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.