As there were few large department stores on the Prairies before World War I, most employees in the retail trades worked for small family run businesses. If this butcher shop was typical, the workers shown here were either family or long-time employees and the lady a regular customer. While the variety of cuts of meat laid out on the carefully crafted counter appear to be on display for the photographer, personalized service was a feature of these small firms. At the butcher shop fresh meat would be cut to the customer's specifications, and wrapping the purchase afforded an opportunity for friendly conversation. In the era before plastic and paper bags, the paper and string dispenser was an apparatus common to almost every retail operation.
This butcher shop may also have produced processed meat products such as sausages and head cheese as sausages can be seen hanging along the back wall. These were sometimes made from livestock and poultry raised by the operators on their own farm in the vicinity. Pride in their service and products was some compensation for the low wages that normally attended such work.
