There were certain things only bought by old blacks. I assumed it was because they were cheap. This was the 1960s. They also bought Ox tail, which was the skinned tail of any large bull or cow. It's the skinned tail of the cow or bull. It's like a long, thick finger, with a bunch of joints. You cut it about 2/3 the way down and skin it. There's a decent amount of meat, and it's used as soup bones.
The butcher puts cuts half way through the bone, so it's possible to roll the thing up and bend it in doing so.
Beef kidneys were also big items.
Hearts and tongues went in chili or sausage, which I made from scratch.
I was a big fan of the Frugal Gourmet, and one time I followed one of his recipes for roasting beef bones for 12 hours, capturing all that the bones and marrow rendered and making consomme (sp?). It was really, really good, had the consistency of gelatin and the bones yielded a lot more volume than I anticipated.
A couple of my uncles were butchers in Italy. One of them, who was married to my aunt, used to bring my Mom meat for her to make sauce during a time when meat was purchased sparingly because work and money were both scarce. He was a really good guy. Liked his wine, which my aunt would rail against so he'd escape to the peace of my Mom's kitchen and simple meal.
A good butcher is like a good mechanic, when you find one you realize what you have and so you're really loyal.