The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-02-12
ALL PUT UP IN PACKAGES.
The Modern Way of Selling Grocer
les of All Descriptions.

Those persons whose experience in
buying grocery supplies extends back
FOR half a dozen years will remember
that at that time every article Of food
sold came in bulk. Huge boxes or bins
contained the different kinds Of dry
groceries,, -S5 from these receptacles
the grocer's clerk Was obliged to scoop
out the desired quantity, weigh it,
throw back the surplus, and then put
up the purchase in a large, unwieldy
paper bag, says the New York Tribune.
These bags had an unfortu-
nate tendency to break open upon the
way home, and, whether the customer
carried his own paroles or had them
sent by the grocer's boy, the result was
equally WaSteful, not to mention the
confusion that was wrought in the
kitchen when the leaky package was
delivered impartially both on the table
and OF the floor.
But a gradual change, which began
to take place at about this time and
which has been steadily going on ever
since, has swept away all the inconven-
fences of the old method of selling
groceries, and has worked to the ad-
vantage Of both the merchants and
their customers. This is the practice,
now met with to some extent even in
the most remote country villages, Of
having the various articles of food put
up beforehand in sealed and weighed
packages.
Oatmeal and the other cereals were
probably the first substances upon
which the new plan was tried, and the
form in which they now come, in
paSteboard boxes, has been familiar
for several years Later, all kinds of
dried fruits-apples, peaches. ~raisins,
c~urrants, figs, dates, etc.-We. e likewise
put up in weighed packages in the same
manner, instead OF being kept, as for
merly, loose in large ~recep-acles. Tea
is frequently sold now in packages,
though that is a more recent Develop
ment, and has 10 yet become as COM
NOR as the others. Coffee is also sold
in the same way though many people
will not buy it so, for fear that it has
lost some Of its aroma. 1t is quite true
that this loss does take place easily,
and to prevent such deterioration the
grCcers have the packages put up fresh
ly each day from the alright bin in
which the bulk of the coffee is kept.
1T is only a question of time said
a prominent New York grocer last
week, before practically everything
in u business will be sold in the
package form. 1t saves our men an
infinite moun of trouble in dipping
cut, weighing, and wrapping, and tha
reason alone would be sufficient to re-
commend it to us. But a lore impoT-
tant advantage is that it maintains a
better quality of each article. When
things are kept in large receptacles,
to which every one has constant access,
a certain amount of dirt is bound to
get in. Then, most substances are in
jured by being so much exposed to the
air.
1T is also much more convenient for
the purchaser to be able to keep the
article in the box in which it ome
han to have to provide one for it at
home, as the old way demanded. 1t
is sometimes thought that the value Of
the boxes and packages must increase
the cost of the food to the customer.
but this is not true in most cases.
When it is, we usually find that people
are willing to pay a trifle more for the
sake OF getting their things in better
condition"
An advantage to the makers Of the
gccds, which, while quite different from
the others, is by no means Insignificant,
is the free advertising they get ON
having the aforesaid packages scatter
ed far and wide throughout the coun-
try. Each one, Of course, has it's label,
giving the name and address Of the
manufacturers in large letters. People
learn to ask for Smiths Oatmeal" or
Jones' Dried Apples" and thus the
business of hose worthy merchants is
increased. 1t has been said that the
idea Of selling groceries in packages
originated in the necessity Of shipping
them, by mail and express, to the out-
of-town trade. This seems prohale, and
1t is no wonder that the merits OF the
plan soon established it in all depart
ments of the city business as Well