MovieChat Forums > The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (2007) Discussion > evelyn's supermarket sweep

evelyn's supermarket sweep

posted 16 years ago by miriamwebster
7 replies | jump to latest

Defiance, Ohio had to be the only town in 1950's America where a small neighborhood grocery store stocked frozen lobsters, prime rib, caviar, pate, hearts of palm, capers, etc. and even had a "European foods" aisle. (Hard to believe that even a supermarket in a major Ohio city of that era would have carried such a wide range of culinary exotica.) Products would have been so foreign (and/or so expensive) to most customers, there would have been no reason to stock them.

[–] megmarch2003 16 years ago

It's been a couple of years since I read the book, but I think in real life she really did stock up on some exotic foods.

But I have to say that shopping spree was my least favorite part of the story. I do understand her rationale in that she wanted to enjoy the experience by splurging on things she'd otherwise never have the money to try, but it really was wasteful and not very wise given that Kelly's sister bought groceries for them every week. (That was revealed in the book, but not in the movie)

"You can't tell me nothin' if you ain't had an 8-track." -Sinbad

[–] spanishdivaangel 16 years ago

In the book, Defiance had two grocery stores--one smaller, more "economical" one where Evelyn usually shopped, and another that stocked more exotic items. Evelyn personally went and apologized to the manager of the smaller store for not using his store for the sweep, but she knew she'd be better off at the larger store. She was determined that she wasn't going to use this once-in-a-lifetime chance to get lots of pork-n-beans.

She also goes to the store a week ahead of time and maps out a strategy for fitting as many things as possible into the cart, and getting around the store in the short amount of time she had to get everything she wanted. She was also allowed to use two women to help her grab items; it was supposed to be only her, but the man who supervised the sweep saw her large family and let her bend the rules.

[–] NeverEclipsed 9 years ago

I've heard that lobster was a little less scarce in the 50's.. but yeah there was a lot of exotic things in that small grocery store, and she wasn't that smart about what she bought, just eating it all at once.

[–] Leigh33479 9 years ago

I thought it was extravagant also considering they lived hand to mouth but considering she and her family never got to experience anything I guess it was her way of celebrating .. I personally would have smothered kelly in his drunken sleep

[–] amiNotAwake 9 years ago

I didn't see it as extravagant at all. It was a one time thing, and as you mentioned a way to celebrate and develop some fun and joy in the family.

I'm from a family of 9 children and after my father's business went belly up we were living hand to mouth from the time my youngest sibling was 3 to when he left the house at age 18. (My father abandoning the family when I was 13 certainly made things even worse)

My mother worked two jobs those 15+ years. There were times my grandparents bought groceries to help out but the majority of the time we lived off of homemade spaghetti or homemade chicken noodles as you can make a lot of homemade noodles for very little expense. One summer there was a huge sale on hot dogs at a local grocery store and my mother bought so many with coupons for so cheap that I swear we ate nothing but hot dogs for 2 meals of every day that entire summer. It took 10 years before I could eat another one :).

Despite the financial hardships, once a year for each of us our mother would "splurge" and get us something we desperately wanted on our birthday's. To frown at someone doing that and say "*tsk tsk tsk* You are not ALLOWED to do that" is sad and frankly unsympathetic. There was nothing truly irresponsible in what my mother or in what Evelyn did.

You probably meant no offense and were just expressing an opinion, to which I may be oversensitive based on my experience. Nevertheless I felt the need to respond and defend the actions of Evelyn.

Didn't you go to school stupid?
-Yep, but I came out the same way.

[–] tyshimah3 8 years ago

Wow.
That is an amazing story.
I know I would have been tired of hot dogs, too. LOL.

"Do you even remember what you came here to find?"

[–] AmyJolamb 8 years ago

I agree with you. It was a rare chance to eat differently. Plus I bet the kids are likely to remember it more fondly than buying what they usually bought.