Friday, May 18, 2012

5 Items or Less

Supermarkets have been around basically since the 1930s, but it was in the '50s that they ballooned in size and content.

This cover from 1957 is surprising to me for the similarity to our contemporary supermarkets — from the XPress checkout to the magazines and comic book section, to the record spinner and gourmet section. This cover looks a little like a Mad magazine layout without all the antics, 'cept for that kid getting ready to ram his cart into that guy. And geez, the New Yorker cost a measly 20 cents!

Charles Martin — The New Yorker — May 18, 1957

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4 comments:

  1. HarpoMay 18, 2012 at 7:47 PM

    Boy do I miss spinner racks in drug stores and grocery stores. And yes, the good ol' days WERE good...

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  2. Thomas Haller BuchananMay 18, 2012 at 9:07 PM

    Oh, me too. Those were good days. Every once in a while the smell of a drugstore will trigger a flashback of spinner joy.

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  3. Eddie CochraneMay 19, 2012 at 11:08 AM

    Lovely picture. Here in Britain the supermarket was still uncommon in 1957, though they started appearing here from 1948 on, didn't really spread everywhere until the 60's. I'm struck by two things by this picture, firstly that most of the customers, men and women are wearing hats, in fact they are fairly nattily dressed, and that all the checkout cashiers are men.

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  4. Cushion WorksMay 21, 2012 at 9:40 AM

    The cash register on the left was a great touch.

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