Self-Help Groceries – Shilling Savers

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This series of spoken advertisements by an announcer calling himself "Dick Playfair" tell radio listeners of 1952 what bargains could be had at their local Self-Help store for a shilling, or "one bob" (approximately 10-12 cents).

Self-Help was a forerunner of the modern supermarket, and as the name indicates, its point of difference was that shoppers could reach for groceries from the shelves themselves – rather than having to ask a storekeeper behind a counter to fetch them every item they wanted.

These commercials produced by the Commercial Broadcasting Service address both the housewife  – "Hello Mrs New Zealand" – and also young listeners – "Hello boys and girls, it's Uncle Dick from Self-Help."

Image: Wikimedia Commons.