In November 1943, Showing The Check-Out Counter And Cash Register
Image source: Los Angeles Public Library
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