Subseries: Roidt, Faye

INTRODUCTION

GENERAL BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Scope and Content Note: Grew up in Chaseburg, Wisconsin, and went to school in La Crosse. Roidt was raised by her grandparents. Her grandfather was in the logging business. Her father owned a newspaper in Osceola, Wisconsin, and worked on various other newspapers before he died. While she attended high school in La Crosse, she worked for her room and board in private homes.

HER FIRST JOB IN A GROCERY STORE
Scope and Content Note: Roidt worked for Philip Boueffleur in Chaseburg. She worked part-time, beginning in 1926 just before she entered high school. “It was a big store for Chaseburg. They had dry goods. It was a general store.” Sometimes she was the only clerk in the store, although stores were not nearly as busy then as they are now. Boueffleur carried no fresh meats; just luncheon meats. She does not recall if the store had refrigeration. “He must have had ice.” He carried fresh vegetables in season and staples. He also carried cookies. “People bought cookies back then.” There were few breakfast cereals--shredded wheat, corn flakes and oatmeal. The town had perhaps 250 people. Farmers brought their feed to town to be ground and then traded in the store while the feed was being ground. The advent of automobiles enabled farmers to shop in larger cities, causing smaller stores to close. Chaseburg has just one store now; there used to be two. All products except canned goods and cereal were carried in bulk. Flour came in cloth sacks. Women used the sacks to make aprons and towels. “People would pick their flour by the beautiful pattern on the cloth. Women would come in and they'd say, 'Well, now I'm looking for something with blue in it.'” Flour companies changed patterns on the sacks. Women sometimes made quilts from flour sacks.

THE STORE HAD AN OLD “BRASS” CASH REGISTER
Scope and Content Note: Each item was rung up separately. “I wish I had it now.”

MORE ON THE STORE AND ITS MERCHANDISE
Scope and Content Note: They sold kerosene. “It just wasn't very clean.” Dirt from potatoes fell onto the floor, adding to other dirt. The store would not pass inspection these days. She spent much time cleaning.

COMPARISON OF HOW GOODS WERE SOLD AT BOUEFFLEUR'S WITH HOW THEY WERE SOLD LATER WHEN SHE WORKED FOR JOHN ARKULARY
Scope and Content Note: When she began working for Arkulary, potatoes and flour and other items were bagged ahead of time. Boueffleur did not do that. Arkulary's store was busier, and bulk items had to be pre-packaged. Groceries were added on an adding machine; the total was rung up on the cash register.

AT BOUEFFLEUR'S, SHE WAITED ON CUSTOMERS BUT DID NOT STOCK SHELVES

HER BROTHER-IN-LAW'S STORE IN ESOFEA
Scope and Content Note: Similar to Boueffleur's, this store was in a “crossroads” town not far from Viroqua. Tobacco plugs were cut from large chunks. He traded cream and eggs for groceries. “The barter system was used a lot.” As a service, he sold women's hand work. Roidt helped out occasionally during the late 1920s.

SHE BEGAN WORK FOR JOHN ARKULARY IN VIROQUA
Scope and Content Note: Married in 1930, Roidt did not work until she was employed for Arkulary sometime before World War II. She worked full-time.

COMPARISON BETWEEN ARKULARY'S STORE AND BOUEFFLEUR'S
Scope and Content Note: Arkulary's store was larger but handled only groceries. “He was a little ahead of his time” and tried to install self-service. “He wanted everything to move fast, and he could see that this was the fastest way to move people through. But people weren't ready for it yet.” There were no shopping baskets in the store. He continued to operate a service store but made customers check out at a cashier's stand in front of the store. Roidt was the store's cashier, although she did have to pack bulk goods when she was not busy checking.

ARKULARY WAS AN ENTERPRISING MERCHANT
Scope and Content Note: There were six small stores and four large ones. Now, there are only two large stores. People traded in neighborhood stores. Stores were competitive. Arkulary bought in large lots, sometimes carloads. Many independent merchants had not bought in large quantities before he did. He advertised and promoted “and dared to take chances.” “He would sometimes lose, and more often win.” He worked hard and died from a heart attack.

ARKULARY STORE'S LAYOUT
Scope and Content Note: At first, the cash register and counter was located in the back of the store with shelves on either side. The meat counter also was in the rear. Later, he moved the cash register to the front of the store. The meat department was then owned by a Mr. Nogle, although Arkulary later took it over. All meat was fresh and was cut to order. He also carried produce, which he bought from Sweet's in La Crosse. A frozen section was not added until after he moved the store to a new location. Meat was refrigerated by ice.

DURING WORLD WAR II, ROIDT WORKED FOR AWHILE AT A LOCAL CREAMERY

WORKING HOURS AND WAGES AT ARKULARY'S
Scope and Content Note: “They were long hours. From morning until night. And sometimes on Saturday night until two o'clock on Sunday morning.” Farmers might stay at taverns until they closed at midnight, then bring eggs to the store for candling and trade. She started at 9 a.m. “We'd be so tired by the time we'd go home, everybody would just be silly.” They might go to someone's house for dinner afterwards, then get home by 4 a.m. On weekdays, she worked from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. She made $18 a week.

HER WORK AT THE CREAMERY DURING THE WAR
Scope and Content Note: She tested cream, something she learned how to do at her brother-in-law's store. She was better paid, and the work was easier.

END OF TAPE 1, SIDE 1

INTRODUCTION

MORE ON WORKING AT ARKULARY'S STORE
Scope and Content Note: He was a good employer. He gave employees Christmas bonuses (not all employers did) and paid the prevailing wage. Other stores did not stay open as late as he did. When she returned to Arkulary's after the war, he had moved the cash register to the front of the store. He patterned his store layout after one in which he had worked in Mauston, Wisconsin. Arkulary may have been the first in the area to put shopping carts in a grocery store. Men “felt uncomfortable” about pushing the carts around the store. The store was still a service store when she returned to work after leaving the creamery. Men brought in grocery lists which clerks filled while the men did other business around town. “I suppose half of our business we did that way.” Customers trusted clerks to pick out cuts of meat or kinds of cookies. Home delivery was available. Competition forced Arkulary to discontinue this service.

SOME STORES SOLD HOMEMADE GOODS
Scope and Content Note: Seide's grocery store in Viroqua often sold homemade cookies and meats. Arkulary's sold Mrs. Hendrickson's Norwegian cheese--a brown cheese made locally. Food products were not carefully inspected.

ARKULARY GRADUALLY INCREASED THE SIZE OF HIS STORE AND CHANGED TO SELF-SERVICE
Scope and Content Note: Changes were made with each move in location. His last store was all self-service. It had three checkout counters. This was in the mid-1950s.

REACTIONS OF CUSTOMERS TO PRE-PACKAGED MEATS, FROZEN FOODS, AND OTHER, MORE MODERN, PRODUCTS
Scope and Content Note: “I think a lot of people still don't like that.” Older people still prefer to buy meat and apples without wrapping on them. Many like to buy at a local meat market.

MORE ON ARKULARY'S STORE
Scope and Content Note: He employed a butcher and helper in the meat department, a produce clerk, two checkers, a truck driver who doubled as a clerk, plus two or three high school students. In the basement, two women ran a “junk shop,” selling items he brought back from Chicago and elsewhere. “You name it--it was in John Arkulary's basement. He just had everything.” She bought a full set of Christmas dishes for five cents a plate. “Big flower pots.” “It was just awful. It was just awful.” “Towels.” “Just stacks and stacks of boys' underwear.” “Lots of dishes.”

HER WORK AT ARKULARY'S AND HOW IT COMPARES TO MORE RECENT GROCERY STORE WORK
Scope and Content Note: She primarily was a checker, although she did some bookkeeping for him. She did heavy lifting and other hard, physical work at Arkulary's. But “the pressure now” is greater. There is no time to visit with customers now like there was formerly. “I've often wondered why this is. Is it because there's less stores so there's more people for each store going through, or what is it that makes these stores so terribly busy?” People buy more from stores now than before.

CHANGES IN THE CHECKOUT COUNTERS WHEN ARKULARY'S BECAME FULLY SELF-SERVICE
Scope and Content Note: Newer cash registers enabled checkers to ring items on separate department keys. There were also new conveyor belts. Baggers were available during busy times. “It's a very hard job--checking.” “You stand in one place, you don't move, only just back and forth. There's a lot of weight that goes over that. It's very, very hard work. And I think it's harder now than it was years ago, because there's more pressure there.” Customers are more hurried now.

PHYSICAL PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH CHECKING
Scope and Content Note: “I've had back surgery, and I've had new hips put in, and the doctor said it's an occupational thing. Understand, too, that I stayed at it much longer than most people do. I worked for around 37 years.”

DESPITE THE HARD WORK, SHE CONTINUED AS A CHECKER BECAUSE THE ADDED INCOME WAS USEFUL TO THE FAMILY
Scope and Content Note: Her husband was paid well, but the added income helped put three children through college and buy other things she wanted. “So I knew the goals that I wanted, and I stayed with it because of that. You do what you have to do.” “It certainly made our retirement better.”

CHANGES IN THE GROCERY BUSINESS
Scope and Content Note: Many things were sold in bulk, even oyster crackers. Customers pay for all the pre-packaged goods. Yet grocers could not afford to pay wages to have clerks pack bulk items.

MORE ON ARKULARY
Scope and Content Note: Arkulary sold his business to Piggly Wiggly in about 1957. She noticed few changes between the stores. “It was easier, because John was a difficult man to work for.” “He didn't want anybody to stand still.” Tim Anderson, who bought the store, was much easier to work for. “That was like working for a pussycat.” After selling to Anderson, Arkulary later opened another store and put Anderson out of business. It was then that he sold to Piggly Wiggly. Arkulary's goal was to be a millionaire by the time he was age 45. He and his wife had ten children. Arkulary lured Roidt away from Anderson by offering her much better wages.

END OF TAPE 1, SIDE 2

INTRODUCTION

MORE ON WHY ROIDT SWITCHED FROM ANDERSON'S BACK TO ARKULARY'S
Scope and Content Note: Arkulary knew that she knew many of the customers and was a good worker; she knew she would be paid well. “From then on, we got along much better, because I had something that was valuable to him, and he had something that was valuable to me. So we formed a pretty good partnership.” Some of his children worked in the store just before he sold out to Piggly Wiggly.

ARKULARY AND SUCCESSOR STORES
Scope and Content Note: Arkulary did not like the treatment he received from his major wholesaler and sold to Piggly Wiggly. He then bought a store in Duluth, Minnesota. Super Valu eventually bought out Piggly Wiggly. She worked for Piggly Wiggly from 1957 to 1959, when Super Valu took over. Spie now owns Super Valu. Super Valu now operates only a wholesale business.

SUPER VALU'S MANAGER
Scope and Content Note: The store was managed by Bill Muffet, who later became a Super Valu district manager and now manages Ted and Fred's store. For awhile, Muffet had his own store.

CHANGES SUPER VALU MADE IN ARKULARY'S STORE
Scope and Content Note: The company put in new refrigeration but did not expand the store's size. The store soon will be expanded, however.

THERE ARE ONLY TWO GROCERY STORES IN VIROQUA NOW
Scope and Content Note: All the small stores are gone.

ROIDT'S JOB DUTIES AT SUPER VALU: THE WORK LOAD BECAME HEAVIER
Scope and Content Note: She was responsible for ordering and stocking cigarettes, candy and gum--all items close to the cash register. Other checkers had similar responsibilities. During the last few years before she retired, she worked much harder because the store was busier and yet the store cut back on working hours. “I think the work is much harder now, because they aren't giving it to you for nothing. Which is all right. I mean, if you're going to make good wages, you should work for them. That's why they have a big turnover now.” “Younger people aren't afraid to quit a job and look for another one.” People formerly held onto jobs longer because money was so tight.

CHANGES IN THE WAY WELFARE ORDERS WERE HANDLED
Scope and Content Note: In past years, people brought yellow slips from the welfare department. Checkers had to record all items purchased on this slip. Clerks had to tell such customers what they could and could not buy. The food stamp program is more liberal about what items can be purchased with stamps. “So you don't have that control like you had years ago over poor people.”

OTHER THINGS MAKING THE CHECKER'S JOB MORE DIFFICULT
Scope and Content Note: Coupons and welfare stamps are hard to manage. “I wouldn't be in the store business for anything.” Rationing during World War II “was a headache, too. But it wasn't a headache compared to food stamps and coupons. No way.” Her store also gave Gold Bond stamps--”a headache,” too.

A CHECKER'S CONCERN ABOUT HER CASH DRAWER
Scope and Content Note: “Oh. You just hope that it balances every day.” “When you handle money for somebody else, it's really a lot of pressure.” Problems especially arose when more than one person used the same register. Later, each checker was given a separate drawer. Modern registers calculate the change, thereby reducing chances for error. Store managers hoped that shortages could be kept to a minimum and perhaps made up by overcharges another time. Once, a man vehemently insisted that she owed him $10, so she gave it to him, thinking she might have to repay the store herself. He later called back and told her he had made a mistake. “Most people are basically honest.... That is, when I was working they were.”

SHOPLIFTING IS A BIGGER PROBLEM TODAY THAN IT USED TO BE
Scope and Content Note: She thinks it may be easier to shoplift these days, due to the high shelves and the large stores. Perhaps the morality has changed, too. “I hate to say that.” Young and old alike shoplift. “I think people have a feeling that stealing from a store really isn't stealing--that that store just doesn't belong to anybody.... They would never think of stealing from an individual. But a store just seems so impersonal that it just doesn't seem as wicked or evil to steal.”

UNIFORMS
Scope and Content Note: She first wore them when she worked for Piggly Wiggly. “Oh, they were ugly.” Later, she was allowed to wear slacks and smock tops. Stores were very cold in the winter; she wore fur-lined boots.

STORES USED MYSTERY SHOPPERS TO CHECK THE ACCURACY OF CHECKERS
Scope and Content Note: Checkers had to wear name tags so they could be readily identified by company shoppers. Reports were sent to store managers. Checkers were seldom reprimanded because of these reports. “They liked to have you smile and say 'Good morning'--that was the main thing.”

MOST COMMON CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS
Scope and Content Note: They complained most often about having to wait in line. Another complaint was that groceries were not bagged properly. She does not believe employees were trained well. “There should be classes for these kids.” Checkers do not have time to train baggers.

MANAGERS HAVE NOT COMPLAINED MUCH ABOUT HER WORK
Scope and Content Note: John Arkulary sometimes pressed employees to work harder.

ON UNION STORES
Scope and Content Note: Piggly Wiggly was not unionized. Super Valu was finally organized in the late 1960s. She retired in 1973. She had to work longer than she had planned in order to be covered under the pension plan.

END OF TAPE 2, SIDE 1

INTRODUCTION

HOW THE SUPER VALU STORE WAS UNIONIZED
Scope and Content Note: A younger worker, employed for just a short time, initiated unionization. “Most of the older people were not in favor of it, because we were under profit-sharing.” But employees did vote to unionize. She voted against unionization. “And I think in many ways the union did a lot for the workers. I mean, I'm not complaining. I get a retirement check from them every month.” It may not be right for employees who have worked just a short time to make as much as long-time employees. There were some hard feelings about this. The union did help raise wages. Consumers do pay for these wage increases.

UNIONIZATION ALSO RESULTED IN BETTER HEALTH BENEFITS

SHE DOES NOT KNOW WHETHER THE UNION PENSION IS BETTER THAN SUPER VALU'S PROFIT-SHARING PROGRAM

MORE ON UNIONS IN VIROQUA
Scope and Content Note: “The unions are here to stay, I'm sure.” And yet, Super Valu is the only unionized store in town. The other store in town pays the same wages as Super Valu. Wages increased steadily, but not dramatically, after unionization.

EMPLOYEES IN VIROQUA'S SUPER VALU STORE FOLLOWED A WAGE PATTERN SET BY UNIONIZED STORES IN LA CROSSE
Scope and Content Note: “I often wonder if they hadn't owned those stores in La Crosse, we probably never would have been in the union.”

SHE NEVER HAD AMBITIONS TO BECOME A BOOKKEEPER OR DEPARTMENT HEAD
Scope and Content Note: “I didn't like to carry that home with me at night.” She had enough work at home to do with four children, her husband, mother and grandmother.

MOST IMPORTANT CHANGES IN THE FOOD STORE AFFECTING HER WORK
Scope and Content Note: “I think modernization of things speeded things up and made things more stressful.” “The mechanization of things. The newer cash registers. The belts on the.... Everything just moved faster and faster all the time.” Stores were more crowded. “It moved from an easygoing, more of a social gathering place in a store, to where it was just a zip, zip, zip--get in, get your groceries, and get out.” New grocery carts open up onto the belts, so that checkers do not have to lift goods out. She did not work with these or the newer cash registers, which really constitute “the whole bookkeeping system.”

WHAT SHE LIKED MOST ABOUT HER WORK
Scope and Content Note: “The people.” “And I think that's why my work got--I cared less about it the later years, because you couldn't stop and really talk to people.” She also liked her colleagues. “I was very introverted when I started work.” “Going out and working in the public is the best thing I ever did, because I really got so I knew people and liked them. And I never liked people very well before that.” She still sees people she met while working as a checker. “I know them so well. I know things they've been through, and troubles they've had with their families.”

WHAT ROIDT LIKED LEAST ABOUT HER WORK
Scope and Content Note: “The cold in the wintertime.... You can't believe how cold it gets in those grocery stores.” A thermometer placed by her feet in the store during winter once registered 36 degrees.

END OF INTERVIEW