Vintage 80-year-old mechanical shopping list with common grocery items etched into metal and a slider to mark if they need to be bought baffles Facebook users
- A vintage grocery list sparked intrigue online over some of the unfamiliar items
- A photo of a metal-block shopping list from the 1940s has gone viral online
- But users were puzzled by the term ‘Catsup’ and that ‘frozen foods’ existed
- History-versed commentators revealed ‘Catsup’ is the early name for Ketchup
A mechanical grocery list with items etched in metal dating back to at least the 1940s has been uncovered.
Contrasting to the paper scrawlling of today the bizarre device consists of a metal block inscribed with kitchen staples like bread, butter, milk, and tea.
The reusable list uses movable markers next to each item that allow shoppers to flag when they need to restock on certain items.
A photos of the list, still in working order, sparked intrigue online not only for its design, but some of the unfamiliar items engraved into the artefact.
A vintage metal shopping list dating back to the 1940s (pictured), which can be reused, has ignited amazement online
Many goods remain commonplace today, but some commentators were baffled by some seemingly foreign terms.
‘What is catsup?’ one woman said.
‘Is catnip on the list? Or is it my eyes?,’ another added.
Those well-versed in history quickly jumped in to advise that the word was the early spelling of ketchup, or tomato sauce, leaving others stunned.
‘I never knew that it was originally called catsup,’ one woman replied.
Others were stunned that there was frozen food ‘back then’, while some felt the list was rather lacking.
‘Where’s the damned hummus?’ one person asked, with another adding: ‘And wine.’
‘I’m surprised there aren’t little notches for cigarettes and hair pomade,’ another user wrote.
Another man shared a photo of his pocket-sized collectible, dating back to around the same era
‘How have they survived without chia, poppy seeds, baobab flour and non gluten bread?’ a third person questioned.
Several people said they had the relic, with one man sharing a photo of his list dated around the same era.
Shopping lists have been dated back to 3000-3500 BC, when the ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia, in the modern-day Middle East, invented the first form of writing, a system of symbols called Cuneiform.
The marker system shopping lists were first developed around the early 20th century, and the collectable can still be bought from many online bidding sites.