Here in the Archives, we often find very interesting first-hand accounts of daily life. One of my colleagues recently told me about an intriguing tale in one of our vertical files. This file, titled “Grocery Trade,” contains a tale from H. W. Cunningham. In “My Experience as an Old Grocery Clerk,” the reader learns about Cunningham’s time working at two different grocers, the first of which was M. E. Monnett’s grocery.
As most tales begin, our protagonist finds himself in a bit of trouble. Long story short, after an incident at school (and being told off by his mother), H. W. is walking down the street. As he passes the grocery store, which was located at the northwest corner of Elm and Race Streets in Urbana, the owner comes out and offers him a job since his delivery boy had quit. Agreeing to $3 a week, Cunningham begins his time as a grocery clerk.
From there, the tale gets even more interesting. Highlights include:
- Trading excess butter for crackers
- The debut of rolled oats
- A canning factory coming to town
- The “Cottolene Craze”
Cottolene was a highly marketed alternative to lard made from beef suet and cottonseed oil. At one point in his recollections, he mentions how he was offered a job by Mr. Cambell of the bakery Loomis and Campbell for $4 a week. That’s a raise of 33 percent! Loomis and Campbell was located at the southwest corner of Market and Race Streets in Urbana.
To read the whole riveting tale, stop by the Archives and take a look at the vertical file. Or, for other related materials online, check out our Flickr album dedicated to grocery stores.
-Shalini Smith
Archives Librarian