Here are a couple of interior views of a Jewel store from late 1944. It’s hard to describe what I like most about these wonderful scenes – The orange collars on the employees’ white uniforms, standard for Jewel at the time. The bright, bold graphics of the 1940’s packaging. The gleaming porcelain refrigeration cases. The simple elegance of the light fixtures. The natural beauty of the vegetable displays. The Jewel script logo (which I really miss) on the wall poster. The simple Christmas decorations, including real pine garland, something you’d never see in a commercial location today. The well-worn wooden floors...
It amazing how small a Jewel used to be. Not that it is shocking to me or anything just a very "Wow" to realize that this small s[ace was once innovative and state of the art.
ReplyDeleteDidi - This was really true of most major chains of the day - Safeway, Acme, A&P and many other chains, including Chicago's National Food Stores and Jewel. The standard store size was generally 5 to 8,000 square feet in the 40's. The wooden floors really get me on this one. Asbestos-based tile would become the norm not long after this.
ReplyDeleteThese have to be some of the better vintage grocery store interior photos I've seen. They totally capture an era, yet seem timeless.
ReplyDeleteI always love the shelves over the freezer cases... These used to be fairly common.
ReplyDeleteSteven - They are great, I agree. In addition, you get the feeling that they weren't particularly "staged", either. The people are acting naturally and the shelves probably did look like that on a normal basis.
ReplyDeleteDerek - Good point. Customers had a much more complete line of sight in those days, what with the low-rise cases. Plenty of room for displays above.