Ypsilantian J. H. Wortley's 1913 Grocery Tab: The Final Week

And here is the end of J. H. Wortley's tab for January, 1913--paid in full.

Transcription:

The month ends with the usual purchases of bread, more oranges and lemons, and oddly, butter AND oleo (bit of a mystery, there). Surprise, surprise: canned goods existed in 1913, which DD did not know: there's a can of rather pricey peas, and "2 corn (25 cents); 3 peas (50 cents)" a few days later, which also suggest canned goods.
Finally, a bit of cash and a new broom, for 50 cents, to sweep away this tab, leaving many questions, including:

Why in the Sam Hill did this individual/family purchase 24 units of celery in January, 1913?!

Ypsilantian J. H. Wortley's 1913 Grocery Tab: Week 4

Hmm, week 4 of J. H. Wortley's 1913 tab, Monday January 20-Sunday January 26, is sparse indeed. We'll throw in the 27th just because that's the way the page ended:

Transcription:

Another mysterious coconut along with hideously expensive butter and what looks like 3 of the regular 10-cent loaves of bread. Then a dozen (pricey) eggs on Thursday, and that's it till next week! DD notes that the eggs are 3 times the cost of a loaf of bread, which is far from the case today. Why were they so expensive in a city surrounded by a zillion farms?!

Ypsilantian J. H. Wortley's 1913 Grocery Tab: Week 3

Here's week 2 of Wortley's tab, from Monday, January 13 to Sunday, January 19, 1913:

Transcription:

If any readers can puzzle out "Bu Arkin," or any of the other mystifying notations on this tab, that would be very helpful!

The week starts off with some bread, coffee, Jello, and celery on Monday, a quart of "cberries" (cranberries?) and more bread on Wednesday, yet more bread a day later and dog biscuits (this really surprised me!--I had no idea commercial dog biscuits were made this early!), cabbage on Friday along with some remarkably cheap salmon and 3 mysterious lemons. For Saturday, it's more bread, celery, oranges and oysters, and a dozen expensive eggs.

Ypsilantian J. H. Wortley's 1913 Grocery Tab: Week 2

Here's week 2 of Wortley's tab, from Monday, January 6 to Sunday, January 12, 1913:

Transcription:

6: 50 flores ? 17oz ? reg. Oysters 10 nutmeg 10
3 lemons 9 1 rice 8 1 lb. ? Cocoa 215 ?
2 Lard 34..................................2.66
sleepr ?.....................................30
1 pk apples 25 cabbage 5 1 pt. cream 19
2 dz. Eggs 56 2\1P ? Haddie 37.............1.42

7: bread 10 2 butter 84 1 Royal [baking powder] 50
c planh ? 10 6 starch 50..................2.04
by 5 btls.............................25 credit
6 oranges 15 Jello 10........................25

8: 25 lb ? Sug 145 2 cberries 10 sardines 70
crax 8 3 soup 70...........................3.03

9: cheese 14 3 celery 10 lettuce 22
codfish 16 bread 10..........................72

10: carrots 5 cabg 8 Bru (?)
fr Preff ? 15................................38
4 Frankfurt ? 21 6 Oreg ? 13 P Dips ? 100....50

11: Lettuce 10 celery 10 2 Butter 84
Bread 10 The Tack ? 10 Pry Lump ?
3 Jello 25.................................1.56
Pr Ocpts ? 13 reg Onions ? 21...............38
1 lb (?) Brauchn (?)10 Welmeats ? 10.........20
1 dz Eggs 28 6 P Cream 114.................1.42


"Haddie" might be smoked fish, as in the Scottish dish "Finnan Haddie." Wow it's relatively expensive; 37 cents! Sardines are even more fiendishly expensive at 70 cents. And the sardines were bought on a Wednesday...you might think they might be a special weekend treat or for weekend guests, but apparently not. The very next day some codfish is bought--this is a very fishy week. Plus more celery. Oh, and I am guessing "crax" is "crackers."

Spying on a 1913 Ypsi Grocery Receipt

In the grocery checkout line, have you ever quietly spied on the shopping cart in back of you, and formed secret conclusions about the shopper based on his or her choices?

Admit it, now. The morose 30-ish guy with a frozen pizza and a six-pack on a Friday night--no wedding ring (yes, you checked that, too). The elderly lady buying 30 tins of King Oscar sardines (the pricey, extra-nummy ones), a giant bag of cat kibble, and a jar of pickles (true recent example). The middle-aged beer-belly guy buying a rack of ribs, 3 packs of hot dogs, buns, mustard, mayo, paper plates, chips, coleslaw, pop, a case of Bud Lite, BBQ sauce....and a jar of artichoke hearts. It's all you can do not to turn to him and say,

"OK, I see what you're doing, there, but--I have to know--what's with the artichoke hearts?!"

Or is Dusty D the only one who snoops like this? Hey, I'm interested in my fellow man--and I need to know what he's gonna do with those artichoke hearts. I need to know.

If you're like me, take a look at the 1913 grocery receipt below and see what conclusions you can draw about Ypsilantian J. H. Wortley.

In January of 1913, Wortley ran this month-long tab at longtime Michigan Ave. grocer Charles King's. Every shopper ran a tab. King's kept a big account book, wrote down your purchases when you stopped in, and you paid at month's end. Dusty D. has deliberately not done any research on J. H. Wortley. Was he single? Married? Children? Wealthy or poor? I have no idea. We'll look at each week of purchases in turn and I'll add my transcription below each one. What conclusions can you draw about J. H. Wortley based on his January 1913 grocery tab? And what's with the celery?!

New Year's began on Wednesday in 1913. Here's the week of purchases from Wednesday, January 1 to Sunday, January 5.


Transcription:


Hey, Quaker Oats! Hm, on the 3rd Wortley's (guess): wife or servant buys lettuce...in January. And three celeries on the 4th--the first of many. Yummy oysters, too. Coconut and raisins?!...rather odd items, that. And seemingly fancy?

Since this list is so gigantic, we'll break it up into weekly posts. On to week 2!