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[Illustration:

                                                        Price, 20 Cents.

                    Grocers’ Goods: A Family Guide.

                  THE TRADESMAN’S PUBLISHING COMPANY,
                           Tribune Building,
                             NEW YORK CITY.

]

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                            GROCERS’ GOODS:


                             A FAMILY GUIDE


                           TO THE PURCHASE OF


                   FLOUR, SUGAR, TEA, COFFEE, SPICES,
                      CANNED GOODS, CIGARS, WINES,


                         AND ALL OTHER ARTICLES



               Usually Found in American Grocery Stores.




                           BY F. B. GODDARD.

                           COPYRIGHTED 1888.




                  THE TRADESMEN’S PUBLISHING COMPANY,
                           TRIBUNE BUILDING,
                             NEW YORK CITY.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                     Index List of Grocers’ Goods.

Housekeepers will find this list suggestive and helpful in making up
orders for the Grocer, as well as useful for page reference.


                                                 PAGE.
                  Adulterations                      6
                  Ale                               62
                  Allspice                          41
                  Almonds                           50
                  Apples                            44
                  Apples, Dried                     48
                  Artificial Butter                 30
                  Asparagus                         47

                  Bacon                             35
                  Baking Powders                    16
                  Bananas                           45
                  Barley                            13
                  Bath Brick                        58
                  Beans                          47-48
                  Beef, Dried                       35
                  Beef, Fresh                       34
                  Beer                              62
                  Berries                        45-49
                  Beeswax                           58
                  Bird Seed                         57
                  Biscuit                           16
                  Blacking                          57
                  Blended Tea                       24
                  Bluing                            55
                  Brandies                          63
                  Brazil Nuts                       50
                  Bread                             15
                  Brooms                            56
                  Brushes                           56
                  Buckwheat                         14
                  Burgundy Wines                 60-64
                  Butter                            28
                  Butterine                         30

                  Cabbage                           46
                  California Wines               61-64
                  Candies                           19
                  Candles                           55
                  Canned Goods                      36
                    “    Meats                      37
                    “    Fish                       37
                    “    Vegetables                 38
                    “    Fruits                     38
                  Cans, Tin                         38
                  Capers                            43
                  Carrots                           47
                  Cassia and Buds                   41
                  Catsups                           44
                  Cauliflower                       47
                  Celery                            47
                  Celery Salt                       42
                  Cereals                           10
                  Champagne                         61
                  Cheese                            31
                  Cherries                          44
                  Chicory                           27
                  Chocolate                         27
                  Cider                             63
                  Cigars                            51
                  Cigarettes                        52
                  Cinnamon                          41
                  Claret Wines                   60-64
                  Clothes Pins                      56
                  Cloves                            41
                  Cocoa                             27
                  Cocoanuts                         45
                  Cod Fish                          35
                  Coffee                            24
                  Condensed Milk                    28
                  Condiments                        39
                  Cordials                          64
                  Corn                              12
                  Corn Starch                       12
                  Crackers                          16
                  Cranberries                       45
                  Cream                             28
                  Cream of Tartar                   16
                  Cucumbers                         47
                  Currants                       45-49
                  Curry Powders                     41

                  Dates                             50
                  Disinfectants                     58
                  Distilled Liquors                 63
                  Dried Fruits                      48

                  Eggs                              33
                  Egg Plant                         48
                  Essences                          39
                  Extracts                          39

                  Farinaceous Foods                 14
                  Feed, for Stock                   15
                  Figs                              49
                  Filberts                          50
                  Fish                              35
                  Flavoring Extracts                32
                  Flour                             11
                  Fruits                            44
                    “    Domestic                   44
                    “    Tropical                   45
                    “    Dried                      48
                    “    Brandy                     39
                    “    Canned                     39
                  Fruit Butter                      39

                  Garlic                            47
                  Gelatine                          39
                  Gin                               64
                  Ginger                            40
                  Ginger Ale                        63
                  Glucose                           18
                  Gooseberries                      45
                  Graham Flour                      12
                  Grapes                            44
                  Greens                            48
                  Green Corn                        47
                  Groats                            14
                  Grocers’ Sundries                 58

                  Halibut                           53
                  Ham                               35
                  Herbs                             39
                  Herring                           35
                  Hints to Housekeepers              8
                  Hominy                            13
                  Honey                             19
                  Horseradish                       43

                  Insect Powder                     58
                  Isinglass                         39

                  Jams                              39
                  Japan Tea                         24
                  Jellies                           38

                  Koumiss                           28
                  Ketchup                           44

                  Lager Beer                        62
                  Lard                              33
                  Lemons                            45
                  Lentils                           48

                  Madeira Wine                      64
                  Maccaroni                         17
                  Mackerel                          35
                  Malt Liquors                      62
                  Mace                              41
                  Maple Sugar                       18
                    “   Syrup                       18
                  Marmalades                        39
                  Matches                           57
                  Meal                              12
                  Meat Extracts                     36
                  Meats, Canned                     37
                    “    Fresh                      34
                    “    Smoked                     35
                  Melons                            48
                  Milk                            9-28
                  Mineral Waters                    61
                  Molasses                          19
                  Mops                              56
                  Mustard                           40
                  Mutton                            34

                  Nuts                              50
                  Nutmegs                           41

                  Oatmeal                           13
                  Oil, Salad                        43
                  Olives                            43
                  Oleomargarine                     30
                  Onions                            47
                  Oranges                           45
                  Oyster Plant                      48

                  Pails                             58
                  Parsnips                          47
                  Pea Nuts                          50
                  Peaches                           44
                     “    Dried                     49
                  Pears                             44
                  Pearl Barley                      13
                  Peas                           47-48
                  Pecan Nuts                        50
                  Pepper                            40
                  Pepper, Cayenne                   40
                  Pepper Sauce                      44
                  Pickles                           43
                  Pipes                             51
                  Pine Apples                       45
                  Plums                          44-49
                  Pork                              34
                  Porter                            62
                  Port Wine                      59-61
                  Potatoes                          46
                  Poultry                           34
                  Preserves                         38
                  Prunes                            49

                  Radishes                          47
                  Raisins                           49
                  Rice                              14
                  Rhine Wines                    60-64
                  Rhubarb                           47
                  Rum                               64
                  Rye Flour                         13

                  Sago                              15
                  Salads                            48
                  Salad Dressings                   43
                  Saleratus                         16
                  Salmon                            35
                  Salt                              42
                  Samp                              13
                  Sauces                            43
                  Seeds                             57
                  Shells                            27
                  Sherry Wine                    59-61
                  Shoe Dressing                     57
                  Snuff                             53
                  Soaps                             53
                    “   Toilet                      54
                    “   Shaving                     54
                  Soups Canned                      37
                  Soda                              16
                  Spaghetti                         17
                  Spices                            39
                  Squash                            48
                  Starch, Laundry                   55
                  Stove Polish                      57
                  Stout                             64
                  Strawberries                      45
                  Sugar                             17
                  Sundries                          58
                  Sweet Potatoes                    46
                  Syrups                            19

                  Tamarinds                         50
                  Tapioca                           15
                  Tea                               21
                  Tobacco, Chewing                  51
                     “     Smoking                  51
                  Tomatoes                          47
                  Tongues                           35
                  Turnips                           47

                  Veal                              34
                  Vegetables, Fresh                 46
                      “       Canned                38
                  Vermicelli                        17
                  Vinegar                           42

                  Washboards                        46
                  Wines and Liquors                 59
                  Wheat                             10
                  Whiskey                           64

                  Yeast                             16




                            GROCERS’ GOODS.

                            A FAMILY GUIDE.


In the ancient times of twenty-five or thirty years ago, the grocer’s
goods consisted chiefly of codfish, flour, sugar, tea, coffee, salt,
molasses and whale oil. There were also a little candy in glass jars,
some nuts in bins, a few drums of figs and a box of sour oranges. The
grocer himself found plenty of time to talk politics and play checkers
across the counter with his friends and neighbors. Those were the days
when a few conservative old merchants used to meet and discuss the tea
market and allot among themselves the quantity to be imported, not a
pound of which could arrive under twelve or fifteen months.

But things have changed. The importer now flashes his order under the
sea and on, over plains and through jungles to China. “Ocean tramp”
steamships are waiting to receive his merchandise, and within thirty or
forty days it may be sending up its grateful fragrance from tea tables
in the Mississippi Valley.


                           THE MODERN GROCER.

Nor has the enterprising retail grocer of to-day failed to catch the
spirit of this progress and keep even step with it. He has become the
Popular Food Provider, and his store represents about everything which
is palatable in either hemisphere or any zone. As the world has grown
enlightened and refined, his stock has become more and more varied and
better adapted to the wants of mankind, until it embraces every delicacy
of the land, sea or air.

His cunningly prepared sauces provoke the appetite and give zest to more
substantial articles, while they help also to digest them. He has food
fitted for the intellectual worker and for the laborer, for the invalid
and for the infant. He practically annihilates the seasons and furnishes
fruits and vegetables in mid-winter, as fresh and delicate as when first
plucked from their native stems or vines. And, moreover, all the goods
upon his sightly shelves are now put up in the most attractive, portable
and convenient form for family use.


                       Food Never Before so Low.

Nor would a day’s wages ever before purchase so much of food products.
In the English market, for the ten years from 1870 to 1880, the price of
wheat was forty-three per cent. higher than the average of 1886. Sugars
have fallen in price nearly one-half in ten years, and teas, coffee, and
many other articles are proportionately low.

This is due to improvements in machinery, increased transportation
facilities and the opening up of new and fertile sections of the earth,
under all of which the world’s supply of food has of late years been
greatly in excess of the world’s increase in population; and it is the
grocer who brings these advantages home to our families.


                           Food Adulteration.

There has long been an uneasy feeling lest many articles of food and
drink were not only mixed with substances which reduced their nutritive
value, but were also often  with cumulative poisons, and
adulterated with substances injurious to health.

These fears have not been altogether groundless. There can be no doubt
that this monstrous crime has been practiced to some extent in respect
to certain articles. But, thanks to the diffusion of intelligence, the
teachings of science, the operation of law, the fear of detection and
punishment, and largely, also, by the refusal of conscientious grocers
to sell such unwholesome products; greedy and unscrupulous manufacturers
have been compelled to abandon their vicious practices, and noxious food
adulteration is now comparatively a rare crime.

Those who desire pure articles can almost always obtain them of a
reputable grocer by paying their value. But in order to supply the
demand for cheaper goods and meet competition, such articles as powdered
spices, etc., are extensively prepared, mixed with harmless substances,
and containing the largest quantity of pure material which can be
furnished at the price for which they are sold. Perhaps, also, such
articles are more economical in the using, and admixtures are sometimes
improvements.


                           Adulteration Laws.

Yet even this class of adulterated goods is objectionable, from the fact
that there are always dealers who will be tempted to sell them as
“Strictly pure,” thus defrauding the purchaser, out-reaching honest
rivals and losing their own self-respect. Probably, therefore, most of
the upright and leading grocers of the country would be glad to see wise
and effective general laws passed against food adulterations, under
which all could unite and be freed from unfair competition by the
unscrupulous. But laws which will protect both the health and the pocket
are difficult to frame and to execute without being sumptuary and
oppressive. The most effectual and probably the best laws of the kind in
this country at present are the enactments of Massachusetts, New York,
Ohio, New Jersey, and Michigan.


               Less Adulteration than Commonly Supposed.

The general Government is also moving in the matter. Last year (1887)
three “Bulletins” were issued at Washington, which deal exhaustively
with current adulterations of dairy products, spices, etc., and
fermented beverages. These reports, made under direction of the
Commissioner of Agriculture, were prepared respectively by Messrs. H. W.
Wiley, C. Richardson, and C. A. Crampton, who state in substance that
they found certain articles extensively adulterated, but generally with
harmless materials.

The president of the N. Y. Microscopical Society states that many
members of that scientific body have looked into the alleged
adulterations of food products and find them not as general as many
suppose, and the adulterants found were in most cases harmless.

At the recent “Health Exhibition,” in England, Dr. Jas. Bell declared to
the Conference, that, “In most articles of food there has been a very
great improvement in recent years as regards adulterations,” and that
the “gross and deleterious adulterants formerly used have been
practically abandoned.” This accords also with the recently expressed
opinions of the eminent Dr. Hassall and of many scientific investigators
in this country.


                         Hints to Housekeepers.

As a rule, whole or unground articles are to be preferred to those which
are powdered; not only because they are less liable to adulteration, but
also because the latter more quickly lose flavor and strength.

This objection applies also to buying goods in large quantities of
wholesale dealers, for family use. This plan may appear to be
economical, but is generally disadvantageous both to buyer and seller.
Tea, aromatic and ground goods, and many other commodities often
deteriorate in quality before they are used. Servants who can dip their
hands into abundant supplies are apt to become more wasteful. If
articles so purchased do not prove suitable, it is more trouble to
exchange them than with the retail dealer who sells in smaller
quantities and is in daily contact with his customers. And, besides, an
honest man who studies the daily wants of the families of his community,
and adapts his business to supplying them with good articles in
convenient quantities and at fair prices, has a right to expect
consideration and encouragement from his friends and neighbors.


                     The Daily Food of a Model Man.

A healthy man, weighing, say, one hundred and fifty-four pounds,
consists of water one hundred and nine pounds, and of solid matter
forty-five pounds. His blood weighs about twelve pounds, or, when dry,
two pounds. The quantity of food substances he should consume every day,
and their relative proportions necessary to keep him vigorous and well,
are stated by Prof. Johnston to be about as follows:

                                             lbs.      oz.
             Water                              5    8-3/4
             Albumen, fibrin, gluten, etc.           4-1/4
             Starch, sugar, etc.                    11-1/2
             Fat                                     3-3/4
             Common salt                               3/4
             Phosphates, potash salts, etc.            1/3

If for a time the proper balance of constituents is not preserved in the
food, even though the health may not appear affected, the laborer can do
less work, a frail constitution is engendered and the person becomes
more susceptible to disease.


                            Variety in Food.

If any constituent is deficient we must supply it; hence variety in food
is not only agreeable but necessary to health. Albumen, fibrin, casein
and gluten build up the muscles and tissues, while starch, sugar and fat
produce the warmth and energy of the body. The mineral substances are
necessary for the framework—the bones. Grains, fruits and vegetables
contain starch and sugar and more or less gluten; meats contain fibrin
and albumen; milk, casein, etc.


                             Beef and Bread

have the following composition:

                                       Lean    Wheaten
                                         beef.   Bread.

                  Water                     77      40

                  Fibrin or gluten          19       7

                  Fat                        3       1

                  Starch                     0      50

                  Salt and other             1       2
                    minerals

                                          ――――    ――――

                                           100     100

This shows that the main difference between beef and bread is that the
meat contains no starch, and nearly three times as much of the muscle
making fibrin as the proportion of gluten (which is similar in many
respects) in wheaten bread.

The water, climate, season, age, habits, etc., all have to do with the
choice of food we eat. Besides the quantity of nourishment contained in
the food, there is also the question of the ease and completeness with
which it can be digested and assimilated. It is not always fat eaters
who are the fattest.


                                 Milk.

Woman’s milk is considered the type of human food when the conditions
approach that of the child, as the milk of the mother is the natural
food of all young animals. Milk partakes of the nature of both animal
and vegetable food. It contains:

                                       Human   Cow’s
                                         milk.   milk.

                  Water                 89-1/2      87

                  Casein                 1-2/8       4

                  Butter or milk fat     2-1/4   3-1/2

                  Sugar of milk          6-1/8   4-3/4

                  Salts or ash             1/4     3/4

                                       ―――――――  ――――――

                                       100     100

These are average analyses. The casein is equivalent to the gluten of
vegetables or the fibrin of meat, and the sugar to starch.

With these few general observations, let us pass on to consider in
detail the Grocer’s Goods.




                              THE CEREALS.


                                 WHEAT.

The cereal grains consist of solidified vegetable milk, drawn from the
bosom of Mother Earth. But two of them all are used for making light and
spongy bread with yeast, and wheat has the universal preference because
it contains all the elements necessary to the growth and sustenance of
the body. It makes bread which is more inviting to the eye and more
agreeable to the taste. It is the highest type of vegetable food known
to mankind, and it is claimed that the most enlightened nations of
modern times owe their mental and bodily superiority to this great and
beneficent product.

There is little if any difference in the nutriment or value of spring
and winter wheat. Some prefer the one and some the other. Southern
raised wheat is apt to be drier than northern and will better stand the
effects of warm climates. Wheat varies in weight per bushel as the
season is wet or dry. The best is round, plump and smooth. It contains
about fifteen parts of water, sixty-five to seventy-five parts of
starch, and about ten parts of gluten. The average annual production of
wheat in the United States during the past eight years has been
448,815,699 bushels; an increase over the preceding ten years of
forty-four per cent., while the increase of population has been only
twenty-five per cent.


                             Wheaten Flour.

Wheat was formerly ground by mill stones, and the product bolted and
sifted into the different grades. But during the last twelve years, this
process has been largely superseded by the “Patent Roller” process of
crushing and separating the flour from the bran. This is a great
improvement over the old method; more flour is obtained from the wheat,
and it is whiter, contains more gluten, and is therefore stronger.

The first consideration is the color or whiteness; second, the quantity
of gluten the flour contains. The eye determines the first, and a hasty
test of the quantity and quality of the gluten may be made by squeezing
some of the flour into a lump in the hand. This lump will more closely
show the prints of the fingers, and will hold its form in handling with
considerable more ten