Found a 1962 grocery list tucked in a cookbook that changed how I see thrift finds

It listed butter at 49 cents a pound and a phone number with only 5 digits, which made me realize how much we take for granted in 2024, anyone else ever find something that old in a used book and just sit there staring at it?

2 comments

2 Comments

angelab625d ago

Found a 1950s grocery list myself once, stuck in an old paperback. It had bread for a dime and I just sat there doing the math in my head, then laughed because my last grocery run cost more than that whole list probably did for a month. Made me feel ancient even though I wasn't even born yet. Now I check every book I pick up at thrift stores, hoping for another time capsule. Mostly I just find old receipts and dried leaves, but that one list was worth the whole bin. Sometimes I wonder if people in 2090 will find my Amazon orders and think the same thing.

green.jessica2d ago

See, I get the appeal but I'm kind of the opposite on this. Those old lists always make me feel grateful we live now, not wistful. You're paying a dime for bread but you're also scrubbing clothes by hand and maybe hoping the polio vaccine actually works. I found a 1940s letter once, all about canning tomatoes and worrying about ration stamps, and I just thought, man, we have it so easy. Your grandkids might look at your Amazon history and laugh, sure, but they'll also be amazed you could order anything at all and have it show up in two days. That's not ancient to me, that's a miracle.