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supplied their own quart or gallon container to bring the dark, sticky, sweet nectar home. A great many items came in bulk. Lard, shortening, peanut butter, and other such items had to be measured out, weighed, wrapped in wax paper and then wrapped in brown paper and tied with cotton twine. Sugar, beans, “store-bought cookies,” cheese, bologna and many other things had to be weighed and packaged in brown paper bags and then tied with twine.

A great treat that would appear hanging in the front window from time to time was a whole stock of golden ripe bananas. We scrambled then to find pop or beer bottles (Tip Ale, a beverage with a very low alcoholic content was sold in retail stores) to trade for a banana or two. Pop was always available at five cents,