Part 1

Transcriber’s Notes

Italic text enclosed with _underscores_.

Small-caps replaced by ALL CAPS.

More notes appear at the end of the file.

GROCERS’ GOODS:

A FAMILY GUIDE

TO THE PURCHASE OF

FLOUR, SUGAR, TEA, COFFEE, SPICES, CANNED GOODS, CIGARS, WINES,

AND ALL OTHER ARTICLES

Usually Found in American Grocery Stores.

BY F. B. GODDARD.

COPYRIGHTED 1888.

THE TRADESMEN’S PUBLISHING COMPANY, TRIBUNE BUILDING, NEW YORK CITY.

Index List of Grocers’ Goods.

Housekeepers will find this list suggestive and helpful in making up orders for the Grocer, as well as useful for page reference.

PAGE. Adulterations 6 Ale 62 Allspice 41 Almonds 50 Apples 44 Apples, Dried 48 Artificial Butter 30 Asparagus 47

Bacon 35 Baking Powders 16 Bananas 45 Barley 13 Bath Brick 58 Beans 47-48 Beef, Dried 35 Beef, Fresh 34 Beer 62 Berries 45-49 Beeswax 58 Bird Seed 57 Biscuit 16 Blacking 57 Blended Tea 24 Bluing 55 Brandies 63 Brazil Nuts 50 Bread 15 Brooms 56 Brushes 56 Buckwheat 14 Burgundy Wines 60-64 Butter 28 Butterine 30

Cabbage 46 California Wines 61-64 Candies 19 Candles 55 Canned Goods 36 “ Meats 37 “ Fish 37 “ Vegetables 38 “ Fruits 38 Cans, Tin 38 Capers 43 Carrots 47 Cassia and Buds 41 Catsups 44 Cauliflower 47 Celery 47 Celery Salt 42 Cereals 10 Champagne 61 Cheese 31 Cherries 44 Chicory 27 Chocolate 27 Cider 63 Cigars 51 Cigarettes 52 Cinnamon 41 Claret Wines 60-64 Clothes Pins 56 Cloves 41 Cocoa 27 Cocoanuts 45 Cod Fish 35 Coffee 24 Condensed Milk 28 Condiments 39 Cordials 64 Corn 12 Corn Starch 12 Crackers 16 Cranberries 45 Cream 28 Cream of Tartar 16 Cucumbers 47 Currants 45-49 Curry Powders 41

Dates 50 Disinfectants 58 Distilled Liquors 63 Dried Fruits 48

Eggs 33 Egg Plant 48 Essences 39 Extracts 39

Farinaceous Foods 14 Feed, for Stock 15 Figs 49 Filberts 50 Fish 35 Flavoring Extracts 32 Flour 11 Fruits 44 “ Domestic 44 “ Tropical 45 “ Dried 48 “ Brandy 39 “ Canned 39 Fruit Butter 39

Garlic 47 Gelatine 39 Gin 64 Ginger 40 Ginger Ale 63 Glucose 18 Gooseberries 45 Graham Flour 12 Grapes 44 Greens 48 Green Corn 47 Groats 14 Grocers’ Sundries 58

Halibut 53 Ham 35 Herbs 39 Herring 35 Hints to Housekeepers 8 Hominy 13 Honey 19 Horseradish 43

Insect Powder 58 Isinglass 39

Jams 39 Japan Tea 24 Jellies 38

Koumiss 28 Ketchup 44

Lager Beer 62 Lard 33 Lemons 45 Lentils 48

Madeira Wine 64 Maccaroni 17 Mackerel 35 Malt Liquors 62 Mace 41 Maple Sugar 18 “ Syrup 18 Marmalades 39 Matches 57 Meal 12 Meat Extracts 36 Meats, Canned 37 “ Fresh 34 “ Smoked 35 Melons 48 Milk 9-28 Mineral Waters 61 Molasses 19 Mops 56 Mustard 40 Mutton 34

Nuts 50 Nutmegs 41

Oatmeal 13 Oil, Salad 43 Olives 43 Oleomargarine 30 Onions 47 Oranges 45 Oyster Plant 48

Pails 58 Parsnips 47 Pea Nuts 50 Peaches 44 “ Dried 49 Pears 44 Pearl Barley 13 Peas 47-48 Pecan Nuts 50 Pepper 40 Pepper, Cayenne 40 Pepper Sauce 44 Pickles 43 Pipes 51 Pine Apples 45 Plums 44-49 Pork 34 Porter 62 Port Wine 59-61 Potatoes 46 Poultry 34 Preserves 38 Prunes 49

Radishes 47 Raisins 49 Rice 14 Rhine Wines 60-64 Rhubarb 47 Rum 64 Rye Flour 13

Sago 15 Salads 48 Salad Dressings 43 Saleratus 16 Salmon 35 Salt 42 Samp 13 Sauces 43 Seeds 57 Shells 27 Sherry Wine 59-61 Shoe Dressing 57 Snuff 53 Soaps 53 “ Toilet 54 “ Shaving 54 Soups Canned 37 Soda 16 Spaghetti 17 Spices 39 Squash 48 Starch, Laundry 55 Stove Polish 57 Stout 64 Strawberries 45 Sugar 17 Sundries 58 Sweet Potatoes 46 Syrups 19

Tamarinds 50 Tapioca 15 Tea 21 Tobacco, Chewing 51 “ Smoking 51 Tomatoes 47 Tongues 35 Turnips 47

Veal 34 Vegetables, Fresh 46 “ Canned 38 Vermicelli 17 Vinegar 42

Washboards 46 Wines and Liquors 59 Wheat 10 Whiskey 64

Yeast 16

GROCERS’ GOODS.

A FAMILY GUIDE.

In the ancient times of twenty-five or thirty years ago, the grocer’s goods consisted chiefly of codfish, flour, sugar, tea, coffee, salt, molasses and whale oil. There were also a little candy in glass jars, some nuts in bins, a few drums of figs and a box of sour oranges. The grocer himself found plenty of time to talk politics and play checkers across the counter with his friends and neighbors. Those were the days when a few conservative old merchants used to meet and discuss the tea market and allot among themselves the quantity to be imported, not a pound of which could arrive under twelve or fifteen months.

But things have changed. The importer now flashes his order under the sea and on, over plains and through jungles to China. “Ocean tramp” steamships are waiting to receive his merchandise, and within thirty or forty days it may be sending up its grateful fragrance from tea tables in the Mississippi Valley.

THE MODERN GROCER.

Nor has the enterprising retail grocer of to-day failed to catch the spirit of this progress and keep even step with it. He has become the Popular Food Provider, and his store represents about everything which is palatable in either hemisphere or any zone. As the world has grown enlightened and refined, his stock has become more and more varied and better adapted to the wants of mankind, until it embraces every delicacy of the land, sea or air.

His cunningly prepared sauces provoke the appetite and give zest to more substantial articles, while they help also to digest them. He has food fitted for the intellectual worker and for the laborer, for the invalid and for the infant. He practically annihilates the seasons and furnishes fruits and vegetables in mid-winter, as fresh and delicate as when first plucked from their native stems or vines. And, moreover, all the goods upon his sightly shelves are now put up in the most attractive, portable and convenient form for family use.

Food Never Before so Low.

Nor would a day’s wages ever before purchase so much of food products. In the English market, for the ten years from 1870 to 1880, the price of wheat was forty-three per cent. higher than the average of 1886. Sugars have fallen in price nearly one-half in ten years, and teas, coffee, and many other articles are proportionately low.

This is due to improvements in machinery, increased transportation facilities and the opening up of new and fertile sections of the earth, under all of which the world’s supply of food has of late years been greatly in excess of the world’s increase in population; and it is the grocer who brings these advantages home to our families.

Food Adulteration.

There has long been an uneasy feeling lest many articles of food and drink were not only mixed with substances which reduced their nutritive value, but were also often colored with cumulative poisons, and adulterated with substances injurious to health.

These fears have not been altogether groundless. There can be no doubt that this monstrous crime has been practiced to some extent in respect to certain articles. But, thanks to the diffusion of intelligence, the teachings of science, the operation of law, the fear of detection and punishment, and largely, also, by the refusal of conscientious grocers to sell such unwholesome products; greedy and unscrupulous manufacturers have been compelled to abandon their vicious practices, and noxious food adulteration is now comparatively a rare crime.

Those who desire pure articles can almost always obtain them of a reputable grocer by paying their value. But in order to supply the demand for cheaper goods and meet competition, such articles as powdered spices, etc., are extensively prepared, mixed with harmless substances, and containing the largest quantity of pure material which can be furnished at the price for which they are sold. Perhaps, also, such articles are more economical in the using, and admixtures are sometimes improvements.

Adulteration Laws.

Yet even this class of adulterated goods is objectionable, from the fact that there are always dealers who will be tempted to sell them as “Strictly pure,” thus defrauding the purchaser, out-reaching honest rivals and losing their own self-respect. Probably, therefore, most of the upright and leading grocers of the country would be glad to see wise and effective general laws passed against food adulterations, under which all could unite and be freed from unfair competition by the unscrupulous. But laws which will protect both the health and the pocket are difficult to frame and to execute without being sumptuary and oppressive. The most effectual and probably the best laws of the kind in this country at present are the enactments of Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, New Jersey, and Michigan.

Less Adulteration than Commonly Supposed.

The general Government is also moving in the matter. Last year (1887) three “Bulletins” were issued at Washington, which deal exhaustively with current adulterations of dairy products, spices, etc., and fermented beverages. These reports, made under direction of the Commissioner of Agriculture, were prepared respectively by Messrs. H. W. Wiley, C. Richardson, and C. A. Crampton, who state in substance that they found certain articles extensively adulterated, but generally with harmless materials.

The president of the N. Y. Microscopical Society states that many members of that scientific body have looked into the alleged adulterations of food products and find them not as general as many suppose, and the adulterants found were in most cases harmless.

At the recent “Health Exhibition,” in England, Dr. Jas. Bell declared to the Conference, that, “In most articles of food there has been a very great improvement in recent years as regards adulterations,” and that the “gross and deleterious adulterants formerly used have been practically abandoned.” This accords also with the recently expressed opinions of the eminent Dr. Hassall and of many scientific investigators in this country.

Hints to Housekeepers.

As a rule, whole or unground articles are to be preferred to those which are powdered; not only because they are less liable to adulteration, but also because the latter more quickly lose flavor and strength.

This objection applies also to buying goods in large quantities of wholesale dealers, for family use. This plan may appear to be economical, but is generally disadvantageous both to buyer and seller. Tea, aromatic and ground goods, and many other commodities often deteriorate in quality before they are used. Servants who can dip their hands into abundant supplies are apt to become more wasteful. If articles so purchased do not prove suitable, it is more trouble to exchange them than with the retail dealer who sells in smaller quantities and is in daily contact with his customers. And, besides, an honest man who studies the daily wants of the families of his community, and adapts his business to supplying them with good articles in convenient quantities and at fair prices, has a right to expect consideration and encouragement from his friends and neighbors.

The Daily Food of a Model Man.

A healthy man, weighing, say, one hundred and fifty-four pounds, consists of water one hundred and nine pounds, and of solid matter forty-five pounds. His blood weighs about twelve pounds, or, when dry, two pounds. The quantity of food substances he should consume every day, and their relative proportions necessary to keep him vigorous and well, are stated by Prof. Johnston to be about as follows:

lbs. oz. Water 5 8-3/4 Albumen, fibrin, gluten, etc. 4-1/4 Starch, sugar, etc. 11-1/2 Fat 3-3/4 Common salt 3/4 Phosphates, potash salts, etc. 1/3

If for a time the proper balance of constituents is not preserved in the food, even though the health may not appear affected, the laborer can do less work, a frail constitution is engendered and the person becomes more susceptible to disease.

Variety in Food.

If any constituent is deficient we must supply it; hence variety in food is not only agreeable but necessary to health. Albumen, fibrin, casein and gluten build up the muscles and tissues, while starch, sugar and fat produce the warmth and energy of the body. The mineral substances are necessary for the framework—the bones. Grains, fruits and vegetables contain starch and sugar and more or less gluten; meats contain fibrin and albumen; milk, casein, etc.

Beef and Bread

have the following composition:

Lean Wheaten beef. Bread.

Water 77 40

Fibrin or gluten 19 7

Fat 3 1

Starch 0 50

Salt and other 1 2 minerals

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100 100

This shows that the main difference between beef and bread is that the meat contains no starch, and nearly three times as much of the muscle making fibrin as the proportion of gluten (which is similar in many respects) in wheaten bread.

The water, climate, season, age, habits, etc., all have to do with the choice of food we eat. Besides the quantity of nourishment contained in the food, there is also the question of the ease and completeness with which it can be digested and assimilated. It is not always fat eaters who are the fattest.

Milk.

Woman’s milk is considered the type of human food when the conditions approach that of the child, as the milk of the mother is the natural food of all young animals. Milk partakes of the nature of both animal and vegetable food. It contains:

Human Cow’s milk. milk.

Water 89-1/2 87

Casein 1-2/8 4

Butter or milk fat 2-1/4 3-1/2

Sugar of milk 6-1/8 4-3/4

Salts or ash 1/4 3/4

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