Historic ledger reveals 1940s shopping habits
Alfred Berry’s roadside shop in Bodden Town contains a little piece of history that gives a keen insight into life in the town in the early 1940s. A hand-written 600‑page ledger holds records of the day-by-day business transactions of Bodden Towners seven decades ago.
The ledger lists intricate details of who in the town bought what and when.
For example, on 10 Dec. 1943, seamstress Norah Conolly bought one and half yards of cloth for 2 shillings and 3 pence and spent an extra sixpence on envelopes and threepence on black pepper and salt. That was a substantial amount when money was scarce for Cayman families in the 1940s.
The ledger, which contains the names and dates of shoppers, was found hidden among artefacts and other odds and ends in the Bodden Town store.
Berry acquired the ledger and shop after the former owner Thomas Logan Bodden died in 1969. The shop is still called ‘Mr. Logan’s’.
