Buying in Bulk in 1666

Pardon me while I leave my usual B2B and B2G comfort zone and enter the B2C world.

We think of buying in bulk—hauling the van (I almost said “station wagon”) to Costco or Sam’s Club—as a modern invention.

But it’s only new to those of us who are NOT incredibly wealthy. 

As Ellen Hawley reminds us, rich people such as Samuel Pepys had goods problems during the Great Fire of London in 1666. The fire was leaving the City and approaching their homes—what to do? According to Pepys’ words, this is part of what he did:

“Sir W. Batten not knowing how to remove his wine, did dig a pit in the garden, and laid it in there; and I took the opportunity of laying all the papers of my office that I could not otherwise dispose of. And in the evening Sir W. Pen and I did dig another, and put our wine in it; and I my Parmazan cheese, as well as my wine and some other things.”

The “Parmazan” cheese is never mentioned again. As Hawley observes:

“Pepys’ house did not burn and in a later entry he writes about unearthing his wine but doesn’t mention the cheese. Since he didn’t complain about losing it, we can probably assume the fire didn’t turn it into a giant grilled cheese sandwich, minus the bread.”

Although a Parmesan cheese sandwich sounds foreign to me.

So why am I writing about 17th century fires and foods in the Bredemarket blog?

• Because I feel like it.
• Because it gave me an excuse to use the words of Samuel Pepys as a Google Gemini picture prompt.

• Because the story reminds us that we have to face problems with the technology we have available.

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