GROCER. Since the Grocer as we know him in America is directly descended from his English compeer, the early history of the latter may properly be considered as also belonging to the Western branch of this ancient trade.
Prior to the opening of the twelfth century, established shops for the sale and barter of commodities were little known in England. Pedlars, or chapmen, traveled. from hamlet to hamlet with packs of fine cloth, jewels, wine, salt, spices, tallow and wax, but, as may be judged from their stock, the traffic of these men was confined almost entirely to the nobles of the castle and the priests of the monastery. Such necessary articles as salt and tallow were sold to the common people, but these pedlars found most of their profits in the sale of luxuries to the wealthy.
Later, as pedlars became more numerous, the Market was developed in town, while the Fair supplied the country districts with a means to sell and exchange goods. This latter institution served the double purpose of providing a place where goods that could not be obtained in the town markets were procurable and also a wider opportunity to dispose of ordinary commodities.
The shops of that fore-runner of the Grocer, the "Pepperer," or "Spicer," were undoubtedly established in London many years previous to 1180, as a mention of a Pepperers' Guild of London is found as early as that year. These tradesmen dealt in pepper, cloves, nutmegs, mace, ginger, frankincense and other spices then brought across Europe from remote India. Spiced drinks and richly spiced foods were greatly in vogue among people of wealth, as food at that early period was coarse and not always wholesome. This guild of Pepperers ceased to exist shortly after 1338, in which year a heavy loan was extorted from it by Edward II.
The earliest use of the word "Grocer," or "Grocer," occurs in 1310 in the city record report of London. The term Grocer probably originated through certain mediaeval traders who "engrossed" large quantities of merchandise. It has also been
attributed to the leading merchants of that time who bought only "in gross" ( en gros), or in large quantities.
The fifteenth century in England finds nearly all of the various trades formed into guilds, and these guilds were in many cases provided with Pill authority to rule the affairs of their occupation. This power was received either directly from the King through a special charter, or, if in London, by a delegation from the Lord Mayor. Each trade was supposed to be responsible for, and preserve, its "good name and fame." That greatest of all guilds, the Grocers' Company of London, was founded in 1345, and the history of this organization is to a large extent the history of the grocery trade in England for over four hundred years. In 1427 this guild was given the exclu sive privilege of superintending the public weighing and such management of the King's Beam remained long with them. As far back as 1394 the Grocers were empowered to "garble" (inspect and cleanse) all groceries in the city of London. They were given the right to enter any store and inspect the merchant's stock and when these official garblers found goods that were impure or spoiled they had full authority to arrest, try and punish the offender. And punishment of offenders under the Pure Food Laws of that period, and later, did not always stop at a fine; it was often found more effective to place the guilty one in stocks and then burn his corrupt wares in such propinquity to his nose that the full offensiveness of his misdemeanor was made powerfully evident to him. The Grocers' Guild retained this office of garbling up to the end of the eighteenth century.
In 1562, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, a statute was passed which pro hibited any person from engaging in any craft or occupation unless he had served a seven year apprenticeship in the particular trade which he intended to enter. This law retained its power until about the middle of the eighteenth century.