Shopping with Grandmother Minton

Name: Shopping with Grandmother Minton
Author: Maud Van Buren

“Shopping with Grandmother Minton” follows Susan and her old-fashioned grandmother on a Christmas shopping trip to Trasher & Brown’s. On the sidewalk, Grandmother Minton stops to help a dirty little boy who has fallen and hurt his forehead. Though Susan is embarrassed by the attention, Grandmother treats the injury with arnica, a handkerchief, and a piece of candy from her shabby black velvet bag. Susan privately resents her grandmother’s unfashionable clothes and the worn bag, despite Grandmother’s explanation that it was a gift from her late husband and has long carried medicine, church money, clothing for a newborn baby, and other necessities for people in need. At the store, Grandmother’s list includes peppermint sticks, a yellow-haired doll for Nellie Rafferty, a fire engine, a cart, yarn, a durable coat for the Benson children, and woolen infant’s underwear. Her concern for each recipient and her tendency to talk openly with clerks make Susan impatient, especially because she wants to catch an early train home. While Grandmother remains in the doll department, Susan goes to buy the coat and underwear. When she returns, Grandmother has disappeared. After searching the crowded toy department without success, Susan becomes frightened that her grandmother may be helpless, ill, or lost. A floorwalker directs her to the waiting-room while he makes inquiries. Waiting there, Susan reflects remorsefully on her own pride and impatience. She recalls Grandmother’s unfailing kindness, including her help with Susan’s gloves and her willingness to assist anyone in need. Susan realizes that Grandmother’s actions, which she had considered embarrassing, are evidence of generous love. Susan then discovers Grandmother in the waiting-room caring for a stylishly dressed woman who has fainted. Grandmother has used supplies from her black bag to bathe and rub the woman’s forehead. Seeing her grandmother’s familiar face, kind eyes, and practical tenderness, Susan recognizes how dear and admirable she is. Grandmother explains that she had intended to return to the doll counter but could not ignore the sick woman. When Susan tearfully admits that she feared Grandmother was lost, Grandmother comforts her with a handkerchief and jokingly offers her a candy drop from the bottom of the beloved black bag.

By Maud Van Buren · First published 1927 · Genre: Children's Literature, Moral Fiction, Realistic Fiction · 3,180 words

First lines

_Daisy Crabbe Curtis_

"There! " said Grandmother Minton, standing stock-still in the middle of / the sidewalk, all unmindful of the fact that she was blocking the way / of the hurrying Christmas shoppers. "That child has hurt himself! I can / tell by the way he cries. Pick him up, Susan! "[7]

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What this Textopian page supports

Shopping with Grandmother Minton is listed on Textopian as a short story by Maud Van Buren, dated 1927 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

Work type: Short story
Author: Maud Van Buren
Date: 1927 CE
Language: English
Genres: Children's Literature, Moral Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Family Fiction, Domestic Fiction
Length: 3,180 words
Structure: 1 section, 52 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

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Work identity for Shopping with Grandmother Minton by Maud Van Buren
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Genres

Children's Literature — The story uses an accessible style, a young protagonist, clear emotional stakes, and an instructive resolution centered on developing compassion.
Moral Fiction — Susan's embarrassment and impatience give way to admiration for her grandmother's charity, presenting kindness, humility, and service to others as explicit moral values.
Realistic Fiction — Its events are grounded in ordinary early-twentieth-century life: a department-store shopping trip, family relationships, poverty, illness, and public social behavior.
Family Fiction — The central plot concerns the relationship between Susan and Grandmother Minton and Susan's changing understanding of her grandmother's character.