Shopping in 1865

From a Victorian account book in the Orchard family collection

Some of the items provided by Orchards & Son seem strange to us today. Follow the link to find out more:

Most people shopped daily as it was difficult to keep food fresh before the days of fridges, freezers and cans.
Most foods were 'loose', rather than boxed, canned or packed. Each item was weighed on scales and wrapped as required by the shop assistants.
There were no trollies or baskets - each item was taken from a shelf, box or drawer for you and your order would be assembled on a counter. A chair might be provided for you to rest on while you waited.
Foods we now take for granted were not found then; tinned meat, commercially produced jam and marmalade, self-raising flour, custard powder, baking powder, jellies, condensed milk, dried milk, margarine, dried vegetables and dried soup mixes were not widely available until late Victorian times.