1) In 1859 George Gilman and his partner George Huntington Hartford invented a new retailing idea, and opened their first store in New York City. 52 years later (1912) they had 400 stores, when George Hartford's son John had an even more radical idea for their stores. Within 5 years they had over 3,000 stores, and had revolutionized America's food habits. 3 questions: What was the first idea of the 2 Georges in 1859? What was the idea of Hartford's son John? Finally, what is the name of the company?
2) Do you know when electric refrigerators were first sold to American housewives and how much they cost? 3) Gas ranges (stoves) were first introduced in the 1850s. Why did it take several decades for them to become popular? 4) In 1967 Wisconsin was the last state to finally permit the sale of what food product, but still maintained special taxes on it? 5) In 1903, a German importer received a ship load of beans that had been soaked with saltwater during a storm. He turned to his researchers to figure out a way the shipment might be saved. What did they come up with? 6) In 1884 there was a record catch of Maine lobster, with 24 million pounds of lobster. How many pounds were trapped by Maine lobstermen in 2002? 7) What percentage of all pumpkins are sold for food? 8) What herb is used in the production of imitation maple syrup, rum and butterscotch flavors? 9) This cheese dates back to the 7th or 8th century, and was first produced by Irish or Italian Benedictine Monks in a valley in France, and is now considered a German cheese. What is this multinational cheese? 10) What do avocados, eggplants, cucumbers, chilies, and tomatoes have in common? Answers 1) In 1859, George Gilman and George Huntington Hartford had the revolutionary idea to buy tea from boats at the dock, and sell it directly to the consumer from a store near the docks. They were able to dramatically reduced the price consumers paid for tea by eliminating several middlemen. Soon they were doing the same with coffee, spices, canned goods and other products. Hartfords son John came up the the revolutionary idea in 1912 to eliminate telephone orders, deliveries, credit accounts and clerks that weighed everything to order for each customer. In the new stores, there would be only one clerk, everything would be sold for cash, and customers would get their own food from the shelves and carry it home themselves! A revolutionary idea at the time. The name of the company was originally the Great American Tea Company, which became the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, and John's new stores were named A & P - the first supermarkets. 2) Electric refrigerators were first sold to American housewives in 1916, at a cost of $900. 3) Housewives were afraid they would blow up the stoves and themselves! 4) In 1967 Wisconsin repealed its law forbidding the sale of yellow margarine. Until then, margarine could only be sold with a separate coloring 'pellet' in the plastic pouch of white (its natural color) margarine, which had to be kneaded into the margarine by the consumer to color it to look the same as butter. As in many other states, the dairy industry was able to force the continuation of a special tax on margarine. 5) The researchers perfected a process to remove the caffeine from the saltwater soaked coffee beans, and invented Sanka Coffee - a contraction of the French "sans caffeine." 6) In 2002 a new record was set with 63.6 million pounds of lobster trapped in Maine waters. 7) 99% of all pumpkins are sold for decorations, Only 1% are sold for food. 8) Fenugreek. 9) Muenster Cheese, originally from the Munster valley in Alsace. 10) They are all botanically fruits that are most usually prepared and served as vegetables. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Access the Recipes And More list archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/recipesandmore%40googlegroups.com/ Visit the group home page at: http://groups.google.com/group/RecipesAndMore -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
