These are the latest blog updates. Click on the title to read the full article.
More regular updates can be found on the Bluesky/a> and the Message Board.
Message Board Updated
As promised, the Message Board has been updated and restyled (why do I do things like this so late at night?). Better still, I’ve turned user activation back on. There may be a few more tweaks over the weekend, but things should be in pretty good shape now.
And more updates…
So I think I’ve promised more than once that when life got a little more calm, I would start paying a lot more attention to the site and to my research again. As many of you may have noticed, that time has finally come. I don;t get personal here very often (and I’m not going to start in any meaningful way tonight) but over the past six years or so, I have:
- Gotten my master’s degree and started an entirely new career as an academic librarian, where (this year) I earned tenure as a faculty member at the university where I work.
- Lost one parent and assumed responsibility for another one with dementia.
- Split up with my partner after ten years.
- Sold two houses and moved once, resulting in my consolidating three houses worth of stuff into one house.
- Served as an adjunct instructor and a consultant on top of my “everyday” duties.
There were other things, too, but this is enough for now. As you can see, I’ve been quite busy and supermarket history has not been my top priority. But in the past six months or so, especially since I got past the tenure process, it’s become a much bigger priority again. And I’ve been doing all sorts of background updates, like adding numerous new location lists and converting them to a Google Docs format so that you can download them and so that I can automate Google Maps links. I’ve also been doing a lot on Twitter. And a lot of research, much of which will soon be reflected on the site.
One big problem has been the Message Board. I basically abandoned it for a few years, turning off new registrations because I just didn’t have time to deal with the spam. I hope to fix that this weekend with a software upgrade. I also plan to start uploading several years worth of photos and archival material. Finally, I’m once again open to the idea of guest writers; more on that later. It all seems really exciting again now that I actually have some time.
I may also post a survey soon, but for now, feel free to tell me what you would like to see in the comments.
And by the way, here’s a great new location list for Long Beach CA that was one the most fun ones I’ve done in years. Enjoy.
And my sincerest apologies for all the email I’ve ignored and material I’ve not posted over the past few years. Thanks to those of you who have stuck around.
(Photo above, probably of the long-gone Ralphs at 2810 East 10th Street in Long Beach,Long Beach is from an unidentified source.)
For your researching pleasure
Just added a major address list for Baltimore, including over 900 locations from 1924-1964, with a few caveats:
- No city directories were published in Baltimore between 1942 and 1956, nor at any time after 1964. I will try at some point to “fill in” with telephone directories, but they tend to be less accurate.
- I am temporarily missing listings for several chains (Acme, A&P, Peoples, and Eddie’s) from a couple of the later years due to my own oversight. I will correct this as soon as I can.
- There have been significant renaming and renumbering of streets in Baltimore; I have tried to compensate for this and display the current address where possible, but I have not been able to do so in every case.
(Photo above from Enoch Pratt Free Library.)
So…Baltimore…
I spent the weekend in Baltimore. If you follow me on Twitter, you saw a pretty amazing collection of photos from around the city–not amazing because I’m such a great photographer but because there’s so much supermarket history still standing in Baltimore and so much of it is in such recognizable condition. Acme, Food Fair, A&P, Penn Fruit, and more. It’s all there. I did library research as well and there will be much more soon.
But do check out the past few days on Twitter…really.
(Photo above is from an item in the Maryland Department, Enoch Pratt Free Library.)
Updates
…a/k/a “Wow…that took a really long time…”
As of this afternoon, all the location spreadsheets have been converted to the new format. which means:
- The are in Google Sheets, so it will be updated in real time on the site anytime I make updates, corrections, and additions.
- You can download them as spreadsheets or add them to your Google Drive account and play with them at your leisure.
- They have Google Maps links to direct you right to the store location so you can see a contemporary view (usually) via Google Street View.
- They have a nicer display…or at least I like it better. Try one!
A couple of other things:
- My apologies that a few comments took forever to be approved. Apparently there was some communication snafu between the WordPress iPad app and the site.
- I will probably do a message board upgrade and start accepting new users again soon.
- Lots of new pictures coming over the summer!
The photo above is yer humble host at the grand opening of the new Publix store in Winston-Salem last week.
A very prolific weekend…
In addition to all of the CanCon, look for new location lists for Akron, Ohio (1961-1965) and Lowell, Massachusetts (1931-1985).
Links found along the way:
- Acme Cash Stores (Cuyahoga Falls Historical Society)
- DeMoulas Market Basket (Wikipedia)
Mucho CanCon
So…a busy holiday weekend. Armed with material from this amazing resource, I have added location spreadsheets for Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary, and Edmonton. Photos and other material to come.
My apologies for not having appeared on the front page much lately. I have, however, been doing some pretty major upgrades behind the scenes, all of which will result in lots of new content soon. And I’ve been posting pretty regularly on Twitter, if you’re interested. the past couple of years have been really hectic, with numerous personal and professional issues, but I finally have time to get back to work. I hope you all still care!
Photo Credit:
“Sherwood Park Safeway, 1961” by Jerry “Woody” from Edmonton, Canada – SHERWOOD PARK SAFEWAY FIRST SUPERMARKET NOV. 24, 1961 Uploaded by xnatedawgx. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons.
Charlotte updates
Some updates to the Charlotte section, including a new location spreadsheet via Google Sheets and updates to the history pages to reflect some corrections and updates to the original article.
Also in the works;
- I’m building a Nashville location list and page.
- I’m working on a new photo platform, which is why I have not uploaded new photos in a while.
- Once again, for updates as I travel and other random tidbits, be sure to follow @GroceteriaWeb on Twitter.
