Supermarket trolley contents

Life was made easier for the housewife when a wide selection of tinned, frozen, quick-mix and packet foods became available. In modern supermarkets customers wheel mobile shopping trolleys as they move freely around the shelves choosing products.

Product packaging is designed to allow customers to select goods without the help of sales assistants, as well as to enable efficient shipping, storage and display. The ‘eye appeal’ of packaging is an all-important tool for attracting shoppers’ attention and encouraging impulse buys.

These grocery packages, part of the State Library’s ephemera collection, come from a selection of Australian shopping trolley contents compiled by one shopper in 1977 and 1988.