Us: Then vs. Now

I was just looking through my Saveur, the one dedicated to markets§, and something about this picture bothered me. So I went back a couple of times, to study it. I finally figured out what it was that struck my eye. Can you figure it out, too? Hint: it has to do with the people in the market, taken both individually and collectively.

mkt.jpg by galeg_1

Super Giant Market, Rockville MD 1964 ©Saveur, 2010


Geo

§BTW, I was astounded to note that the market issue contains not one single mention of what just has to be the best market in N. America, Montréal's Marché Jean-Talon.

There's no one ringing the registers?

no people of color?

PitaChip wrote:There's no one ringing the registers?

I thought that 2 but in the far lower left there is a guy at the register in a blue smock with his back to the picture, then there is a guy who appears sort of just left of center in a similar blue smock with a name tag standing near the register. Also to the lower right is just the head of another checker.

I was struck by how many men where shopping!

nr706 wrote:no people of color?

I don't think that would be much different if you took a photo today in a Rockville, MD supermarket.

I was struck by how white and skinny the crowd was.

With the exception of one woman in the middle, the thing that strikes me is that they all look so incredibly dour.

No one is using any kind of mobile device.

That and they're all white.

ETA - I think I see Paulie Walnuts in the upper right.

• The kid in the red dress (above & to the left of center) is standing in the cart rather than sitting in the seat/bread & egg shelf
• The auburn-haired lady just to the right of the "6" has somehow attracted attention & annoyed a good number of folks, who are glaring at her
• The kid in the yellow shirt (just above & to the right of the "6") is breaking the fourth wall
• The dark-haired lady to the right of the "6" looks like a chubby Helen Hunt
• The dude at the very bottom right corner needs to have a pack of Lucky's rolled up in his sleeve

1) very bad haircuts
2) no T-shirts or other knits

Judy H wrote:2) no T-shirts or other knits

Au contraire - check out the dude at the very bottom right corner (the one that really should have a pack of smokes rolled up in his sleeve).

Why isn't anyone wearing a hat? Damn hippies.

Hi,

I lived in Rockville, MD from 1965 to 1969. My family very likely went to that grocery store. I haven't looked up the address yet.

Regards,

--they all have short hair (except the one who doesn't)

--they are all dressed in white (except the few who aren't)

--they are all lobotomized (no exception here)

--they are all expressionless (including those with what might, arguably be considered an expression of some sort)

--I've got it!! they're all...aliens!

women just above #7 and the women just above #8 appear to be twins!
Sure looks like the guy in the lower left is not caucasian

I've got it. None of them are wearing any underwear!

They're all buying local produced raised by small farmers and they aren't even smug about it.

Khaopaat wrote:

Judy H wrote:2) no T-shirts or other knits

Au contraire - check out the dude at the very bottom right corner (the one that really should have a pack of smokes rolled up in his sleeve).

I stand corrected. I didn't have the window totally open, and so the photo was cut off and I didn't see that guy.

I'm doubling down on bad haircuts.

Either that or,

Gypsy Boy wrote:--I've got it!! they're all...aliens!

I don't see any veggies, am I missing them? Plus unhappy people!

eatchicago wrote:I've got it. None of them are wearing any underwear!

Well, we can't be sure - I know, it's hard to tell as in this day and age we know people are wearing underwear because they make sure to show it to us. Back then they *could* have been wearing it but it just wasn't visible.

With the exception of the children, everyone appears to be about the same age.

Of course, that could just be a corollary to the fact that they are aliens.

They're all trim and fit.

Oh, and John Spencer's in aisle 10.

Santander wrote:They're all trim and fit.

Bingo.

Incidentally, this may be why they all look so dour

santander wrote:They're all trim and fit.

and

gleam wrote:I was struck by how white and skinny the crowd was.

Both come close to my two main thoughts, in sequence. Here's the backstory. I had just gotten back last week from 2+ weeks in Australia, mostly in and around the University of Queensland, when I skimmed past this picture. When I went back to study it a bit more, my first thought was "Looks a bit like Oz...why?" [and no, it wasn't clothing or haircut or anything to do with style (or being aliens)! ] Mostly because they were trim and fit, they looked like a group of Aussies in a grocery story. Can you imagine what the people would look like if this photo were replicated today?

I can tell you from very recent experience that if you took a shot in the huge Woolworth's supermarket in the Indooroopilly neighborhood of Brisbane, you'd see that most of the people look even fitter and trimmer than the Yanks in the photo above.

Further thought took me to gleam's first point: In Oz, what you see mostly are white folks, white folks and lots and lots of East Asians. But mostly white folks. Which further thought led me to thinking about the reasons for this similarity with the shot above. Seems to me that if you re-shot the pic today, you'd notice some definite differences, color-wise.

So the American supermarket of today is in (at least) two ways different from that depicted above, from '64. Interesting.

And wow! wasn't it wildly entertaining to see all the neat stuff yinz dug up about that pic! I just loved it! Reminds me of the mock-Michael Faraday exercise we used to put the kids through in chemistry class: how many observations can you make about this burning candle?

Tnx to everyone who played!

Geo

Dmnkly wrote:yinz

???

Judy H wrote:

Dmnkly wrote:yinz

???

"y'all" or "yous guys" or "y'uns"

leek wrote:

Judy H wrote:

Dmnkly wrote:yinz

???

"y'all" or "yous guys" or "y'uns"

But from what part of the country or dialect? Never heard it before, and I do get around a bit, but obviously not to wherever they say yinz.

Judy H wrote:But from what part of the country or dialect? Never heard it before, and I do get around a bit, but obviously not to wherever they say yinz.

According to Wikipedia and my random cousins, Pennsylvania, especially Pittsburgh.

I have spent an inordinate amount of my life in Da Burgh. I'm at Pitt a lot. On faculty, in fact. Met The Other Dr. Gale there. Etc.

"Yinz" is an extremely useful lexical item (exactly as "y'awl", but I'm not from there, so it doesn't feel comfortable when I say "y'awl"), that one picks up on instantly. I use it, from time-to-time, in hopes that it will catch on far beyond the friendly confines of Pittsburgh.

Geo

PS. I'm betting that sazerac is *already* a yinz'er.

Yinz sounds like maybe a shortening of "you uns" which might be said a little further south in the Appalachians. Funny that I never heard it before, and I know numerous people from Pittsburgh. Learn something new every day, eh.