Where Did Mainers Buy Their Groceries 100 Years Ago?

Before the days of Hannaford Supermarkets and Trader Joe's, Mainers relied on small hometown markets to pick up their weekly essentials. The family-owned markets sold produce, meat, and dry goods to the masses. These photos are a portal to Maine days gone by when grocers wore white aprons and elaborate frozen dinners were decades away.

H.L. & W.E. Chase Grocery Store

This grocery store was located in Bath around 1895. Signs hanging on the front of the business read "Special Bargain Sale Today" and "Corned Beef 5 cents per pound".

From MaineMemory.net:

Mr. Walter Chase is cutting bananas at the store's doorway. A variety of goods are displayed outside to entice the pedestrian customer. Walter E. Chase and his father Hiram  ran the store from the 1880s until the early 1930s...Many stores in the downtown had businesses that stayed in them for remarkably lengthy times.

Michaud Grocery Store in Caribou, 1922

From MaineMemory.net:

Interior view of James Michaud's grocery store, 18 Sweden Street. Products on the shelves include Jello, Sunshine Biscuits, Arm & Hammer, Kleanall

Milk Street Market, 1890

From MaineMemory.net:

Wendall Leavitt's Milk Street Market in Portland offered groceries and meats. The sign at left noted that the market bought hides, tallow and calf skins.

Parker's Grocery Store, 1915

From MaineMemory.net:

George W. Parker, second from left, and employees in the butcher area at Parker's grocery store at 70 India St. in Portland.