{"id":12098,"date":"2018-05-01T17:45:52","date_gmt":"2018-05-01T21:45:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phillyhistory.wpengine.com\/?p=12098"},"modified":"2018-05-02T08:43:32","modified_gmt":"2018-05-02T12:43:32","slug":"curbstone-markets-and-the-farm-to-table-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/2018\/05\/curbstone-markets-and-the-farm-to-table-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"Curbstone Markets and the Farm-To-Table Movement"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his \u201cMidnight Soliloquy in the Market House of Philadelphia,\u201d Philip Freneau observed:<\/span><\/p>\n

The market house, like the grave, is a place of perfect equality. None think of themselves too mighty to be seen here, nor are there any so mean as to be excluded. Here you may see (at the proper hour) the whig and the tory \u2013 the Churchman and the Quaker \u2013 the Methodist and the Presbyterian\u2014the moderate man and the violent\u2014the timorous and the brave\u2014the modest and the impudent\u2014the chaste and the lewd, the philosopher and the simpleton \u2013 the blooming lass of fifteen, and the withered matron of sixty\u2014the man worth two pence, and he of a hundred thousand pounds\u2014the huxter with a paper of pins, and the merchant who deals in the produce of both the Indies\u2014the silly politician who has schemed and written himself blind for the service of his country, and the author who wears a fine coat, and is paid to profusion for writing nothing at all!<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Curbstone Market, 16th and Federal Streets in 1914 (PhillyHistory.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That was 1782. More than a century and a quarter later, expressions of democratic market life continued to thrive in Philadelphia.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe curbstone market was a busy scene this morning. Well-gowned women rubbed elbows with the poor housewife in shawl and wrapper, and many of the former learned a few points from the poor woman\u2019s method of buying. While there are no marble counters and spotlessly clad attendants, the curb merchants are dressed for work in hand, and are courteous, too, for they want the same customers to come back again and bring their neighbors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Apparently, the customer and the neighbors were returning in Philadelphia, and everywhere else. The curbstone market had evolved into the most universal, democratic food distribution institution.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany cities in America and Europe have set aside streets for open air or curbstone markets,\u201d wrote Clyde Lyndon King in 1913. \u201cVienna has 40 such open markets; Antwerp, 19. The rental for wagon space, as a rule is nominal\u2026whether in Atchison, Kansas, San Antonio, Texas, [or in] Buffalo, New York.\u201d In Cleveland, Ohio, \u201ctwo and a half miles of streets\u2026are lined by 1300 farmers and 400 hucksters. Both Baltimore and Montreal attract 1500 wagons each market day by their curbstone markets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

“The pushcart, the vender’s wagon and the open air farmers’ markets offer the cheapest possible store at adaptable locations, and thus should give avenues for food distribution at minimum costs. While there can be no doubt that the covered market will be the better in the long run, yet the open air curbstone market offers a good temporary method of attracting farmers and of giving consumers an opportunity to buy directly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The promise of \u201c\u2019producer to consumer\u2019 has always had an alluring sound, wrote an editor of the Inquirer<\/em> in 1918, \u201cbut somehow it has never been effected in a practical and workable manner.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMultiply the Curb Markets,\u201d read another editorial. \u201cWe have long talked of the advantages of the from \u2018farms to table\u2019 idea, and now is the time to prove that it is something more than a beautiful theory.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Curbstone Market, 4th and Fitzwater, 1914 (PhillyHistory)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All the more appealing when the cost of food supplies at the market halls grew to 50 percent of a workingperson\u2019s paycheck. As food costs rose, editors of the Evening Ledger<\/em> assigned a reporter to conduct a comparison between \u201cthe style and convenience\u201d of shopping in the market halls and the convenience of the curbstone market.<\/span><\/p>\n

Consider the head of cabbage, urged the report. It may be \u201cbought for five cents, if a woman picks it up from a basket and carries it home.\u201d But the price \u201cis greatly increased \u2026 if it is sent home in the dealer\u2019s fancy automobile and delivered in a fancy wooden box by a uniformed messenger.\u201d In order \u201cto economize and get down to simplicity in buying,\u201d the shopper \u201ccannot find a better place than the curbstone market. \u2026 Here can be found everything in the produce line, devoid of frills, at low prices.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

During the First World War the situation became even more dire for \u201cthe salaried man whose pay envelope is no larger, but whose expenses have been soaring skyward for several years. The curbstone market should be a blessing to such persons and the [curbstone market] experiment will be watched with unusual interest.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCurbstone Market Solves Cost of Living Problem\u201d read the headline featuring the reporter\u2019s comparison of prices with those at the Reading Terminal market. The reporter found 17 foods where the shopper \u201ccould save $1.20 by patronizing the curbstone market instead of the Terminal Market. Deducting 10 cents for carfare for those who live beyond walking distance from the curbstone market the saving would be $1.10 on each trip\u2026\u201d Assuming three marketing trips per week, the savings would be $3.30 every week, significant savings for families dependent on factory worker wages of $11 per week.<\/span><\/p>\n

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From “Curbstone Market Solves Cost of Living Problem,” Evening Ledger<\/em>, October 9, 1914 (The Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the First World War the situation became even more dire for \u201cthe salaried man whose pay envelope is no larger, but whose expenses have been soaring skyward for several years. The curbstone market should be a blessing to such persons and the [curbstone market] experiment will be watched with unusual interest.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

[Sources: Clyde Lyndon King,\u00a0Municipal Markets<\/a><\/em>, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science<\/em>, Vol. 50, Reducing the Cost of Food Distribution (Nov., 1913), pp. 102-117; Candice L. Harrison, The Contest of Exchange: Space, Power, and Politics in Philadelphia\u2019s Public Markets, 1770-1859<\/em> (Dissertation in History, Emory University, 2008) PDF<\/a>; \u201cCurbstone Market Solves Cost of Living Problem<\/a>,\u201d The Evening Ledger<\/em> [Philadelphia] October 9, 1914; \u201cSupport the Curbstone Markets\u201d Inquirer<\/em>, August 23, 1918; \u201cMultiply the Curb Markets, Inquirer<\/em>, September 4, 1918; \u201cMore Curb Markets May be Founded,\u201d Inquirer<\/em>, May 16, 1919.]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his \u201cMidnight Soliloquy in the Market House of Philadelphia,\u201d Philip Freneau observed: The market house, like the grave, is a place of perfect equality. None think of themselves too mighty to be seen here, nor are there any so mean as to be excluded. Here you may see (at the proper hour) the whig […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12098\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}