What is the origin of (buying produce) "by the each"?

Question

At the grocery store, I find produce sold by the pound, by the bag, and "by the each".  I would never say produce was priced by the piece or by the item.
Where does this come from?  Each is not a noun, which deserves an article.
This question asks if it is grammatical.  To me, the usage is common, and I accept it. I am asking where it comes from.

user 66974 · Answer

The same issue appears on a Language Log post where they suggest it is an intra-industry jargon probably  derived from similar common expressions  such as “by the piece”:

A reddit thread suggests it arose out of intra-industry jargon to distinguish items priced e.g. “$2.99 each” from items priced by the pound or by the quart or what have you,* with additional commenters saying there’s a usage among  people who work in warehouses and similar environments  who use nominalized “each” contrastively with “case”  (so if you need a co-worker to get you a quantity that’s more than 12 cases but less than 13 cases “you might say ‘hey mike, 12 cases 3 eaches.’”

From (riverfronttimes.com/newsblog)
See other usage examples of “prices by the each” here.

What is the origin of (buying produce) "by the each"?

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