During the nineteenth and early twentieth century Thursday was usually the day American housewives did their food and sundry shopping. It was a good day to purchase what they needed for the weekend if guests were expected, leaving Friday free to clean house.
In Part IV of Never Done I wrote: "Every Thursday, Nettie and the other cooks and housekeepers in Philadelphia spent the day shopping, beginning at the grocer’s, then going to the butcher shop, the lamp oil dispensary, sometimes stopping at a tobacconist, hardware, or dry goods shop, or a florist if guests were expected."
When Clara moved to Colorado in 1885, she found out that getting needed supplies in cattle country was a totally different experience, involving long trips to towns large enough to support specialty shops and general stores. "For Clara, going to market was a once-a-month experience, requiring half a day each way by horse and wagon. If she found what she needed when she got there, she bought it by the ten-pound sack or barrel."
Without stores, even a general store, women and men depended on nature to feed their families, raised what they needed, or bartered.
"Nature provided what couldn’t be purchased, changing what was on the supper table every season. In spring the newly sprouted pigweed was a good substitute for the spinach being served in Philadelphia, and Clara used the tender leaves and white roots of dandelions for salads. Fishing was especially good that time of year for trout that had spent the winter under ice.
When grass was growing knee-deep to a steer, it was prime time for gardening. The Stuart family had a large garden and fruit orchard. With seeds and starts from them, Clara planted a garden of her own."
"Phoebe’s family raised chickens and dairy cows, made delicious toffee, and traded what they had for what they didn’t. In autumn, the trees in their orchard were heavy with fruit. Albert shared the beef he butchered with his men, and Vincent traded some of it to the Stuarts for apples."
Just this week a few of my lady friends and I drove to Hood River, Oregon (famous for its fruit) to buy from a commercial orchard where we had our pick of dozens of varieties of apples and pears. We could have bought fruit that was almost as fresh in any of the many supermarkets, farmer's markets, or small stores right here in Central Oregon, but it was an excuse for an "outing." After loading up our cars with fruit we had a lovely lunch in the town of Hood River, then browsed through the shops downtown. We are SO spoiled.
a typical turn-of-the-century general store
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