anyone remember Woolworths Dept Store in the 50's (i guess) when they had small eateries?

I remember aside from lime rickeys (1st brain freeze) and the wonderful little hot nuts, they also had amongst the goodies in the display case an iced log cake they sold by the inch. I am now a cake decorator and flash back to that cake. I would love to recreate it if just to see if it was really as good as I remember.
If someone has a recipe, I think I would give you my ist born son

I don't know if the Banana Roll on this website (scroll down to "05-20-2006 3:16 AM") is the log cake that you are looking for, but there are quite a few Woolworth recipes here:
http://community.tasteofhome.com/forums/t/271184.aspx

All the Woolworths, Kress, Neisener's, GC Murphy's,Kresge's,Grant's,andMcCrory's had the luncheon counters, corn dog/hot dog/pizza concessions and the hot nuts/candy by the pound counters well into the 60's here in Dade. I never went to one in Broward. Neither myself nor my spouse remember an iced, log cake sold by the inch. Oh yean, you got to keep the glasses and they used to let you pick a balloon for a while that had a folded piece of paper for the drinks that went from 1 penny to full price.

Mr Woolworth discussed the design of his stores with me while
we were downing cocktails at a manhattan bar. Ah yes, I remember it well.

Woolworths in Berlin,CT. was the local one when I was a kid.
they had a lunch counter set up like a Friendlys used to be with booths & counters at the end like a U shape.
great grilled cheese.
it was in a shopping plaza with a Food Mart, a Topps dept. store, & a slot car track I used to race at.
my cousin woked at the Food Mart & met his future & current wife who was working at the lunch counter at Woolworths.
that  was in the mid 60's & they're still together.

Ah, we had a Woolworth's, a Kresge's, a Grant's and a Newberry's in New Haven. I bought a Stevens .22-caliber rifle at Woolworth's when I was about 11. But I never ate in one of those five-and-tens, as we used to call them.

there was a Jupiter in New Britain that had a little hot dog counter in the front. thats where my parents turned me onto steamed hot dogs with mustard & kraut. thank God for that.
in Hartford there was a Korvettes tht had the coolest escalators.
we lived in Newington on the bus line from Hartford to New Britain & I wore that bus line out when I was a kid.

 Oh yes! Taking my hard earned babysitting money to Woolworth's @ Southdale... Cheese fries with a side of brown gravy.  Minnesota poutine!    

Good Grilled Cheese, Good Hamburgers & Milkshakes and the smell of hot nuts throughout the store!

Wow, somebody old enough to remember when Woolies sold weapons. My dad bought me a Winchester 1200 pump at the one here at the old 163rdt st. shopping center on my 12th birthday. It wasn't until they opened Woolco in the mid 70's that they carried weapons and quality cameras again.

As a matter of fact, I saw rifles and shotguns for sale at the Woolworths in the Eastland Shopping Center in Columbus, Ohio about 20 years ago. I was there with my wife, and wandered over to sporting goods to buy some ammunition.
 
By the way, about six years ago, when he was 9, I sent my 1200 to my grandson in Scottsdale

Why is this thread on the "Roadfood Get-togethers" forum? Shouldn't this be located under "Miscellaneous - Food Related"? 

Carolina Bob


Why is this thread on the "Roadfood Get-togethers" forum? Shouldn't this be located under "Miscellaneous - Food Related"? 

Yes, of course it should be, but the O.P. made a mistake!

Lets see our WWorths was on the corner, with doors at a 45 angle.  A small black and white checkerboard tile floor led you in, with big double doors and shiny door pulls.  Inside the tile changed to checker board red and white floor tiles.  To the right was a small maid rite counter run by an older lady, with only about 4 to six high stools as I remember.  She always wore a white outfit with a little waitress head piece (sorry I don't remember the exact name for those).  The nut stand was next to the candy counter, you could watch the raw nuts go up the conveyor, into the hot oil, then come back out, while next to it was the bulk candy, I loved the black licorice buttons, served in a small white bag.  The lunch counter was toward the right side, and always smelled of burgers on the grill, fragrant with butter smells, and bacon frying.  The toy section was toward the back on the left side with a not so friendly lady watching every move you made.  When I went to town from the farm it was with my Grand Ma who always went to WWorths, the sites smells and her warm hand holding mine while I goggled at all the neat things in this shiny store had to offer.  Burnt in my memory forever.

  We had a Woolworth's in Dodge City, KS. when I was a kid. My grandpa use to take me there on his days off from the I.G.A. market where he was a manager. (he also worked as a sales rep for the Sunshine Bakery Company)

  I remember grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, and lime rickies.

  As I remeber it, there was a pretty shabby selection of sundries, geegaws, doodads and hardware. That store closed sometime in the early eighties.

  There was a Woolworth's located in downtown Phoenix that was still open into the early nineties. I don't remember seeing a lunch counter in that one though.

  David O.

well............ i remember mine well............ from the lunch counter to the toy section.............. buying mom cheap perfume for christmas.............yes, i do remember mine............. hot wheel's and johnny lightning's .............. yes,  i remember mine !!! .................. kites and key's , sock's and underwear ............yes, i remember mine ...... we need to bring some of americana home , back home !!!!!!! forget the walmart's  and the big boxes, for get the big rite-aides , we need those little americana's again............. woolworth's and pharmacy's , there lunch counters were all the best !!!! simple comfort food's , hot dog's and grill cheese to a fresh soda from the soda jerk.......... milk shakes and malt's !!! yeap that's what we again !!!!!!!! yeap, i remember mine well !!!!!!!

Along with the candy counter, the hot nuts, the cosmetic counter and the sewing notions area, what I remember most is the creaky wood floors! Did your Woolworth's have old, creaky, wood floors? I think you could blindfold me and take me to any old 5 & dime and I would know the place by the smell.....right?

Found a copy of a 1950's era menu from Woolworth's.

I grew up in the Puget Sound area and remember a Woolworths right up the street from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, WA. where my dad worked. Sometimes he would get off early and my mom and I would meet him there for lunch. Small counter and no booths but great hamburgers and shakes!

Oh yeah this was during the early 80's...I moved out of the area in the 90's and I believe it was tore down now and is a parking garage. This one was built in the 40's and had a basement as well due to the amount of ships that where in and out of the shipyard during WWII.

 Remember back when things weren't in blister packs? The tables that were divided with glass panels into compartments containing different items? You always knew when it was closing time because the ladies would start covering the displays with sheets. Guess I forgot to mention about no air condition. Those big round fans above the door ways and all over the place. Always one loose parakeet flying around the store from the pet department. How about those paging systems that went dink dink to call the managers?

DawnT


 Remember back when things weren't in blister packs? The tables that were divided with glass panels into compartments containing different items? You always knew when it was closing time because the ladies would start covering the displays with sheets. Guess I forgot to mention about no air condition. Those big round fans above the door ways and all over the place. Always one loose parakeet flying around the store from the pet department. How about those paging systems that went dink dink to call the managers?

Flashback! Goldfish that they scooped out with a little net and put in a Chinese Takee Outee container so you could take it home! (Before plastic bags!) Forgot about the cloth covers! LMAO!

Some places still use those containers for tropical fish and goldfish. I was thinking about how large the typical pet department was in most 5 and dimes back then b4 they went to those stacked aquariums and started carrying much less fish and birds. Most had much larger fabric and sewing departments then most Walmarts of today.
 
Remember the old patent medicine/remedy stands where they had a platform and products with a company pitchman in some. Most were gone by the mid 60's, but Dr Scholl's and some other ...(Humphery's I think) still had stands that some guy dressed in the old style, wrap around physican's smock would pitch or demonstrate products on a mini stage featuring their products. Last place that still had them was McCrory's down here. 

and i remember being able to pop a balloon to see how much your sundae was gonna cost! lolol.. creaky floors, hot as heck! but such great memories!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! woolworths and twoguys were the best!!!

They used to fix a drink called a "600".  Milk mixed with chocolate syrup
and poured over a glass of crushed ice.
I make them at home today.

DawnT
 

Most had much larger fabric and sewing departments then most Walmarts of today. 
 

That's because Women used to make clothes for their families on those things called sewing machines. I'm afraid sewing machines will go the same direction as the typewriter and the rotary dial telephone--Extinction!

A friend of my mother's was telling me about her very first job - in the restaurant of a Woolworth's in the Pittsburgh area...  The directive for food preparation stated that they should get 22 slices out of one tomato!!!!!  Try this sometime - - I can seldom get more than 15 paper thin slices.....
One of my first jobs was at a W.T. Grant store - I managed the stationery department and the candy department, and filled in at the snack bar during 'rush hour'....  Food was very economical, but we used real butter, real mayo, good quality cheeses and meats...  I learned a lot about time management in a kitchen...

Foodbme

DawnT
 

Most had much larger fabric and sewing departments then most Walmarts of today. 
 

That's because Women used to make clothes for their families on those things called sewing machines. I'm afraid sewing machines will go the same direction as the typewriter and the rotary dial telephone--Extinction!

Sorry F.B.M., but in this economy my wife still makes some of her and the girl's clothes. She makes purses to sell at the local market with the surplus material. I think that more women and even some men are looking to home made vs. store bought, especially in gardening, canning, and preserves. Just makes good sense to me.

  JMHO

  David O.

mamaduck43


A friend of my mother's was telling me about her very first job - in the restaurant of a Woolworth's in the Pittsburgh area...  The directive for food preparation stated that they should get 22 slices out of one tomato!!!!!  Try this sometime - - I can seldom get more than 15 paper thin slices.....
One of my first jobs was at a W.T. Grant store - I managed the stationery department and the candy department, and filled in at the snack bar during 'rush hour'....  Food was very economical, but we used real butter, real mayo, good quality cheeses and meats...  I learned a lot about time management in a kitchen...

   Mamaduck, there used to be a Wallgreens on the corner of Colorado Ave and S. Tejon St. that had a food counter and a basement full of toys and other sundries. I remember it as a kid because my dad would take me to Herb's Barber Shop right next door. (I think he has passed but his daughter still runs the shop.) Then we would head over to W. G. for a soda or sundae.  Dad was stationed at Fort Carson and we lived close to the base so we rarely "went into town." Those are some of the best memories I have of my dad who passed in the early eighties. 

  David O.

boyardee65

Foodbme

DawnT
 

Most had much larger fabric and sewing departments then most Walmarts of today. 

That's because Women used to make clothes for their families on those things called sewing machines. I'm afraid sewing machines will go the same direction as the typewriter and the rotary dial telephone--Extinction!

Sorry F.B.M., but in this economy my wife still makes some of her and the girl's clothes. She makes purses to sell at the local market with the surplus material. I think that more women and even some men are looking to home made vs. store bought, especially in gardening, canning, and preserves. Just makes good sense to me.

JMHO

David O.

I guess I made a too broad generalization, but I think you'll agree, there are fewer people sewing and making their own clothes today than in the past. Your Bride is to be commended.
I agree on the food aspects. Organic foods and an attempt to eat healthier contribute to that plus the cost savings.

There are still lots of women and men who sew clothing for themselves, family, and customers - but not as many as in days gone by, primarily because clothing is so relatively cheap and good quality fabrics are not! But if you add in the huge numbers of quilters and craft sewers, the sewing machine industry will have a large market for many years to come.

The Woolsworth's lunch menu I remember was similar to the one posted earlier in this thread. No hamburgers, hotdogs, fries etc. Just a few sandwiches, drinks and dairy products. Maybe there were other more extensive menus at the bigger stores.