The Wordsmith's Forge

Grocery bags actually date back to the 1870s. During Steve's time, a lot of things were indeed wrapped in paper and string. But the brown paper bags were used, not just for carrying packages, but as firestarters, or wrappers, or art paper, or toys for kids, or shims under wobbly table legs, etc. Fancier places like bakeries or jewelry stores were more likely to have white ones; most were brown. A few upscale places had colored bags that far back, but rarely printed labels on them like everyone does now. My grandparents used paper bags for a ton of things, that's where I learned. I still use the plastic ones as home garbage bags.