Back in my hometown in the mid-twentieth century we didn't have supermarkets and not everything was as neatly packaged as it is today. Biscuits for example: You could buy a packet of biscuits if that was what you wanted, but you could also buy "loose" biscuits.
You see, as well as the pre-packaged biscuits, the grocer also had biscuits delivered to his store in big tins and he would sell them loose.
You see, as well as the pre-packaged biscuits, the grocer also had biscuits delivered to his store in big tins and he would sell them loose.
The customer would ask for, "Half-a-pound of loose biscuits please," and the grocer would grab a handful from the tin and weigh them on the scales before tipping them into a brown paper bag and handing them to the customer.
The good thing about buying "loose" is that if you were short of money you could buy a very small amount. Pre-packaged biscuits might cost two shillings for an eight ounce packet, but if you had only one shilling you could buy four ounces loose.
It was the same with liquids like kerosene and methylated spirits which the grocer would have delivered in a twelve gallon drum. A customer could pay top price for a pre-packaged quart bottle of kero or metho, but if they were short of cash they could bring in their own smaller bottle and the grocer would fill it up from the twelve gallon drum; even half fill it if you were really short of cash.
So one day I was sitting in the park having my lunch and on the bench next to me a couple of hoboes were sharing a bottle of methylated spirits (White Lady as they called it in those days). They were bemoaning the fact that many shop-keepers wouldn't sell metho to the hoboes because they realised that the hoboes were going to drink it. "You have to careful when you ask for it," one of the hoboes said.
"Not if you go to that grocer up in Johnson Street," said the other hobo. "He's good - He sells it loose."
The good thing about buying "loose" is that if you were short of money you could buy a very small amount. Pre-packaged biscuits might cost two shillings for an eight ounce packet, but if you had only one shilling you could buy four ounces loose.
It was the same with liquids like kerosene and methylated spirits which the grocer would have delivered in a twelve gallon drum. A customer could pay top price for a pre-packaged quart bottle of kero or metho, but if they were short of cash they could bring in their own smaller bottle and the grocer would fill it up from the twelve gallon drum; even half fill it if you were really short of cash.
So one day I was sitting in the park having my lunch and on the bench next to me a couple of hoboes were sharing a bottle of methylated spirits (White Lady as they called it in those days). They were bemoaning the fact that many shop-keepers wouldn't sell metho to the hoboes because they realised that the hoboes were going to drink it. "You have to careful when you ask for it," one of the hoboes said.
"Not if you go to that grocer up in Johnson Street," said the other hobo. "He's good - He sells it loose."
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