Mary Gibson April 2013

Mary Gibson’s grandfather, John Simpson, had a grocers / confectioners shop in Cambuslang.

See location here and here

From 1941 when l started school I can remember:

Women brought their shopping bags and potatoes were weighed in quarter stone or half stone and emptied into the bag. The sugar was weighed out from a big bag into some container the customer brought with them. Bread was unwrapped. A plain loaf came in twos and most people asked for half a loaf.

Brown paper bags were on a string and not to be used for everything. For the childrens' sweets l can remember after school, cutting up newspaper and making cones shapes out of it to hold things like sports mixtures, a quarter for one penny. Some of the children came in with a halfpenny for two. Dolly mixtures, to me were always a better buy. Penny caramels were also a good deal. Not many customers ever bought a quarter pound of any kind of sweets.

Cigarettes came in packs of five or ten. Willie Woodbine being the best seller but many customers would ask for one cigarette so packs of Capstan and Woodbine were often split.

Bile beans were in a tin and Askit Powders in a packet but these were ones. People could not afford to buy the whole lot at a time. One in came in everyday for one Askit Powder and stood for over an hour talking to my aunt and other customers that came in.

Although it was a grocers and confectioners, other things were for sale. My father had a plot at Gateside (opposite the school) and grew vegetables. Leeks and tomatoes were brought down and sold in the shop.

Mary Gibson top right