Wednesday, October 17, 2012

"CRISCO"

“Crisco ain't just for frying. You ever get a sticky something stuck in your hair, like gum?...That's right, Crisco. Spread this on a baby's bottom, you won't even know what diaper rash is...shoot, I seen ladies rub it under they eyes and on they husband's scaly feet...Clean the goo from a price tag, take the squeak out a door hinge. Lights get cut off, stick a wick in it and burn it like a candle....And after all that, it'll still fry your chicken.” ~ Kathryn Stockett, Author of The Help

Down Memory Lane - another photo from the 2011 archives

Does anyone remember when Crisco was packaged like this and sold for 51¢? I don't. The Piggly Wiggly Store Replica inside Pink Palace Museum features original packaging and pricing of store items.

And the story goes like this...........

"Clarence Saunders (1881-1953) is the father of self-service shopping. The son of a poor Virginia tobacco farmer, Saunders left home at 14 to clerk in a grocery store. He moved to Memphis in 1904 to work as a salesman for a wholesale grocery. While calling on customers, Saunders saw that many stores were failing because they did not control costs and overhead."

"Traditionally, shoppers brought in a list of the goods they wanted and gave it to a clerk who selected the items, packaged them, charged the order and had the bags delivered. This was time consuming, inefficient, and expensive. Saunders developed a plan to correct these problems that literally revolutionized the way we shop."

Furthermore, "he designed a systematically arranged store that offered self service/cash and carry shopping. He believed that if he offered lower prices than his competitors, people would wait on themselves, pay cash and carry the bags home. His store had a turnstile entry that forced customers to move in one direction and to pass all the items he offered. Impulse items like candy were stocked at the registers."

Finally, "after getting patent rights to his pricing and merchandising innovations, he opened his first store at 79 Jefferson in 1916. Our Piggly Wiggly exhibit is an exact replica. The origin of “Piggly Wiggly” isn’t clear. Sometimes Saunders said it just came to him; at other times he said he got the idea after seeing a group of piglets pushing and wiggling as they nursed. Whatever the origin, the name has always caught people’s attention."The Pink Palace Museum is one of the largest facilities of its kind in the Southeast. You can walk through a replica of the first self-service grocery store in the country, Clarence Saunders' Piggly Wiggly." ~ Reprinted text from here: http://www.memphismuseums.org/sub_exhibit-2590/

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Piggly Wiggly Store Replica
@Pink Palace Museum
3050 Central Avenue
Memphis, TN 38111

***#6 photo of the day***

(photo taken the day after Thanksgiving, 11/25/2011)

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

"CRISCO"

“Crisco ain't just for frying. You ever get a sticky something stuck in your hair, like gum?...That's right, Crisco. Spread this on a baby's bottom, you won't even know what diaper rash is...shoot, I seen ladies rub it under they eyes and on they husband's scaly feet...Clean the goo from a price tag, take the squeak out a door hinge. Lights get cut off, stick a wick in it and burn it like a candle....And after all that, it'll still fry your chicken.” ~ Kathryn Stockett, Author of The Help

Down Memory Lane - another photo from the 2011 archives

Does anyone remember when Crisco was packaged like this and sold for 51¢? I don't. The Piggly Wiggly Store Replica inside Pink Palace Museum features original packaging and pricing of store items.

And the story goes like this...........

"Clarence Saunders (1881-1953) is the father of self-service shopping. The son of a poor Virginia tobacco farmer, Saunders left home at 14 to clerk in a grocery store. He moved to Memphis in 1904 to work as a salesman for a wholesale grocery. While calling on customers, Saunders saw that many stores were failing because they did not control costs and overhead."

"Traditionally, shoppers brought in a list of the goods they wanted and gave it to a clerk who selected the items, packaged them, charged the order and had the bags delivered. This was time consuming, inefficient, and expensive. Saunders developed a plan to correct these problems that literally revolutionized the way we shop."

Furthermore, "he designed a systematically arranged store that offered self service/cash and carry shopping. He believed that if he offered lower prices than his competitors, people would wait on themselves, pay cash and carry the bags home. His store had a turnstile entry that forced customers to move in one direction and to pass all the items he offered. Impulse items like candy were stocked at the registers."

Finally, "after getting patent rights to his pricing and merchandising innovations, he opened his first store at 79 Jefferson in 1916. Our Piggly Wiggly exhibit is an exact replica. The origin of “Piggly Wiggly” isn’t clear. Sometimes Saunders said it just came to him; at other times he said he got the idea after seeing a group of piglets pushing and wiggling as they nursed. Whatever the origin, the name has always caught people’s attention."The Pink Palace Museum is one of the largest facilities of its kind in the Southeast. You can walk through a replica of the first self-service grocery store in the country, Clarence Saunders' Piggly Wiggly." ~ Reprinted text from here: http://www.memphismuseums.org/sub_exhibit-2590/

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Piggly Wiggly Store Replica
@Pink Palace Museum
3050 Central Avenue
Memphis, TN 38111

***#6 photo of the day***

(photo taken the day after Thanksgiving, 11/25/2011)