Schlatter Family Site

My Grandfather
Clarence J. Richardson

My mother's family -- her father, mother, older sister, and younger brother lived near Norwood, LA, where her father -- Clarence James Richardson -- my grandfather -- was a buyer for a regional grocery and dry goods company, Bridges and West.  When the Depression hit, he lost his job.  The family survived for a while farming, part-time work, and sharing with family and neighbors.

When Franklin Roosevelt instituted the National Recovery Administration to make loans for people to start businesses, my grandfather took a NRA loan, moved the family a few miles to Centreville, MS, and opened a grocery story.  Here is a photo of my grandfather in his store -- this appears to have been an advertising photo:

If you look closely at the photo, in the center, you see three baskets -- two on the floor and one on top of those two. 

According to my mother, shortly after Granddad opened his grocery store he read an article in the Independent Grocer magazine suggesting that grocers make hand baskets available to their customers so the customers could select their own merchandise.  At this time, the practice in grocery stores was for the customer to give their grocery list to the grocer or a clerk who would then fill the order while the customer waited.  The magazine article suggested that, if customers walked through the store selecting their own merchandise, they may make impulse purchases, thus increasing their purchases.  Granddad asked Charlie to make three baskets and those three are the baskets in the photo.  One of these baskets with the handle survived and I inherited it from my mother when she died in March 2007.