Vintage Photos of Grocery Stores Throughout the Years

Walmart wasn't the first store to sell groceries and home décor all in one place. As seen in this photo, a woman inspects the fruit and vegetables on display at a general store. However, a closer inspection reveals the picture frames and candle sticks of the home décor section directly behind her.

Customers make their way through the checkout line at a local Piggly Wiggly store. The grocery chain first opened its doors in 1916, with a store in Memphis, Tennessee.

A smiling butcher stands at a meat counter displaying cuts ranging from 19 cents to 31 cents per pound.

Grocery carts were first introduced into the world in 1936. The handy invention was thought up by Sylvan Goldman, an Oklahoma businessman and inventor. The first line of shopping carts rolled out at Goldman's Humpty Dumpty supermarket chain, and the rest, as they say, is history.

During WWII, ration coupons, like the ones seen here, were used for families to buy sugar, gas, coffee and milk.

A stylish woman peruses through the cracker aisle as her young son sits in the front of the grocery cart stroller.

The Southern California grocery staple Ralphs — a subsidiary of Kroger, the second largest supermarket chain in America — was founded in 1873.

A group of women share a laugh near the frozen foods section.

A grocery store shelf featuring rows and rows of Campbell's soup cans.

The iconic brand began in 1869 and was founded by Joseph A. Campbell, a fruit merchant and Abraham Anderson, an icebox manufacturer.

Two men share a drink at the soda bar inside a supermarket.

American bodybuilder Jack Delinger and his family stock up on plenty of nutritious goods.

An aerial view of this busy supermarket in New Orleans shows a fully stocked produce section with plenty of signage for as far as the eye can see.

As seen here, a family of four leaves the store carrying paper bags full of groceries. It wouldn't be for about another decade, until the 1970s, that the plastic bag quickly rose to prominence.

A mother loads groceries into the trunk of her car while her daughter helps herself to a bag of candy.

A young teen checks out at a busy grocery store in France, while a previous customer loads groceries into a net satchel.

Endless rows of cashiers serve the lines of customers at a busy supermarket.

A group of young men working as bag boys load up several grocery carts with pre-ordered goods. As it turns out, curbside pickup isn't so new after all.

A cashier unloads a very futuristic-looking shopping cart at checkout.

An employee mans the counter at "La Marqueta," a Spanish-American marketplace that spans underneath five blocks of Manhattan's upper Park Avenue.

A manager for Target checks out the store's surveillance cameras. In 1962, just ten years prior, the first Target store opened its doors in Roseville, Minnesota.