University of Texas at Austin

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ACCESSION NUMBER   976:0021:0126
CATEGORY   Business, Retail
SUBCATEGORY   Food store
TITLE   Biel's Self-Service Grocery
DESCRIPTION   Interior view of Biel's Self-Service Grocery located at 416 Starr Street in Corpus Christi, Texas. Four men in white aprons stand amid wooden tables displaying canned goods and bakery items. John W. Buster, former owner of the meat market at Biel's until Biel bought him out, stands second from right. Left of him is Irwin Peterson. Biel's sold a can of Goblin's sugar corn for 6¢; hot sauce, 9¢ per bottle; Argo cornstarch, 10¢; apple butter, 14¢; Libby's ½-gallon fruit cocktail, 53¢; and Pioneer Whitewing flour. Owner Emil Biel can be seen standing in the upstairs office at rear. Such offices were common in the first self-serve groceries so that shoplifters could be spotted more easily.
PERSONAL NAME   Biel, Emil. (aacr2)
Buster, John W. (aacr2)
Peterson, Irwin. (aacr2)
SUBJECT   Grocers. (lctgm)
Grocery stores. (lctgm)
Interiors. (lctgm)
Men. (lcsh)
Merchants. (lctgm)
United States--Texas--Corpus Christi. (lcsh)