10 Ways Grocery Shopping Was Cheaper (and Simpler) in the '60s

Going to the grocery store used to be fun. It was a simpler place with simpler prices, as well as a community hub. In the 1960s, grocery stores just felt so much easier. 

Looking to take a stroll down Memory Aisle? Here are 10 things from the 1960s that made shopping at the grocery store cheaper and easier. 

When you shopped with cash, it was easier to stick to a budget. If you only brought enough money for a few things, it was a lot harder to make impulse purchases.  

There weren’t as many options in the 1960s as there are today; you weren’t standing there, holding two different types of pre-made guacamole cups and comparing which had less saturated fat. In the ‘60s, you’d just grab an avocado. If your store had them. 

In fact, you probably weren’t buying a whole lot of pre-made anything in the 1960s. Most people shopped for whole ingredients and cooked entire meals from scratch. Pre-cut veggies and other conveniences along those lines didn’t get popular in grocery stores until the ‘80s. 

There weren’t as many people in markets then as there are today, so it was a lot easier for employees to be able to provide some actual customer service; finding things, helping to carry them out, and more. Today, it’s a lot more like walking around a Home Depot, desperately hoping you’ll find somebody in an orange apron. 

Most things were local, so produce was often more seasonal and fresher. The strawberries from your local farmer are often gonna be a whole lot better than the ones shipped from across the country, nine times out of 10. 

Though it wasn’t everywhere, many people had milk delivered in crates to their homes from local farms, rather than buying it at the grocery store. 

Every price was straightforward and clear before memberships got popular in the ‘70s. Plus, coupons were more easily available and didn’t require you to sign up for anything to use them. 

In these days, it was a lot more about a place to shop for food than a place to be dazzled by things you’ve never heard of. You didn’t have a whole aisle dedicated to organic choices, of course, but the costs were cheaper for the things the stores did have.  

S&H Green Stamps, a promo run by Sperry & Hutchinson, were often given away at grocery stores as an incentive. These stamps, once you filled up a special booklet with them, could be traded in for things like silverware and toasters. 

Because local grocery stores were often in competition with each other, you’d see prices fall in an attempt to woo customers. If that guy’s selling corn for $2, the guy across the street might be selling it for $1. Please, grocers, don’t fight over me!