Basically, for real dates, change all entries with times of just-past-12am as yesterday, beacuse it means that I remembered to do this at 10 to midnight. As usual.
Todays topic is… Shopping
In days of old,
when men were bold,
And women wore peasant dresses,
and the upper-class
had duels with swords,
their women’s hair in tresses…
…Shopping was Not Easy. The way it worked was thus, For simple items the surrounding area probably had someone who could do it for you. Like a blacksmith or a Cooper (barrels), or a seamstriss for a nice dress. But if you wanted something that wasn’t availible nearby you had to ask a peddler. These peddlers came around every so-often to sell miscalanious goods and tell (often tall) tales about life in the outside world. If you wanted something special (exotic spices, silk, seeds) you asked him, and on his travels around the country he looked around for it, bought it, and sold it to you. At a profit.
Later on came the Industrial Revolution, which revolved (yes, ha ha) around the invention of automated industry, and the Train. Within that the Great Exhibition came in 1850 (The British govenment do something like that every 50 years, spending tax-payers money on showing the world how great we are. Hence the Millennium Dome) at Crystal Palace (the original place (which burnt down) rather than the Football team named after it) which was a whacking great building made of glass. In London. The problem of it being in London was getting the poor saps who paid for it via taxes and lived in the in North of England, South of England, West of England, and, in fact, everywhere-that-wasn’t-London in England to see it. So they subsidised the trains taking passangers to London. And verily (by dint of the laws of commercialism) was there many trains going to London. After that the idea of getting on a train to go somewhere took off, Shopping became more a matter of travelling to the shop, making your purchase and buggering off back home than sending off for it.
Why this great and glorious History Lesson? Because what goes around, comes around. Most of my shopping today consists of either walking down to the Village High Street and making purchases, or sending off for it (via the Internet) and awaiting it’s return to me.
Plus, over the last 19 years of my life one of the most stable and recurring things has been the Family Supermarket Trip, which took place at 10am every Saturday Morning for ages. Until I was old enough to stay home, I went along, and spent an hour being dragged (literally occasionally) though the local Sainsbury’s. Last week my mum discovered the wonders of Tesco Direct, Supermarket Shopping Online. basically, she orders the stuff with the Software (or on the Website) chooses a delivery-time and date, and hits “Go” and a man in a Tesco lorry arrives at our door on that time and date with a box of stuff.
Like a peddler.
