Woolworths

I love old menus.

Old menus conjure up images in my huge imagination of sitting in a diner and smelling the coffee brewing, hearing the clank of the dishes as the waitress lays them on the counter or table in front of hungry customers, listening to the laughter of the other guests as they converse with their friends and family.

And oh, the tastes of the food. Close your eyes and imagine that you have ordered a Bacon and Tomato Sandwich. Can't you just taste that bacon and tomato on the toasted bread? Imagine you are sitting at the counter on your lunch break. Your white gloves and purse sitting on the counter in front of your plate. When you are finished you reach into your purse and pull out the money to pay your tab -- 50 cents! Can you believe that is all it cost?!!

Woolworth was a store that has a history in my family. So I have always been partial to it.

My mom worked at the Woolworths in West Chester, Pennsylvania when she was a teenager. She was there for about 2 to 2 1/2 years, between 1954 through 1957. She worked at the toy counter for awhile and at the candy and nut counter also. The cash registers used to be at the counters and not at the front of the stores. Mom said that when a customer paid, she would have to enter the prices into the register one button at a time. Each time she would enter a price the register would "cling". After entering the merchandise prices into the register one at a time, she would then have to add them up with a piece of paper and pencil. Then she would find the tax on the tax chart, enter that amount into the register and then add that up to the merchandise total on the paper and finally enter the complete total into the register. Then she would turn a crank on the side of the register and out would come a piece of paper with all the numbers on it and the money drawer would then pop open.

When she was working there, the sales clerks had to open the boxes of new merchandise and put the price tags on them. Price tags were not the gummy things that we have today. She had to write the prices on a tag. Then she would attach the tag to the merchandise by tying it on. If it was clothes, she would safety pin or use a straight pin to attach the tag.

When Hurrican Hazel hit in October 1954, it was one of the worst hurricanes in the 20th century. It is the strongest hurricane ever recorded to strike so far inland. It came ashore in Haiti killing 1,000 people on the 5th of October. It then hit the border of South and North Carolinas on the 15th, killing 19 people. It traveled up the East Coast into Toronto, Canada where it killed an additional 81 people. It finally dissipated on the 17th. By the time Hazel reached New York and Pennsylvania on it's trek to Canada, it was still a Category 2 hurricane with record winds that still exist today in some areas. Because the roads were completely blocked with trees and debris, my mom's dad could not come and get her from work. At that time they lived just outside of town. My Aunt Eleanor lived in town and Mom decided to walk there. What normally would have been a 15 to 20 minute walk took her several hours. Mom said it was the most frightening thing. Roofs were blowing off around her and trees were falling. West Chester is about 40 to 45 minute drive west of Philadelphia.

One Christmas season her mother (us kids always called her Na-na) came into the store to meet her for lunch. Na-na decided to pick up some things at the store while she was there. At this time the store had moved their cash registers to the front of the store. There were brown shopping bags that you would put your merchandise in as you walked through the store. You would pay for the bag and merchandise at the registers when you were done. So Na-na began putting her purchases in her shopping bag while she was waiting for my mom to take her lunch break. When mom was ready to go, they walked out the back door. After they sat down at the restaurant, Na-na realized what she had down and felt so embarressed - she had become a shoplifter!! As soon as they were done eating they hurried back to the store and Na-na paid for her purchases!!

On the side of the register was a metal box that the sales clerk put the tax money in from each customer. It was kept seperate from the merchandise money. If someone's total came to $1.95 and they handed the clerk a $5 bill, the clerk had to figure out how much change to give back in their head. The register did not tell them like it does today. At the end of the day, the sales clerk had to take the paper roll with all the transactions on it from the register up to the office along with all the money from her register and tax box. She had to keep the tax money seperate as she handed it to the office worker. The sales clerk was responsible to make sure every dime was accounted for from her drawer.

The sales clerks today have it so easy. A lot of them can't even figure how much change to give you without looking on the computer screens on today's registers. What would they do if they had to do it all by hand like my Mom and the other sales clerks did years ago?

Ever since I was a little girl I remember going to Woolworths. My mom taught me to crochet when I was in 2nd grade and I took a knitting class during summer school when I was in 4th grade. We would go to Woolworths to get our yarn or fabric and many other things for our house. When I was a teenager I remember eating at The Harvest House which was the little diner at our Woolworths.

It is sad that Wooworths is no more. I really do miss it.

By the way, I know the menu did not copy very well onto the post today. Just in case you were wondering, the pies were 15 cents 'a cut'. The Extra Rich Ice Cream Soda was 25 cents and you got 2 dips of ice cream with crushed fruit or fresh fruit in season. The Ham Salad, Egg Salad, American Cheese and Pressed Ham Sandwiches were all 30 cents each. You had your choice of Plain or Toasted Bread with your sandwiches. You could have your Deluxe Ham Sandwich stacked high on Plain Bread, Toast or a Hard Roll.