Remembering shopping in the "old" days

L

Lashann

Senior Member
Location
Ontario Canada
I still remember shopping at a Woolworths dry goods 5 and 10 cent store. There seemed to be something for everybody so you could usually find what you needed. IMO things were quality made back then so no worries about shopping.

The wooden floors were a little creaky and the cash register could be noisy but that was all part of the shopping experience. No real fancy window displays but there was always lots to look at and of course there was a lunch counter where you could sit and get a nice ice cream treat or something else to eat.

Stores like that are rare now but I have come across the odd old fashioned "general" store when on a day trip to some small town out in the countryside. When I do I will stock up on some of the neat stuff I find there.
 

I was the wages clerk in Woolworths when I was a teenager here in England until I had my daughter.. I remember it well, and in fact although Woolworths doesn't exist any more in the uk, the store where I worked still exists as another hardware type store..

I worked in the office directly behind the record counter, so I got to hear all the latest chart hits all day long :love:

I also remember when I was a kid growing up in Scotland going into the city on Saturdays and especially at Christmas and marvelling at all the displays in Woolworths and all the big stores.. ooh the joy of it, even tho' I never had any money, it was just wonderful
 
We had a Woolworths with the old wooden creaky floors. First thing I noticed was the smell of peanuts roasting. Then on to the lunch counter for a hot dog and milkshake. The would have open bins with combs, bracelets, etc. The toys were downstairs where a kid could spent all afternoon looking and playing with toys. One could actually handle the article you wanted. There were no, can’t open the damn thing, packaging then.

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I remember going to the pet department at Woolworth's to visit the parakeets and the turtles!

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Also stopping at the lunch counter for a hot dog in a toasted roll topped with mustard and fluorescent green sweet pickle relish.

I think that it was Woolworth's that used to have balloons that you could pop to determine the final price of your order at the lunch counter.
 
The memories I have related to shopping in the old days.

Woolworths, Hudson's Bay, Fields, Saan's.

Woolworths (from what I remember) was the best! Each and every isle had large wooden signs telling you what each department contained, the window bays had wonderful displays of lady manikins dressed in the latest fashions, and the smell of the luncheon-counter was to die for.

Budgie birds could be heard chirping and singing, and when it came to toy selection, no one came close to competing with Woolworths!
 
My sister and I used to store-hop down Yonge Street on a Saturday. Summer or Winter, it was fun and exhilarating.

We always stopped afterward to have lunch. I miss those days.

Then came the malls, and all those stores disappeared.
 
Pinky said:
My sister and I used to store-hop down Yonge Street on a Saturday. Summer or Winter, it was fun and exhilarating.

We always stopped afterward to have lunch. I miss those days.

Then came the malls, and all those stores disappeared.
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I remember when malls first started opening in our area. Wall-to-wall people.
 
I remember that you dressed up to go shopping down town. No going there in pajama pants and rubber flipflops. Oh, no, this was serious business.

One of our department stores had elevators with glass doors. I always enjoyed watching the floors whiz by as we went up and down. The operator would announce each stop, "Notions......better dresses.....men's wear...….children's.....linens...." The restrooms had "ladies' lounges" where a tired shopper could sit down and rest her feet for a few minutes and chat about the sales with total strangers. There was elegant dining in the tea room, where the crusts were cut off the sandwiches and your soup was consommé instead of vegetable beef.

But, as mentioned above, for a child, nothing but nothing was like shopping at the five-and-dime. You could still buy some little doo-dad for a nickel or a dime. If you had a quarter? Oh, my! My first (forbidden) lipstick came from Woolworth; you could buy a waxy fluorescent pink, red, coral or white Tangee lipstick for 19 cents. Heaven! Just make sure you rubbed it off before you came home.

My grandmother and mother were convinced that eating at a dime store lunch counter was a one-way ticket to ptomaine poisoning. Of course, that meant that as soon as I was old enough to go downtown with my friends, I always ate there. Those BLT's! The Coca-Colas over shaved ice! The skinny French fries! Paradise.
 
If you were a kid, you could safely go into a Woolworth's within walking distance downtown and find small toys, novelties, school supplies, and candy to buy for a dime; it was my first heady experience with being a consumer!
 
As I think on it, the indoor shopping mall was a phenomenon that arose, flourished for a time, and has now all but died out - all within my lifetime. They left a lot of destruction in their wake and I, for one, do not morn their passing.
 
I remember going to the Woolworths in downtown Buffalo,like the one Pappy described
I loved the creaky floors,smell of the popcorn
Two stores down was local dept store,Adam Meldrum&Anderson's aka AM&A's,loved going in there.I could always find the clothes I was looking for.In the basement,you could find really good deals,my dad loved going down there during his lunch hr.,My mom,my siblings were always amazed to see what'treasures' he would come home with
In Dec,residents from all over WNY would come to see the beautiful Xmas window displays,sometimes you'd have trouble getting into the store because of all the people standing outside
 
It wasn't till Aunt Bea mentioned it, I had forgotten about the pet dept. Fish and birds. They also had a nice stamp section, where they had postage stamps from around the world. I know, because I used to steal them. They came in little 'glassine" envelope, just the right size to stuff up your short sleeve. BTW, I did get caught shop lifting. It turns out I didn't have the stuff to make it as a felon. I was using the up-the-sleeve technique to steal a pen. As soon as there was a hand on my shoulder, I screamed out, "I didn't steal the pen. I didn't steal the pen". Yup, it took me one second to rat myself out.
BTW, Woolworth's had the best cokes. They "made" them, in front of you, with syrup and soda water, not that premade bottled stuff.
 
One thing that stands out for me related to shopping back in the day, was how most everything you purchased was complimentary wrapped in delicate and colourful tissue paper then lovingly boxed in the most wonderful of decorative boxes.

Shopping was more of an event back in the day.
 
Used to buy my 45 "Hit parade" weekly records, and my girlfriends would STEAL them! Tangee lipstick, (remember that?) Maybelline mascara in a little tube. cherry cokes.
I was in Woolworths the moment Kennedy was shot in Dallas. Everybody screamed or cried! It was hysteria!
 
The Woolworth's in our town had this deal where if you ordered a banana split, you had to break one of the balloons hanging over the lunch counter, and inside you'd find the price you had to pay. It ranged from full price to one cent. And those were the best banana splits ever!

Does anyone remember ordering a College Ice? It was just a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a dish, but the name made it sound like something special.

We also had a Kresge's and a W. T. Grant department store.
 
Our Woolworth had a large clock on the corner of the building.

That corner was also a major bus stop for downtown workers. I remember dashing into Woolworth's bakery counter to pick up a treat or a loaf of bread while keeping an eye out for my bus. Sometimes I would buy a banana roll and the woman at the counter always said: Be sure to pop that in the Frigidaire the minute you get it home doll!

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What I remember from many years ago ... Getting up early on a Saturday morning, dressing for a day of department store(s) shopping in the city.... (we lived in the country) It was a day of walking, and as a little kid, very exciting for me. Looked forward to those special trips.

It was truly a whole day event... a lot of planning, with even getting haircuts sometimes, and lunch/dinner included in the day.
We always got home after dark.
Like Aunt Marg said, it was an event!
 
We had a Woolworth's, W.T. Grant and a Murphy's 5 and 10-cent stores in our little nearby city, as it where. I liked eating at the lunch counter and getting my BLT or Tuna salad sandwich with a large Coke and a small sundae for dessert.

We had a People's Drug Store also. They had the very best delicious hamburgers that were soaked in tomato sauce. Anyone else have one of those?
 
Why do women like shopping so much?

Comparing prices. Trying everything on. Bringing stuff back.

The guys? Waiting outside to bring them home with all the sale items they claimed they saved money on.

Mind you I'm a sucker for tools. If there's a hardware store it's like candy. I could spend hours looking for stuff.
 
Camper6 said:
Why do women like shopping so much?

Comparing prices. Trying everything on. Bringing stuff back.

The guys? Waiting outside to bring them home with all the sale items they claimed they saved money on.

Mind you I'm a sucker for tools. If there's a hardware store it's like candy. I could spend hours looking for stuff.
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I'm one of those women who doesn't enjoy shopping. Before COVID, my daughter and I would have a "girl's day" combining shopping & dinner. 99.9% of the time, I bought nothing. It was more to do something together. She always bought a few clothing items though. We stay away from malls.

I find it easier to buy my clothes (sometimes, shoes) and other items via online-shopping.
 

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