Every time you go to the store, it is a good idea to have a shopping list. Otherwise, you might just bring back the whole store, instead of the gallon of milk and loaf of bread you needed. But, believe it or not, there is a science to shopping, and putting together that all important grocery list. How did I discover that important, sociologically significant fact? I just happened to visit today’s Warped site, that’s how.

The Grocery List Collection is the largest online collection of grocery lists that have been found. There are over 1000 here, and they are from all over the world. These aren’t just lists, they are the actual paper that they were written on - an image of the list. There are post-it notes, envelopes, cash register receipts, you catch the drift.

What makes this site so interesting is just what people buy at the store. The history of the site is simple. From the founder: “I found an abandoned grocery list in a St. Louis Schnuck’s parking lot in 1996 or 1997. Quite simply, I decided to keep them every time I came across one. And the Internet is a great place to do stupid things. So here it is.” What has he learned from all of these lists? More people like onions than originally thought. Mayonnaise is difficult to spell. So is banana, apparently. And anchovies. And yogurt. There are a lot of notepads out there touting the greatness of numerous bizarrely named pharmaceuticals. Lately, very few people leave their grocery lists in the cart like they should!

There is a book in the works about this subject. If you want to submit yours, the founder/author is still accepting lists, and would like to get some from all 50 states. Who knows who else is sending in lists? The Warp-o-Meter gives this site a 9.0. It is the kind of site that puts the warped in Warped.

Tags: warp-o-meter, warped.info, grocery list collection, shopping list, schnuck’s