Mrs K Boxall remembers shopping as a pleasant past time in pre-war London.

Shopping used to be a pleasant adventure and a time to chat. It was done frequently because one had to carry everything and fresh food could not be kept long. Customers had a personal relationship with shop-keepers developed over many years.

Housewives were very knowledgeable and selective over purchases. They did not buy what they could not afford and felt little envy.

Food was seasonal and though there was less variety at any one time, much more pleasure was derived when items did appear e.g. cucumbers, oranges.

Great ingenuity was shown in the use of left over food. String, brown paper, nails were all saved. Cardboard boxes could be used for storage, dolls houses etc. and wooden boxes were used for firewood. I am horrified by the burning of lorry loads of wooden pallets every 5th November.

I have lived alone for fifty years and at the greengrocer most items were sold by the pound, smaller quantities were served grudgingly. One apple for a packed lunch might be allowed but one suspected over-charging. Now one can select any quantity and it is weighed.

In the grocers most commodities were weighed and one could buy any quantity. Biscuits were sold in much greater variety, therefore great scope for the pleasure of choosing. Broken biscuits were a huge treat for children. My father was a grocer and I remember him bringing home the first Jaffa Cakes - moister and more flavoursome than now.

Every shop delivered free and the errand boy system provided work for beginners. Local shopkeepers provided a personal service, most had served an apprenticeship which engendered pride and skill from which large firms grew.

Now, if I want a tub of coleslaw, I am forced to visit a Supermarket and devote about a quarter of an hour to one item. The 'express' till is used by shoppers who exceed nine items, pay by cheque, chat to the cashier, want goods exchanged and the money transaction is much slower than of old. I look across the road to see my bus disappear for another half an hour!

In the drapers goods were not packaged but could be handled. Assistants (also apprenticed) could advise, suggest, estimate sizes etc. There were chairs beside each counter. One Could check colours by daylight.

At Alders money was put into a tub and carried by overhead wires to the accounts department and change returned. This was a source of endless wonder to children. Shop assistants were smartly dressed, often in styles decreed by custom, and some trades wore dust jackets and/or aprons.

Private conversations were not allowed and no customer must be kept waiting without a word.

Apart from general stores in villages - veritable wonderlands - shops were allied to one trade: butcher, baker, ironmonger, papers and sweets, electrical goods, drapery, soft furnishing, furniture, fried and/or wet fish, clocks, watches, jewellery. Hours were long sometimes not finishing till 8 p.m and half day closing was observed by the whole district.

All shops kept their frontages swept daily. Bicycles would be laid against the windows or, preferably, stood at the kerb, never laid on pavements.

Mrs K Boxall, Lewes, 2001