Shopping List Count [as of 07Mar2004]
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Current SampleA sample of one list pulled randomly from the collection. [Stay tuned as this portion of the website is shortly going to have an upgrade, to show many more lists -- 31Mar2005] |
About the Collection
The Shopping List Collection by Jansen Price was started in 1997. More information:
Jansen has collected shopping lists for a number of years. He currently has over 3,000 different shopping lists. After collecting a large amount, he contemplated what could be done with them, and on January 10th, 1999, Jansen started emailing a shopping list randomly selected from the collection to a group of friends every sunday. Here is an excerpt from his first Sunday Shopping List Sample email, sent January 10, 1999:
I will give you some background on my shopping list collection. In case you didn't already know, I work at a grocery store and I collect shopping lists that customers leave around, in garbage cans, on the floor, and sometimes I attain them directly from the customer. They are very interesting to look at. It all started one day, about two years ago when I was walking down aisle 7 and doing my usual thing i would pick up trash that was lying on the floor. I happened to pick up three small pieces of paper, and upon investigating them, I noticed that they were all shopping lists. I said to myself "Boy, I sure find a lot of these, I wonder how many I can get. I think i will start collecting them." And so i did. I now have 2,572.
You may ask, "Why collect shopping lists?", "Why post them on the web?", The answer: I don't know. Maybe it will give you a psychological view into the life of your fellow human beings, so, have fun looking at the shopping list sample, brought to you from the largest collection of shopping lists in the world.
Links:
I have found out, that I am not the only shopping list collector:Scott's Shopping List Compendium
Bill's Grocery List Collection
Wiki page for shopping list
Some Pics:
Will and Jansen carry the tub where the lists are kept.
Here we are counting the lists.
If you would like to donate a used shopping list to the collection,
please send an email to jansen -at- jpricefamily.org for more information.