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About the mid-twenties, circa 1924, a man named Clarence Saunders came up with an idea. What an idea it turned out to be. In those days when you went into a grocery store, you told the clerk, probably the owner, what items you wanted. He was behind a counter. He got the items and literally waited on you. I do not go back that far but I lack very little. I saw a setup like this at the restored Sutler's Store at Fort Davis. They had a barrel of vinegar. You brought your own container. You also saw this in "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" on TV. Clarence Saunders had a grocery store in Tennessee or Kentucky, I think. He put in turn styles for customers to go into the store and help themselves. He called the store "Piggy Wiggly, Help Yourself". He had a checking stand as we know it today. His motto was "Clarence Saunders, 'sole owner' of my name". This was when he licensed the Piggly Wiggly name as a franchise and sold the hardware, etc. This became a national institution! When I went to work it was in a Piggly Wiggly store in Wink. That was in 1930. Yes, we had a barrel of bulk vinegar. |