Just today, after spending quite some time vacuuming the sawdust all over created yesterday by sawing loose my shop's roof truss, it popped into my mind that a similar scenario was seen before, and quite often, but very long ago. Growing up west of Chicago, in a predominantly Slavic community, Czechs and Poles for the most part, I accompanied my Mother very often doing grocery shopping, especially during summer vacation from school. She walked to Cermak Road 3 or 4 times a week. Never drove a car, had no license. Up and down that "main drag" there were many butcher shops; I can recall 4 located on either side of the street in the first 5 blocks heading west from our street! These were individually-owned, genuine old-world type stores which the owners operated themselves. Specialty meat items were the norm, especially wonderful sausage of all kinds. These guys KNEW how to season meats, and what types of added fillers made them all so palatable. Every single butcher shop had it's customer area's floor strewn with fresh sawdust! For some reason, I don't remember asking my Mother why. It was just an accepted fact. Anyone remember this, or have any ideas? Frank
I remember this very well, from my childhood, and also I married the butcher boy , he used to be the delivery boy too, he'd load the van up and go out delivering meat to all the customers here in our rural area.. Anyway I digress...yes I remember the independent butchers shops.. all had sawdust on the floor to soak up the blood.....of course supermarkets priced most of them out of the business... but we still have a few here in some of our small villages and towns..there's one not too far from me... and we have the farmshops who have their own butcher shop..too What we seem to have lost completely is the independent wet fish shops...
I do remember one particular butcher shop in Chicago...in the Logan square area. It had the best Polish sausage Ive ever had in my whole life...this was in the 70's and I can still taste how delicious it was.
Our last butcher shop left our little market town around 10 years ago..maybe less... so it took the supermarkets an awful lot longer to to be the main provider of meat to the public than they probably thought.
@Chrissy Cross Each Nationality had it's preferred area in Chicago-land. The Italians concentrated around Taylor Street, the Czechs in Pilsen Park. Frank
I live in a area that has several small towns ,each and every town has at least one butcher shop in fact the biggest town which has about 5000 people, has three butcher shops as well as Woolworths supermarket ,however the butchers might feel the pinch next year when Aldi builds opens in the area One of the butchers keeps winning Australian awards for variety of sausages but tbh I wouldn’t give him a cent for the ones I’ve tasted. The town I live in has one butcher shop ,so thay are still around in Australia but very few and far between. When I was a kid I believed the saw dust was on the floor to prevent anyone slipping on fat / or blood that had been dropped on the floor
Aside from grocery stores employing a butcher in the meat section of the store, butchers here tend to focus on deer and moose season. Although some of them do have meat markets where they sell beef and other meat products, usually fresher and at better prices (bulk) than you'd get at the grocery store, I think that most people don't think of going to a butcher for their meat anymore.
Here in Louisiana many of the smaller Country stores have butchers who offer specialty meats and some of these stores will even "dress", etc. deer meat, etc. I don't see any saw dust on the floors anymore...but we still have lots of butchers over here.
When we lived in Lubbock, Tx we had several small butcher shops. The one nearest our home I got acquainted with at church and started doing business with him until he sold out. Afterwards I did business with all of them at one time or another. There were quite a few small cattle operations around and beef was plentiful. Here in Norman there is one butcher shop. I can't afford to do business with him. But then, we don't buy many beef products anymore. I see good looking steaks on the tele every once in a while. My mouth waters but my wife can't eat steak so I don't either. So, I don't miss the butcher shops any more. I hear tell they still exist in Lubbock.
@Ken Anderson "Most" is the key word; it excludes the lot of Poles, Czechs, and maybe Germans who, I suspect, still frequent their beloved, ethnic-owned butcher shops. Frank
A butcher shop about 15 miles from here although we do have a few closer, I just don't have any pics of them
@Holly Saunders Nice picture! The place looks tiny, but well-equipped, judging by the display in the window. I love how it has that "European" long-time traditional look which we lack over here! Frank
Yes Most of the Butchers shops are small, although they are well stocked as you noticed @Frank Sanoica .. I don't think I've ever seen an American butcher shop, so I can't compare..
The butcher shops that I know of here in Maine are converted garages. Nothing that would put me off, and the meat is better than I could find in the grocery store, and fresher, but there's nothing quaint about them. Maybe down in southern Maine, where the cities are, there are free-standing butcher shops.