Alas, I missed the Berkely sandbox by a wide mile. When I was a toddler my dad was in the army and my mom grocery shopped at the PX on the base. They had child care with tons of cool toys. (When you thought you were too old for childcare but you mom didn't, they let you be a 'helper'.) The next time I saw child care at a grocery store it was at the Onion River Food Coop in Burlington Vt (around '72-73?)
I was a little tyke at the Palo Alto Co-Op and remember seeing a Black Muslim Bakery worker stocking the shelves in full suit and tie. I loved the Co-Op...and I still dream of it from those early days.
We were part of some kind of co-op in the early 70's in NYC's upper west side.
The idea of a cookbook where each meal costs $50 ($5 in 1963 is about $50 in 2023 dollars) or less for a family of 4 seems like it could really work well today.
When I went to the co-op my mental budget said that food cost $3 per paper bag. There was no reason to buy more than a bag unless you were having a party.
If people were feeding you from the co-op cook book, you were lucky. One of the other fads for the turtleneck and sandals crowd was the “macrobiotic diet,” which presented as bland, brown and without flavor. I associate it in memory with macrame, popular at the same time and often brown, bland and boring.
Another Berkeley Co-op story. In 1968 I started seeing a dancer who ready to try outside life after many years quietly dealing with schizophrenia at home. She had tried the outside world a few months before and went shopping at the Co-op. When she saw the zucchini trying to make with the artichokes she decided to postpone her debut. Maybe some of you remember Peggy. Beautiful redhead. Lovely person. A subsequent girlfriend threw my 30th birthday party in Peggy’s backyard and invited all my previous and current girlfriends.
My BFF Kimi, who I got to know in LA high schools in 70s, just wrote me that SHE was in the same sandbox in the early sixties, too. What if we were both putting sand in our hair at the same time? Destiny.
Love this! It must be the same Co-op that I remember as a small child in the early 70s. I don't remember the play area or sandbox, but I remember the store itself very well, and especially the little boxes of rice candies that were always by the cash register. Each candy had an outer wrapper and a translucent, edible inner wrapper that melted on the tongue. And there would be a tiny toy or sticker in each box. Going to the Co-op was always a thrill because of those candies, and somehow I understood that only a store like the Co-op would have them.
Alas, I missed the Berkely sandbox by a wide mile. When I was a toddler my dad was in the army and my mom grocery shopped at the PX on the base. They had child care with tons of cool toys. (When you thought you were too old for childcare but you mom didn't, they let you be a 'helper'.) The next time I saw child care at a grocery store it was at the Onion River Food Coop in Burlington Vt (around '72-73?)
I was a little tyke at the Palo Alto Co-Op and remember seeing a Black Muslim Bakery worker stocking the shelves in full suit and tie. I loved the Co-Op...and I still dream of it from those early days.
We were part of some kind of co-op in the early 70's in NYC's upper west side.
The idea of a cookbook where each meal costs $50 ($5 in 1963 is about $50 in 2023 dollars) or less for a family of 4 seems like it could really work well today.
Riiight? I just love hearing people’s memories of this phenom. It’s more needed than ever.
Even just showing the cost of ingredients in existing recipes might be helpful.
Know anyone working on a cookbook?
When I went to the co-op my mental budget said that food cost $3 per paper bag. There was no reason to buy more than a bag unless you were having a party.
If people were feeding you from the co-op cook book, you were lucky. One of the other fads for the turtleneck and sandals crowd was the “macrobiotic diet,” which presented as bland, brown and without flavor. I associate it in memory with macrame, popular at the same time and often brown, bland and boring.
Another Berkeley Co-op story. In 1968 I started seeing a dancer who ready to try outside life after many years quietly dealing with schizophrenia at home. She had tried the outside world a few months before and went shopping at the Co-op. When she saw the zucchini trying to make with the artichokes she decided to postpone her debut. Maybe some of you remember Peggy. Beautiful redhead. Lovely person. A subsequent girlfriend threw my 30th birthday party in Peggy’s backyard and invited all my previous and current girlfriends.
My BFF Kimi, who I got to know in LA high schools in 70s, just wrote me that SHE was in the same sandbox in the early sixties, too. What if we were both putting sand in our hair at the same time? Destiny.
I am intrigued by the meatball pancakes!
I am too. Let’s do em
I was just shocked to see a recipe in a coop cookbook that had meat in it.
Love this! It must be the same Co-op that I remember as a small child in the early 70s. I don't remember the play area or sandbox, but I remember the store itself very well, and especially the little boxes of rice candies that were always by the cash register. Each candy had an outer wrapper and a translucent, edible inner wrapper that melted on the tongue. And there would be a tiny toy or sticker in each box. Going to the Co-op was always a thrill because of those candies, and somehow I understood that only a store like the Co-op would have them.
Mmmmmm rice candies