An oldie but a goody…


How many of you remember this???

Or I guess the better question is how many ever remember eating at a counter in Woolworths?

I’m sure not too many of you do…

I, being the old fart that I am, remember it… sigh…

Actually I can remember being about 6 years old and us stopping at Woolworth’s in Shreveport, LA on the way to see family and being told I could spend ONE whole dollar to get anything I wanted…

If I remember right, I wanted ice cream (it was in the summer), but I was told I had to order a sandwich too… sigh…

I think this was the first “fast” food I ever had, and was amazed that somebody other than family actually DELIVERED food to you, and took the dishes away and I didn’t have to help wash them…

And the food was good 🙂

Oh well, back to your (and my) current reality, where ever that might be…

Comments

An oldie but a goody… — 31 Comments

  1. *I* remember that menu, stuck in the chromed holder between every other seat at the counter.

    Does that make me older than dirt? I feel that way…. now….

  2. I remember it too! I remember when our Main street was the main street! But I am not an old fart, just have a good memory 🙂

  3. I remember also. It was in the old Roosevelt Mall in Jacksonville Florida. Fell in love with BLTs because of them…. 🙂

  4. Count me in – and remember the sheer awesomeness of watching the lemonade and punch in the countertop coolers?

    Magic for a little kid…

    -Scott

  5. God help me, I remember eating at the Woolworth “5 and dime.” My aunt worked as a waitress behind the counter during the lunch rush, and manned (womanned?) a cash register the rest of the day.

    Not one of those infrared bar-code things, but a real live cash register where keys had to be pounded. Just another lost skill…

  6. Local counter stop was at a S. S. Kresge’s. A hoagie to die for.
    The town pharmacy also had a lunch counter. BLTs, fried egg sandwiches and no one had heard of cholesterol medication.
    And if I’d been a good boy Dad would take me to the Hot Shoppes for a hot dog (grilled in butter) and an Orange Freeze.
    Oh ya, a burger, fries and a coke at McDonald’s (Over 500,000 served!) would cost you under a buck.
    Yup, I’m old.

  7. Carteach0- Yep, you’re right!

    Gia- no comment 🙂

    WSF- agreed

    Anon- You’re right… I still like BLTs!

    Scott- Oh yeah, I do 🙂

    S Phillips- Yep, there and at the Cafeteria

    CenTex- yeah a real cash register, and people that could actually add!!!

    Stretch- I don’t remember Hot Shoppes…

    FM- No comment 🙂

  8. I suppose that makes me an old fart too. I actually worked at a drug store that had a soda fountain. I was the cashier. We’d go over and make ourselves a Coke with cherry syrup or vanilla syrup added. If we got there during the day, we could have a hot sandwich with our Coke.

    Bob Perrow

  9. Guilty. It was a big deal to go out to “dine” as a kid.

    Also remember eating at the Automat in NYC with my Grandfather.

    Gerry

  10. In the small Illinois coal mining town where I grew up, we had a Woolsworth and a Ben Franklin. Both had a lunch counter but as mines started to close, the Ben Franklin counter closed.

    Since we lived on the farm, Saturday was the big day we all went to town. Mom and Grandma got their hair done. Dad went off to the Franklin County Cafe to drink coffee and yarn with the local politicos. I got to run around the square with some friends and have lunch at the Woolworths counter.

    Hamburger: $0.25
    Vanilla Shake: $0.25

    It just fit my $0.75/wk budget I got for doing chores on the farm. The last $0.25 was for a paperback book to satisfy my reading urge for the week.

    There was no sales tax at the time so the display price was the price you paid.

    Yep, it was a much better time.

  11. Well, I remember but then I will be able to forget recent events quicker in a few more years… the old stuff I understand sticks with you. Because those were the good times?

  12. I used to have lunch there with my grandmother. I remember if you had a banana split, they popped a balloon which held a small piece of paper. You got a certain amount of money off the split, and sometimes it was free!

    See you on Saturday!

  13. Yes I remember! Good days for sure! Thanks NFO for this memory! The white paper hats just added to the charm.

  14. Yeah, and next you’re going to tell us you remember “hand packed” ice cream. For a bunch of folks who can’t remember where they left their glasses, you surely have great deep memories. “Those were the days my friend.” I remember them way too well.

  15. Count me in on this. Every Saturday we went to the 5 and Dime. Root Beer Floats for all!

  16. Bob- I had forgotten about the Cherry cokes, but I ‘believe’ that was the first place I ever had one!

    Gerry- Never had the ‘pleasure’ of an automat…

    Everybody- we’re getting old… sigh… See ya Saturday Mrs. C!

  17. Yeah, we are getting old, but to put it into perspective my father says that it still beats the alternative!

    Have a great weekend everyone!

  18. There was still a Woolworth’s in NE Philadelphia when I had the Progeny, almost 30 years ago – I’d wander up there with her, & the little old ladies would make over her & recommend paregoric when she was teething {which blew me AWAY, since it’s derived from opium – I just had visions of addicting my child! 😉 } – they also recommended rubbing whiskey on her gums ……………. I also MISS Ben Franklin’s penny candy counters ……………..

    Semper Fi’
    DM

  19. Remember riding the bus into downtown Austin to get lunch at eh Woolworths as a treat.

    Ah the simpler life.

  20. The Woolworth in Havre, Montana! It was the hangout. And it was across from the FA Buttrey department and grocery store. They had onein the basement!
    Add another Old Fart to the legion!

  21. Oh, yeah, I remember lunching at Woolworth’s on visits to Fort Worth. That’s where I learned the wonderous combination of flavors: Toasted bread spread with mustard, crisp bacon, and thinly sliced tomatoes.

    I asked my mother if I could try their “cantaloupe a la mode.” She vetoed the idea, saying she liked ice cream and loved cantaloupe, but not the two together. Years later, I tried it anyway, and had to agree with her.

  22. All I can say is WOW, I seem to have touched a nerve (or long lost memory)… I thought it was just me, but obviously NOT! Thanks all!

  23. My Gramma used to take me Downtown to go shopping at Field’s and eat at Woolworth’s when I was a kid…

    Sigh.

  24. I remember it! Did CA ever tell you that our grandparents used to own a little five and dime shop in Philly? After stocking the place like little slave labor children, we could have our pick of all the candy in the place and it was heaven! Anyway he told me you guys had a very nice time at your meeting. Nice of you to make the trip:)

  25. I remember eating there!! We had one in the town next to where I grew up! Does that make me old?? ew.