34 



EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 344 



Products used by summer people during periods of summer home 

 occupancy generally were purchased within the local town or in nearby 

 village or city trading centers. A few residents reported bringing gro- 

 ceries or miscellaneous supplies from home on week-ends, especially 

 where local markets were not readily accessible or did not carry satis- 

 factory stocks of certain products. Meat, fish, bakery products, milk, 

 and ice were available at the door for most waterfront residents and for 

 some in the open country, where the concentration of population made 

 the delivery of small retail lots profitable. Other residents purchased 

 such products at the store or farm. 



Dairy and poultry products and fresh vegetables were the most com- 

 mon purchases from local farmers. Several producers peddled milk or 

 vegetables to waterfront and village summer residents. Eggs, fowl, but- 

 ter, vegetables, and ice were bought from local farmers at the farms or 

 roadside stands more often than they were delivered to the door in the 

 case of both waterfront and open country residents. 



Local business establishments profited by heavy seasonal spending of 

 summer residents and transient vacationists. Managers of several large 

 grocery stores in Laconia, a summer trading center near Sanbornton, re- 

 ported increases of 30 per cent in sales during July and August. The 

 increases were due wholly to the purchases of vacationists, since the 

 regular local trading population fell off slightly during vacation months. 



In the three sample towns, grocery and general stores reported even 

 greater seasonal fluctuations in sales, due to the greater dependence of the 

 native population upon the recreation industry. Local stores reported 



MONTHLY GROSS SALES OF TWO GROCERY STORES IN THE SAMPLE TOWNS 



JULY 1939 thru JUNE 1940 

 82000r 



15 00 



JAN 



FEB 



Fig. 11. 



JUNE JULY AUG 



Sales Chart 



SEPT 



OCT 



NOV 



DEr. 



