A few years ago we were sitting in an outdoor cafe in Vancouver, BC, when a woman came in with a beautiful sack from a gift shop - decorated with butterflies. I said, "What a beautiful sack," and she said "You're not from around here, are you?" Sacks, bags, whatever you call them...I have a question about the brown paper ones at grocery stores.

We moved from Oklahoma to western Washington in 2005. Two things I noticed right away at every grocery store where I shop. 1)Butter and margarine sticks are short and stubby, compared to what we were used to. 2) Grocery sacks are two inches shorter and most have handles. Recently I started a "campaign" to find out about the sacks. I emailed Safeway and Albertson's. The only answer I got was that they must come from different suppliers in different parts of the country. So I emailed Wayerhouser offices in Texas and Oregon. They said it's up to the store manager. I asked at one store and was told "It's been that way as long as I remember." (Do you detect a runaround here?)

I would guess the shorter ones are a little cheaper to make and will hold almost as much as the taller ones. Does anyone have an idea how this got started? Thanks!

"Do you detect a runaround here?"

Oh,no! Not another conspiracy theory!

Actually it was probably just some successful marketing on the part of some paper products salesperson. That would account for the local trends - different suppliers in different parts of the country.

The salesperson has to think of a 'feature' so -- handles. The salesperson convinces the buyer for the store chain that customers will flock to the store that offers the convenience of handles. But the cost -- pennies per gross of bags -- is uncompetitive. So the SP gets the supplier to quote on the same bag but with a little less paper in it. Still more expensive than handleless bags, but closer. Sale!

Or something like that. Because the notion that cultural differences would account for the phenomenon is just too weird.

As a US resident all my life, including some recent time in Western Washington, my experience has been that paper bags in big-chain supermarkets are almost all simple brown bags, while more upscale grocery stores are more likely to use bags with handles.

I don't trust paper bags with handles because they tend to fail suddenly and catastrophically, even when not overloaded. They're not strong enough to withstand the dynamic forces associated with carrying a normal static weight.

quote:

I said, "What a beautiful sack," and she said "You're not from around here, are you?" Sacks, bags, whatever you call them...

From Are you a rebel or a yankee?

quote:

14. What do you put groceries in?

A. Bag
B. Sack
C. Poke
D. No Answer

A = Used nationwide including southern urban areas.
B = Favors rural areas of southern US.
C = Central Appalachians.
D = Sorry, we cannot help you.

I think it's interesting that the two people who wrote so far keyed in on the handles. I meant to focus on the smaller size of the bags out here in the northwest.

Useless trivia from our little southern brains. If it's paper, we call it a sack, but the plastic ones are bags. Go figure...

I never even see paper bags anymore. All of my groceries go in a plastic bag with handles. Of course, I drink pop and bake with soda.

"...bake with soda."

BAKING WITH SODA

Coca-Cola® Cake

INGREDIENTS:

* 2 cups self-rising flour
* 2 cups sugar
* 3 tablespoons cocoa
* 1 cup Coca-Cola®
* 1 cup butter
* 1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 1/2 cup buttermilk
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* .
* Frosting:
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 tablespoon cocoa
* 6 tablespoons Coca-Cola®
* 1 box confectioner's sugar, (1pound)
* 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Grease and flour a 9 x 13-inch pan and set aside.

In a large bowl combine flour and sugar. In a saucepan combine the cocoa, Coca-Cola®, butter, and marshmallows; bring to a boil. Combine the boiled mixture with the flour and sugar mixture.

In a separate bowl mix eggs, buttermilk, baking soda, and vanilla; add to the first mixture.

Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes, until cake tests done.

Frosting: In a saucepan, bring butter, cocoa, and Coca-Cola® to a boil. Stir in the sugar and mix well. Stir in nuts. Spread over the cake while both cake and frosting are still warm.
Serves about 16.
*****************
Double Chocolate Fudge Coca-Cola® Cake

Prep. Time: 1:25
Serves: 18

1 cup real butter - divided
1 1/4 cup Coca-Cola® - divided
1 oz. square semi-sweet baking chocolate
3/4 cup miniature marshmallows
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder - divided
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 tsp. vanilla extract - divided
2 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup chocolate syrup
3 cups powdered sugar

-In a saucepan, bring 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup cola, and chocolate to a boil.
-Remove from heat and stir in marshmallows until dissolved.
-Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.
-In a bowl, Combine flour, 3/4 cup cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
-With an electric mixer, beat together sugar, shortening, oil, and 2 tsp. vanilla until fluffy; beat in eggs and buttermilk.
-Beat in 1/2 of the dry mixture, scraping the sides of the bowl often.
-Beat in cooled cola mixture.
-Add remaining dry mixture and beat for 4 minutes; batter will be thick.
-Pour batter into a greased and floured 13" X 9" X 2" baking pan.
-Bake on top rack of a 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
-Cream butter with an electric mixer.
-Beat in 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1/4 cup cola, chocolate syrup, and 1 tsp. vanilla.
-Slowly add powdered sugar, scraping the sides of the bowl often, while beating with the mixer.
-If frosting seems dry, add small amounts of cola until you reach desired consistency.
-Frost cake while warm.

Notes: Serve topped with natural vanilla bean ice cream.
**********
7-Up® Layer Cake With Coconut Pineapple Frosting Recipe

Ingredients:
***CAKE***
2 sticks butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
1 teaspoon lemon extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
7 ounces bottle 7-UP®, room-temperature
***COCONUT FROSTING***
1 can (16 oz. size) crushed-pineapple, undrained
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 can coconut

Directions:

For Cake: Cream butter, shortening and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add lemon extract. Add portions of 7-UP® and flour alternately, beating well after each addition.

Bake in greased 10-inch tube pan at 300 degrees for 1 1/2 hours or until cake tests done. Top cake with coconut frosting while hot. Serve cake hot or cold.

For Frosting: Put all ingredients into a saucepan. Cook together, stirring frequently as it thickens. Remove from heat. Add coconut and blend well.
********

I see you use 1 tsp. baking soda for the pop cake. 7UP cake is just soul food. It just needs pop without the soda.