Who remembers the 1950's or Woolworths back then?
 

See the 39 cent Banana Split!!!

When I was a kid, several times our Woolworths had a special.....

They put Banana Split prices from 1 cent to 39 cents in blown-up balloons and hung them up around the lunch counter.

You picked a balloon and whatever price was in it is what you paid.

Twice I picked a balloon with 1 cent in it!!!!

Top of the world, Ma!!!!!

Wow! Has this been long forgotten for me. Unfortunate for me the memory of this was overshadowed by an incident in Woolworth.

When I was a teenager I was in the front the store with a friend when a women who was oil painting and selling her work accused me of recently being in the store and intentionally bumping into her, ruining what she was working on. It definitely wasn't me, but there was no convincing her of that. That's the day I was awakened into the reality of just how easy it can be to be accused of something you were completely innocent.

Fortunately, she didn't file a complaint with the police and no similar incident never happened again!

In South Carolina, we called it "the dime store" or "the 5 and 10". They had this marvelous candy counter that we had to visit every Saturday. We also had a Kress store, but it was nothing like Woolworths.

That menu and the prices of various items was fun to see. However, your statement of how much cheaper things were in 1950 is not very accurate.

You have to remember that the average household salary was around $3,500 per year. Let's say now the family income is $70,000 which is neither high nor low income. That is 20 times higher than in 1950. Multiply those 1950 prices by 20 and you have a chicken salad sandwich at a dime store costing $13 and $8 for a banana split.

The gasoline would be $3.60 and the new car would be $30,000.

Anyhow, it is always fun to see old prices. A couple of days ago, I was looking at a wedding album of mine and in 1973, we stayed at a hotel in Miami Beach for $19 per night.

Joe Namath
 

Joe Namath's mother worked in the 5&10 in Beaver Falls,PA.:popcorn:

That is where I bought my first lip stick and before that paper dolls and little LIVE turtles and trading cards and at Christmastime when I was taken to see Santa, my grandmother would buy me lunch there. YUM.

Ah, the 5 and 10. Great memories from my childhood in Manhattan in the '50s. Wooden floors, wide and open display counters, and the lunch counter. The magic counter where I had my very first cheeseburger, with a pickle and a vanilla milk shake. My Ellen laughs when I still search for that long ago taste at Johnny Rockets, Steak and Shake, Bob Evans and Too Jays. Some close, but no cigar. (That's because it's in my fantasy addled memory lol)

It was located on Broadway between West 79th and 80th Streets and was a homey, warm place for us.

Thanks for the memory, Senior Citizen!

I grew up in St. Augustine and back in the 50's and 60's there were few retail stores there. Woolworths was one of them and I spent quite a few fun after school times there popping the balloon to try and get the banana split for 1 cent. I did get one for that and many more for various prices. Fun times!

Thanks for posting that menu! When I was young my Aunt Cass would take me there for a delicious toasted cheese sandwich...still my favorite! What great memories sitting at the counter with my Aunt!

My Aunt used to take me to the Woolworths in the Trumbull mall for lunch and they did the balloons there also.

I stole something from Woolworth's in Wilkinsburg, PA, when I was in grade school. We used to walk over to Wilkinsburg from Edgewood after school and shop. I think it was nail polish, but I can't remember exactly.

I was so guilt-ridden that the next week I went back and slipped a 50 cent piece under the bottles of nail polish. (Note that I was not so guilt-ridden that I confessed my crime!)

In our home town (small) in the Midwest we had S S Kresge. Then, in the early 60's, S S Kresge started Kmart. It didn't take long for Kmart to destroy the 5 & dimes.

The swivel stools. Milk shakes at the counter:clap2:

A counter area dedicated to hot salted nuts...cashews, pistachios (remember the red ones), peanuts and more.

We still have a 5&10!
 

We had a lot of 5 & 10's besides Woolworth's. We had Fishman's, Murphy's, W.T. Grant......and we STILL have Viddler's 5 & 10. It is the real deal....complete with creaky wooden floors, basement and lots of "treasures". It's a fun place to go. Here's their website:Welcome to Vidlers 5 & 10

When I was in elementary school we went home for lunch as I am sure many of you did as well. Our special treat was every Friday we were allowed to go to Woolworths for lunch and have that delicious grilled cheese sandwich (couldn't eat meat on Friday back then). Looking back now it was probably a bigger treat for my mother. Great memories.

We went into the dollar store in Anchorage, Alaska. As we were entering I noticed the door handles said Woolworths on them.

I also stole something when I was a teenager. It was in Wichita, Kansas, at a Cranks Drug Store. Cranks was similar to the Walgreens of today. I was looking at lipstick and saw a color I liked. However, I had the same brand of lipstick in my purse so I got my lipstick out to make sure I wasn't buying the same color. It was the exact same color so I put my lipstick back in my purse and went home. Later that day I was looking for something in my purse and, lo and behold, I had 2 lipsticks in there! I had accidently stolen the tube at the drugstore!

I was horrified and scared to death. I immediately went back to the drugstore, discreetly put the "stolen" lipstick back in the counter display, and quickly left...all the while being petrified the store police were watching and ready to arrest me. Whew!

I thought I would go to jail for life!

My hometown of Wichita, Kansas, had Woolworth's, Grant's, and Kresge's. I don't remember eating at Woolworth's much because there was another place downtown we'd always go for lunch. We always ate at the counter and always ordered Salisbury Steak that was the best! It wasn't a restaurant but some sort of Variety Store or maybe even a drugstore. To this day, I continue to try to duplicate it...with no success.

Woolworth's or Kresge's is where I used to buy hard cover Hardy Boys books (by Franklin W. Dixon) for....wait for it.....$.49 in the mid-fifties. Oh how I loved those mysteries, The Tower Treasure, The Clue of The Broken Blade, What Happened at Midnight to name a few. If I'm not mistaken, my mother used to buy oil cloth at Woolworths. I think it was used as a table cloth...just a bit foggy on that one. I can still remember buying turtles and goldfish. $.15 to ride the bus home and I believe it was $1.00 for a bus ticket for ten rides. Awww the 50's.

we got to eat at the counter once a month..and then walk down to sears and follow the big yellow footprints in the store

Saturday afternoon movies in the 50's.....a current news reel, cartoons, previews, the 12 or 15 chapter serials and a double feature western and all of that for $.15. Popcorn, a box of popcorn and a Coke and you were in fantasyland for about two and a half hours. Really brings back great childhood memories.

Mine was downtown Waterbury!

Main bus stop was in front of store!

My first job in life was at Woolworths at the luncheon counter. Learned alot about life, hard work, people and how to make good food. Cherry cokes (with real crushed cherries), the differences about malts and milk shakes and how to make and present good sandwiches. All for 75 cents an hour. Learned about taxes, oh my, and about tips. I was over the moon if someone left a dime tip.

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Wow brings back so many memories. Use to have lunch there with mom lots of times. Also remember another 5 and dime. McCrory's.....

A couple friends and I used to take day trips and, whenever we would go to VT, we HAD to go to The Vermont Country Store. (We would spend a few hours just in that store)

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Don't forget South of the Border, founded in 1948 when the only accommodations for tourists were "tourist homes" and still going strong, although unrecognizable from its humble beginnings as a beer parlor.