Country Stores
Here is a photograph of a country store in Wagoner, Oklahoma. This is similar to a store that Ma would have shopped at before leaving Oklahoma.
This photograph (below) shows a woman who, like Ma Joad, shopped at a store at a migrant camp. The store pictured is a cooperative store, similar to the store at that the Joads shop at at the Weedpatch camp. At these stores migrant families could buy a certain alottment of groceries on credit until they found work. The Joads are able to spend five dollars on credit when they first arrive at the camp, which is equivalent to about $86 in 2017
After the Joads leave the Weedpatch camp, in an attempt to find better work, Ma encounters trouble at the store near the peach orchards. The shop owner takes advantage of the migrant workers by hiking up the price of food (374). Since many families did not have money for gas to travel to another store that had cheaper groceries, they were forced to pay higher prices for food at a store that was closer to where they were working.