THOUGHTS FROM AN AGING PIZZA EVANGELIST THE FIVE AND DIME EXPERIENCE Published: March 30, 2014 8:00AM Long before the likes of Walmart, Kmart, Target and such there was a plethora of 5- and 10-cent stores that populated Wheeling Avenue in downtown Cambridge, Ohio. At one time there were supposedly many of these so called stores in the downtown area but, we are only going to look at three of the most popular: F. W. Woolworths, S.S. Kresge, and J.J. Newberry. Whether you called them 10 Cent Stores, Dime Stores or Five and Dime Stores (as my Mom did ), it made no difference. They were all one in the same. J.J. Newberry was located in the 700 Block of Wheeling Avenue (where Dollar General is now) and almost directly across the street was S.S. Kresge. F.W. Woolworth was located at the corner of Seventh Street and Wheeling Avenue. What was the attraction of these stores? Why were they so popular at the turn of the 1900s until the late 1950s? Cheap prices and a variety of goods at a one-stop shop. The Five & Dime Stores were miniature discount stores, forerunners of Walmart of today. Five & dime stores purchased in large quantities and sold inexpensive merchandise such as candy, toys, Christmas ornaments, and glassware priced below 10¢. After the 1930s, slightly more expensive merchandise was added to the stores, but people continued to call them five & dime stores. What would you find in these stores? You could buy just about anything you needed to wear or for your home at pretty good prices as well as I remember. They had candy counters and Kresges had a full blown lunch counter where you could get a meal, cherry, vanilla and chocolate Cokes and the best sub-sandwiches. For many years there wasnt a single item in these stores that cost more than 25 cents. If a pan and lid cost more than a quarter together, they were sold separately for less than a quarter. Are you beginning to see why these stores were so popular and why they were always packed with customers? Kresges had a great toy department with lots of cool model cars, ships and planes. Lots of pet turtles there, too. You could get a G.I. Joe and his gear and put it in layaway making payments each Saturday until it was paid off. Newberrys didnt have as cool of a toy department, but they did have Marx army men, the best; 100 for 99 cents. Many loved the wonderful smell of the sub sandwiches up front (which by the way sold for 19 cents each), the horse out front, the hankies or jewelry you could buy as gifts, the birds and fish in the back, the toy department the candy, all the different nuts you could buy by the pound. Gravy on French fries, Kresges also had that; I think its a Cambridge thing ... my wife still orders her fries with gravy today. Another big thrill for the kiddies was the mechanical horsey ride out in front of Kresges. You could also go to the back of the store and see all the goldfish, birds, and you could even hold the tiny turtles. And who could forget all the girls buying different colored angora string to wrap around their boy-friends rings so that it would fit the girls fingers. Brother, you could buy just about any household item, toy, candy, pet, or whatever from these five & dime stores. If you never experience shopping at a five & dime, what can I say? Ask Grandma what you missed because you really missed out. P.S. I couldnt have written this column without help. Im indebted to a wonderful bunch of FaceBookers in a group called You Know Youre From Cambridge, Ohio If ... I cant mention everyone who contributed but I do want to mention a few: Chris DeMarco, Susan Lerner Tharp, Karen Simmons, Vickie Jennings Lyons and Tom Severns. If I didnt mention your name please dont think I didnt appreciate your contribution because I did. Once again, thank you all for your help. See you next Sunday Bob Fettes is a retired Cambridge businessman and can be reached at nancopiz@yahoo
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 12:07:55 +0000
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