Woolworth of yore

Last night I was thumbing through the December issue of Martha Stewart's magazine and got tired looking at her complicated projects for "simple" decorations and cookies. Simple for her, maybe-- that woman is a juggernaut!

Anyway, I ran across an article about the National Christmas Museum near Philadelphia. It looks like a folksy sort of place, and one of their exhibits is a replica of a Woolworth's store from the 1950's. The exhibit is curated by a collector named Jim Morrison, who spent a decade scouring flea markets and garage sales for vintage merchandise in the original packaging.

The first Woolworth store opened in 1879 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, not far from where I was born. When I was about four, I remember going to the "Five and Dime" in Quakertown with my brother and sister, each of us clutching our five-cent allowance. Yes, you really could buy a nice little made-in-Japan toy for a nickel. But if you could defer gratification for a couple of weeks, you could have something even better. I'm grateful to my parents and Woolworth's, because this is the way we learned how money works.

Here are some pictures from the National Christmas Museum exhibit:

The glittering front door beckons...

To four-year-old eyes, it was Alladin's treasure cave...

An overwhelming variety of gifts and toys...

Seattle Woolworth building

Fast forward to the future. Although Woolworth grew to become one of the largest retail chains of the 20th century, eventually they couldn't compete with stores like Walmart. The final decline began in the 1980's and the company went out of business in 1997. I remember the Woolworth in downtown Seattle and sitting at the lunch counter drinking coffee with shopping bags under my feet. Nothing can replace that particular atmosphere and smell of Woolworth's. The Woolworth clock is still over the front door, but now the building has been converted to a plain and messy Ross store.