Watch out for the crumbly Lancashire
'Don't stand around like cheese at fourpence,' was my father's way of saying 'Get a move on.'
He spent his life in the grocery trade, so I guess there was a time when four old pence (1.6p) was twice as much as any sane person would pay for crumbly Lancashire and such an over-priced commodity would have literally been left on the shelf.
Which brings me to another tale from the dark side of the provision counter (see: Don't forget the scrubbing brush).
In the era before pre-packed goods, food was delivered in bulk to shops and weighed out on request. And so it was with the cheese at the large shop where my father was employed as a young man.
Half the pale yellow block would be placed at the end of the long counter, and on it a ticket would be placed that read: 'Finest Lancs cheese – 1d qtr'. The other half stood at the far end of the counter. Its price ticket proudly boasted: 'Extra creamy Lancs cheese – 1½d qtr'.
Customers who doubted the difference were invited to sample a morsel of each. Invariably, they flattered themselves into believing they could detect that extra something that made paying a premium worthwhile. More often than not, they left the shop, cheese in hand, looking like the cat that got the cream.
Moral: Beware of the ease with which cheese can deceive (Pride comes before a rip-off)
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