Woolworths Lunch Counter

[protoolman]

Tallbalds post on eating ketchup on eggs got me remenicing about the old days. In college I had only about $8 a week to eat for the 5 weekdays until I could get home for the weekend. If I got groceries for $6 I had two left for eating out at the Woolworth's lunch counter. I think the hotdogs were$1.50 (deep fried yum!) and came with chips. Being the starving young man I was I would take the free bottle of pickle relish with ketchup, mix them together and dip my chips in them. Voila! Free extra calories for a growing boy. Then finish it off with 50 cent fountain Coke in a proper glass of ice. I sure miss Woolworths! They always had a nice pie on display if you needed dessert too.

 

[exavid]

I went to a two year tech school in 1961-1962. Most days three or four of us went to Bob's Burgers in 38th Street in Tacoma, WA. A burger, fries and a coke totaled up to sixty nine cents. That was all I could afford and if I didn't have anyone going with me to chip in for gas I'd skip lunch.

 

[eveled]

I did the math, and you weren't leaving a tip, for the counter lady. LOL!

I also have fond memories of Woolworth lunch counters.

I think the single largest missed opportunity of my time was that somebody didn't buy up all the Woolworth buildings and turn them into retro restaurants.

They all had great centralised locations, an awesome curb appeal, and that cool lunch counter to use as a bar.

They went out right at the time that the the retro look was coming back.

There is a section of Woolworth lunch counter in the Smithsonian.

 

[Johnnu2]

I always thought that Woolworths was a "NY" only store..... And Bob's Burgers was a "CA" only spot.... Sounds like Woolworths (at least) was in many states in our great country.

 

[tinman]

Growing up in and around St. Louis, many of my childhood memories include riding the street-car into "town" with my Grandmother and eating lunch at Woolworths.

 

[eveled]

I always thought that Woolworths was a "NY" only store..... And Bob's Burgers was a "CA" only spot.... Sounds like Woolworths (at least) was in many states in our great country.

The sit in was at a Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro N.C. Feb 1960. Followed by another in Mississippi. Also found reference to a Woolworth s in Seattle, and Canada, and England.

Crazy amount of info on Google about the company, much larger than I ever thought.

Another shocker, they didn't go out of business, they closed the dept stores and focused on sporting goods and became Footlocker.

 

[Tallbald]

I remember eating at Woolworth's lunch counter with my grandmother in downtown Louisville KY. She was a bit of an efficiency snob, and openly complained to me there that the cook making the sandwiches should have performed the same operation on both the sandwiches sequentially, instead of making one to completion then starting the other. I was I think 6 at the time. I also was the unwanted second grandchild. "You two don't need a second child" was, I understand her admonition to my mother and father before my conception. I never did do much that pleased her as I recall. Oddly, she was a female IRS auditor in the 40's through the 60's, a divorcee, and prided herself on receiving a work performance review in which she was told "...you have the mind of a man....". Sorry. That's my Woolworth's lunch counter memory. Don.

 

[Dan in MI]

There were Woolworths in the Detroit area but SS Kresge ha a lot more stores they had a lunch counter too. At our local store it right near the model cars so I passed every time I went in there. They had balloons hanging above the counter. If you bought an ice cream sundae you got to pick a balloon. The price was decided by what ever the price was inside the balloon. Any where from 49 cents to full price.

 

[Merle1948]

Tallbalds post on eating ketchup on eggs got me remenicing about the old days. In college I had only about $8 a week to eat for the 5 weekdays until I could get home for the weekend. If I got groceries for $6 I had two left for eating out at the Woolworth's lunch counter. I think the hotdogs were$1.50 (deep fried yum!) and came with chips. Being the starving young man I was I would take the free bottle of pickle relish with ketchup, mix them together and dip my chips in them. Voila! Free extra calories for a growing boy. Then finish it off with 50 cent fountain Coke in a proper glass of ice. I sure miss Woolworths! They always had a nice pie on display if you needed dessert too.

In my college days I used to order hot tea, and which got endless refills of hot water.
Mixing ketchup into the hot water made a sort of tomato soup - add in the soda crackers on the table & "voila" lunch !!! :mrgreen:

 

[Merle1948]

I always thought that Woolworths was a "NY" only store..... And Bob's Burgers was a "CA" only spot.... Sounds like Woolworths (at least) was in many states in our great country.

We had Woolworths in PA, back in the day. :wink:

 

[WAYNO]

Wow. Woolworth's. Newberry's. Kress. Grant's. Dime Stores from the past. Even Sears and Montgomery Ward's. They all had great lunch counters.

Back in the fifties, when many families had only one car, Mom would take me downtown on the city bus and we'd go to these stores. We'd occasionally eat at the lunch counter. And if I was good, I'd get a stamped-metal Japanese toy car or airplane, or a balloon shaped like a clown with a cardboard feet to keep it standing upright. Walking into these stores, i was overwhelmed by the smell of popcorn.

By the time I had kids in the eighties, these stores were mostly gone, with the exception of Newberry's. Then Gramma would take our kids to Newberry's. Same lunch counter. Same great popcorn aroma. And my kids remember it as fondly as I remembered it from the fifties.

Funny too. Actually sad. On a recent visit to a family forum, my Wife was sharing her great memories of the Dime Stores. Specifically, Wooworth's, when a younger, liberal, and very vocal distant cousin chastised my wife for having such good memories of Woolworth's, when Woolworth's was so iconically racist. Some folks just don't want anything to be happy.

Further, Newberry's...In 1971, we received a Newbewrry's mixer for a wedding gift. Made in U.S. A., and we still use it regularly. :mrgreen:

Thanks to the dying malls, and now Amazon, some of the best of America is forever gone.





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[LDM]

There were Woolworths in the Detroit area but SS Kresge ha a lot more stores they had a lunch counter too. At our local store it right near the model cars so I passed every time I went in there. They had balloons hanging above the counter. If you bought an ice cream sundae you got to pick a balloon. The price was decided by what ever the price was inside the balloon. Any where from 49 cents to full price.

The Woolworth's on Woodward Ave. in downtown Detroit had a huge lunch counter in the basement. One of their items was an ice cream sandwich made with a freshly baked waffle around a square of vanilla ice cream. The challenge was to get the sandwich consumed before the ice cream melted all over your hands.
Was part of the "dime store row" on Woodward along with Kresge and Neisner Bros.

 

[Hipshot]

I always thought that Woolworths was a "NY" only store..... And Bob's Burgers was a "CA" only spot.... Sounds like Woolworths (at least) was in many states in our great country.

We had Woolworths in PA, back in the day. :wink:

Woolworth's & Kresge's 5 & 10. Don't forget Kresge's. Both of them about 2 blocks apart in West Phila.

 

[Jeepnik]

Locally Woolworths, Kress’ & J C Penny had counters. But, the best was the local pharmacy. Run by the pharmacist’s wife and his daughter after school. Guy’s would spend what they has just to sit and flirt with her

 

[Uncle Howie]

Woolworth’s in downtown St. Paul, MN had a lunch counter. Store had a corner location within a bigger commercial building, and occupied two stories of that corner, with an escalator.

I remember the lunch counter, though I can’t recall ever getting anything there.

They has a pretty decent toy department, which was upstairs. That was my focus, as I was a kid. (This would have been the 1970’s)

That location closed about the mid-1980’s, IIRC.

 

[Merle1948]

Wow. Woolworth's. Newberry's. Kress. Grant's. Dime Stores from the past. Even Sears and Montgomery Ward's. They all had great lunch counters.

Back in the fifties, when many families had only one car, Mom would take me downtown on the city bus and we'd go to these stores. We'd occasionally eat at the lunch counter. And if I was good, I'd get a stamped-metal Japanese toy car or airplane, or a balloon shaped like a clown with a cardboard feet to keep it standing upright. Walking into these stores, i was overwhelmed by the smell of popcorn.

By the time I had kids in the eighties, these stores were mostly gone, with the exception of Newberry's. Then Gramma would take our kids to Newberry's. Same lunch counter. Same great popcorn aroma. And my kids remember it as fondly as I remembered it from the fifties.

Funny too. Actually sad. On a recent visit to a family forum, my Wife was sharing her great memories of the Dime Stores. Specifically, Wooworth's, when a younger, liberal, and very vocal distant cousin chastised my wife for having such good memories of Woolworth's, when Woolworth's was so iconically racist. Some folks just don't want anything to be happy.

Further, Newberry's...In 1971, we received a Newbewrry's mixer for a wedding gift. Made in U.S. A., and we still use it regularly. :mrgreen:

Thanks to the dying malls, and now Amazon, some of the best of America is forever gone.





.





.





.

I hope she handed it right back to that idiot cousin! :evil:

 

[WAYNO]

Wow. Woolworth's. Newberry's. Kress. Grant's. Dime Stores from the past. Even Sears and Montgomery Ward's. They all had great lunch counters.

Back in the fifties, when many families had only one car, Mom would take me downtown on the city bus and we'd go to these stores. We'd occasionally eat at the lunch counter. And if I was good, I'd get a stamped-metal Japanese toy car or airplane, or a balloon shaped like a clown with a cardboard feet to keep it standing upright. Walking into these stores, I was overwhelmed by the smell of popcorn.

By the time I had kids in the eighties, these stores were mostly gone, with the exception of Newberry's. Then Gramma would take our kids to Newberry's. Same lunch counter. Same great popcorn aroma. And my kids remember it as fondly as I remembered it from the fifties.

Funny too. Actually sad. On a recent visit to a family forum, my Wife was sharing her great memories of the Dime Stores. Specifically, Woolworth's, when a younger, liberal, and very vocal distant cousin chastised my wife for having such good memories of Woolworth's, when Woolworth's was so iconically racist. Some folks just don't want anything to be happy.

Further, Newberry's...In 1971, we received a Newbewrry's mixer for a wedding gift. Made in U.S. A., and we still use it regularly. :mrgreen:

Thanks to the dying malls, and now Amazon, some of the best of America is forever gone.


.

I hope she handed it right back to that idiot cousin! :evil:

She did. But these younger folks just don't hear what we're saying.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

I recall eating at the Woolworth's lunch counter in Ottumwa, Iowa, with my mom and grandmother.

:mrgreen:

 

[SR1911SHOOTER]

Growing up in and around St. Louis, many of my childhood memories include riding the street-car into "town" with my Grandmother and eating lunch at Woolworths.

tinman,
Did the same in Oklahoma City, in the mid forties, with my grandma.
Rode the Classen Blvd car to the downtown terminal.
Blackie

 

[jollymon]

I always looked forward to going to Woolworths , Id spend my time fondling the toy guns till my Mother world come and
get my sister and I too go over to the lunch counter for lunch . Truly a piece of America is gone now.

 

[Acorn]

I remember going Christmas shopping with my parents and stopping at Woolworths for a bite to eat. I got a hot dog with mustard. The hot dog came plain with 2 plastic packets of mustard on the side. I used one and started fooling around with the other one, squeezing it, rolling it around, etc. My Dad told me to quit or I'd make a mess, but I was about nine and I knew better. I picked up the packet and started rolling it up until it looked like a tick about to pop. All of the sudden there was a soft "pop". I looked around the table trying to see where the mustard went. Then I saw the look on my Dads face. The mustard had shot over my shoulder on to the lady sitting in the next booth behind me's hair and the fur collar on her coat. To put it lightly she was a bit upset. Dad was livid. I think the only reason I survived was because there were too many witnesses.

 

[protoolman]

Oh man Acorn! I would have had my backside beat black and blue by that special piece of kindling wood that mom kept handy when I got home! The last Woolworths I know of closed in1989 in Thief River Falls MN.

 

[Muley Gil]

My local Woolworth's & Kresge's were at Harundle Mall in Glen Burnie, Maryland. I remember getting hamburgers at Woolworth's. Kresge's had pre-made submarine sandwiches.

 

[Colonialgirl]

Kresge's finally modified into K-Marts and it is once again a failed/failing organization.

Founder: S. S. Kresge

 

[RoninPA]

Saw a lot of names I remember but one: GC Murphy (called it the five and dime). Downtown State College, PA, GC Murphy on one side of the street, FW Woolworth on the other side. Both had lunch counters and HUGE candy counters. Had to go to Murphys for our gym clothes for high school, they had the contract for the school colors (maroon and gray BTW).

That was before Penn State got to be the bull elephant in the area and everything downtown was transformed to benefit the students. The wife and I haven't shopped or even walked around downtown in probably 10 years - it's all geared to the PSU students and there's no easy parking. Sorry I got off track.

Have great memories of the "department" stores.

 

[Acorn]

G C Murphy was headquartered in McKeesport Pa. a couple miles away from me. Their store there was sort of the unofficial town center. They had a big lunch counter that a lot of the guys heading to or from USS’s National Tube Works would stop at. 2 floors of various wares and a restaurant upstairs. Their offices were a couple blocks up 5th Ave. It was a local pastime for the men to hang around at lunchtime and quitting time to admire the attractive ladies wearing their skirts. Sadly Ames bought them out and eventually the 5&10s were shut in favor of the larger stores they owned. Sort of a K Mart store but junkier. Now both are gone.

 

[arfmel]

Growing up in and around St. Louis, many of my childhood memories include riding the street-car into "town" with my Grandmother and eating lunch at Woolworths.

tinman,
Did the same in Oklahoma City, in the mid forties, with my grandma.
Rode the Classen Blvd car to the downtown terminal.
Blackie

I ate a LOT of grilled cheese sandwiches with my grandmommy at the "Woolsworth" in OKC as a child. Used to get a bag of green plastic "army men" if I was good, too.

 

[Colonel Daddy]

Mom would often take us to town on Saturday, on the bus if Daddy got overtime. We would dine at one counter or the other and sometimes we only had enough for 2 bags of popcorn (for the 4 of us) and small cokes for everybody. But it was always a good day visiting Sears Sporting Goods Dept then around the block to Biggs Sporting goods store! Started working part time at A&P in '62 and would walk a couple hundred yards to Mcdonalds and get a burger, fry and coke and get change back from a dollar! Actually 1 burger wasn't enough so with tips earned I would get 2 cheeseburgers! Man,I thought that was fine living!

 

[Jeepnik]

Street cars. Out here we had a system that covered just about all of the metro Los Angeles area. The official name was Pacific Electric, but everyone just called them the Red Cars.

I remember riding them all over. The "big" Sears store was in Los Angeles. It was an adventure to ride the Red Car and spend the day shopping at Sears. Lunch was at their lunch counter.

The cars are gone, the store is a shell, and I'm feeling old.

They tore up the track in the 60's. Now the offspring of those idiots, idiots themselves, are trying to reestablish a rail mass transit system.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

OK you guys thanks for all the memories.
BUT I can top all of these.
In 1995 or so there was an ad in the local Houston paper M1 Garands would be available at the downtown Houston Woolworths for two days only.
Well I went a day early and talked to a nice Lady about the M1s that were already there. I asked her if she would pick me out a nice WINCHESTER M1. Well the next day wife and I went back into Houston to claim my prize. Yep a nice Winchester with my name on it for $250.00. After the paperwork we went to the lunch counter for some Hotdogs and a Cherry Coke.
Sad to say that the store is no more.