Eggs

The best eggs were 'English new laid' supplied by Frank Sainsbury from Suffolk, and from Lloyd Maunder of Tiverton, Devon. The extra large English eggs were a favourite with customers, as they often contained double yolks. Huge wooden crates of eggs also arrived from Poland, Russia and even China.

Foreign eggs were sometimes very small, very cheap or even bad, which made checking the eggs particularly important. This was done by holding each egg in front of a candle to see inside, a process known as 'candling.' In the early days, this was one of the duties of the most junior member of staff, the egg boy.

Eggs were displayed in baskets with hay or straw bedding on outdoor stalls.

Eggs could be bought singly, as well as by the dozen or half dozen, and mental arithmetic such as 'seven eggs at three-farthings each' was a useful test of an egg boy's head for figures. There was also a special counting system which was used when ordering or checking the contents of a crate:

• Six eggs = one Hand (because three eggs could be carried in each human hand)
• Twenty Hands = one Long Hundred
• Three Long Hundreds = one Box
• Four Boxes = one Case

Small wicker baskets were provided so that customers could select their own eggs if they wished. Before self-service shops, paper bags were supplied for carrying them home, which provided little protection.