We didn't have a front room, but my posh aunts did. We could buy milk from a shop and sometimes did if the milk had "turned" due to thundery weather. It was just over the road from us, a real dairy shop, all it sold was milk, butter, cheese, cream and eggs. If you wanted milk, at first you had to take your own jug or bottle and a jug or bowl for cream. later the milk and cream was sold in waxed cartons. The clotted cream was in a big tray and the lady would mark out a square with a huge metal spoon. eggs were sold in a paper bag, you could buy just one if you wanted it. Yoghurt and sour cream was unheard of.
The shop was beautiful, no refrigeration, all white marble shelves and counter and always cool in there.
On the outside of the shop, there was a huge terracotta cow's head and when the shop closed and was turned into offices, I remember hearing someone going past tell her child that the cow's head was there because the shop had been a butchers! I didn't correct her.
Delivered milk came from a different place, it was a chain of shops and delivery services called Express Dairies. The milk bill was paid on a Friday by putting out money with the empties. I though we were no end posh when we got one of those milk holders with the little clock on to say how many pints.
When we could afford a big enough joint for Sunday, cold meat and hot veg was a great treat on a Monday night. Monday was washing day so the meal had to be something quick and easy as Mum probably wouldn't have had time to go shopping. Big things like sheets and towels went off to a thing called the "bag wash" run by the local laundry. The washing was taken to the shop in a huge white sack and came back washed and mangled ready to be dried and ironed.
As I understand it, the actual meals were taken from a food survey done at the time, I wonder whether the person who kept the record would have assumed stuff like gravy so not written it down.