82 Years Ago
The June 24, 1943 Colorado Transcript made several references to frozen food lockers at the Golden Mercantile food store. These were a new offering, installed the previous fall.
The timing was great, in that people were particularly interested in food preservation during World War II. Many foods at the grocery store were subject to rationing, so people grew and hunted as much of their own food as possible. Victory Gardens were everywhere, and people ate home-grown fruits and vegetables and canned the surplus. Many families raised backyard rabbits and chickens for meat.
Home freezers had barely begun to hit the consumer market when the War started, so very few households owned them. The Mercantile rented a frozen food locker (12"x 18"x 30") for $8 per year or $1 per month. For customers who raised their own beef, pork, and lamb, the store offered to cut and wrap the meat for 2 cents per pound. They would also skin, cut, and wrap an entire deer for $5.
The store was offering a booklet to its customers that explained how to prepare food for freezing. The Mercantile offered frozen food lockers from 1942 to 1978.
