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August 1942. Washington, D.C. "Housewife bargaining in the store owned by Mr. J. Benjamin." Photo by Gordon Parks, Office of War Information. View full size.
I’d say the “United States Controlled Prices” sign and it being wartime would prevent “dickering” the price of produce.
What I find interesting is that in that place and time it was considered appropriate to dicker over the price of fruit. Even my grandmother - bane of shopkeepers across the city, who never, ever paid retail - never dickered over groceries, that I knew.
If only all the commenters had waited an hour and twenty minutes, they could have seen the watermelons in the window of the shop in the very next post (https://www.shorpy.com/node/23715) as well as the sign advertising Water Mellon.
A misshapen watermelon like that won't make it to market these days, although I bet it tasted great. Nothing beats cold watermelon on a summer day!
Watermelons now resemble blimps: very ovoid, at least in the Deep South. I do remember them being more slender ages ago. The “green stripe” example, shown here, is still prized in Louisiana. We never worried about the seeds -- but if you ate one you were doomed!
The look on that young man's face is priceless.
[That young man is wearing a dress, because he's a girl. And that's a watermelon. I can't take you people anywhere! - Dave]
The trademark details define them as “frozen confections comprising a body composed of a frozen milk product and a coating of edible substance.” Where I come from, these were called Revels.
And what is that beast? A squash?
Just what is that fruit/vegetable?? I have no clue.
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