How did you like Department Stores?

Question

Ok, "I'm Here" just got me
athinkin. When I was little, my
mom left me at kiddyland in the Famous-Barr store in St. Louis. What a joy that was.
Later, I would go with her to
all the floors and look at all
the goodies. The ladies in
hats and gloves and the elevator operator that sang out: "First floor,jewelry,powder,purses,gloves,
perfumes, Second Floor:
whatever. There were no
shopping carts so we had to
carry the various boxes. then
there was lunch on the mezanine. Wow, tuna salad
in a tomatoe. Then I got the
streetcar ride home. I also
remember the "Bon" in Seattle, which is no more.
Ladies how did you like the
genteel style of shopping?

Answer 1

LOL well now I know what the Mezzanine was for. I didn't
remember what was on that floor. I don't even remember if
the door opened on that floor to take a peak. But considering
the years I was in one of the old stores, I'm probably just for-
getting.
There was one dept.store I really loved growing up. And
that was Bedells. It was a smaller store than Meier and Franks across the street. But the moment you walked in, the
smells from the perfume counter greeted you. And you almost
floated in on the aroma (like in the cartoons). The same with
Lipmans, next door. That store seemed to have more
glitz when you entered. Maybe they had fancier lighting, but it
seemed more upscale than M&F's. I believe they carried
some heftier price tags for their merchandise and spendier
labels.
I loved then, and now, dept. stores at Christmas. All of the
fragrances of holiday scents fill the stores and with all of the
cheerful decor, you can't help but find some holiday cheer,
just in wishing there was a Santa Claus. Meier and Franks
always had a special animated Christmas display in one of
their big windows. And children would line up to take turns
peaking in and enjoying the "show". For there was always a
special scene with a special theme. And there would be
anything from dolls ice skating, to trains going around tracks.
And to dancing stuffed bears and all things imaginable. It
didn't occur to me, that maybe some of those moving toys
might be for sale in the toy dept. And we'd want our parents
to buy us something in that dept, we saw in the show window.
There was one old dept store, called Olds & King. And it
would be the last stop for shopping when I went with my
mother downtown as a child. There, she'd treat me to lunch in their downstairs coffee shop. And we'd take the same booth every time. And I'd always have a "Green River" pop with
whatever I ordered. And mom would usually have a club
sandwich and coffee. That's when waitresses wrote down their orders on a paper order pad, and didn't have to memor-
ize a persons' order. All tickets and your money, went to the cashier on your way out the door.
One thing that stands out in my mind about dept. stores in
the 40's and 50's, were the vacuum money tubes that the
store dept clerks would put your money into, and and they'ed
be sucked up in that tubing to the store office upstairs and
if you had change, it would be put into the same container
and blown back downstairs in the same vacuum tubing. I
was always fascinated with that and the noise it made leaving. Clerks didn't have to worry about handling the money
paid to them all that much in those days. They'ed just send
your money off, and give you change back. And they'ed
count out your change when handing it to you, rather than
drop it into your hand without a word.

Answer 2

We had a store like that in Hamilton ONT called the Right House .They used to call out the floors on the elevator too. I remember as a young girl being fascinated with the face powder display. There was someone there that would mix all the different colours of face powder to get the right colour for each individual, There must have been at least ten different colours of powder. The smell of all the different perfumes was intoxicating when you walked in the door. I used to love going to the second floor to try on all the new spring hats all covered with flowers and tulle. There weren't any malls back then. We always went downtown to go shopping.

Answer 3

Growing up in the midwest in the middle of nowhere I didn't have the opportunity to visit many department stores. Once a year we went shopping and my mother seemed to know a lot of the sales ladies from before she was married. That was when the perfume lady and the glove lady had a career in the store. What's missing now is the personal service that was available then. I also remember getting stuck in the revolving door.

Answer 4

I was a teen on the end side of the department store era that you describe. I got to work there and experience the elevator operators, the pleasant background music, and see and wait on older ladies in their hats and gloves who later had lunch at the Tea Room. I even remember the old cash registers where you had to hit the subtotal key, and then use a tax card to determine the tax of the amount. You had to know how to give out change. That was a time when the customer was treated with dignity and respect. I am glad I got to experience it.

Answer 5

Absolutely. Jacobsons Herpolshimers Wurzburgs Steketees Marshall Fields

Answer 6

Sure do remember...going to Marshall Fields in Chicago with my Aunt Bessie to buy winter coats & boots [her treat every year] and having lunch upstairs [mezzanine or 2nd floor?] by a big tall window and watching the snow sifting down....and how good everything smelled when you went by the cosmetics & "foo-foo" counters...and remember actually being waited on - coats would be brought out and held up and the salesman would help you into the coat and tweak the collar and call you 'sir' [impressive to a kid, right?] and Aunt B. and the alterations tailor would discuss what the coat needed to be Perfect for This Year...oh wow, like another world.

Stores today? No tailors, no clerks, no service, no delivery, no tea-rooms, no elegance, no....no.... hey stop me, someone, before I break down and start sobbing!

Answer 7

My mom was not much of a shopper, but when we would go home to Cincinnati to visit my grandparents, my grandmother would take us cousins with her to Pogue's and Shillito's department stores. She had her very own salespersons who she'd call up ahead of time and they would have outfits ready for her to try on. I remember that the lingerie department even had expert corset and bra fitting services!...and yes! - the gloved elevator ladies [I had totally forgotten about them]. The mezzanine had the 'Tea Room' where we would stop for lunch....Here in the DC area the last of that type of store was Garfinkle's and I used to really love going there - made me feel so special.

Today's stores are the pits! Even the so-called upscale ones....so I shop online

Answer 8

when i was young my mother worked in a dept store called blacks. on the weekends we would take the city bus and spend the afternoon downtown. the bus driver knew us all by name and would make sure we got on and off where we were suppposed to.

oh what a store. mom worked in the cosmetic dept and thats where we went first to let her know we were about. we sprayed on everything from arden, to estee, shalimar, white shoulders,,,we must have reeked! i remember the elevator lady,,,a very elegant black lady with a bouffant, and very long fingernails. she was the fanciest person we had ever seen and we were angels when we were in that elevator. she would sit on a little stool and call out the floors. if you walked the nine floors, the steps were worn marble and seemed to go on forever.
older men would line the mezzanine and watch the first floor below. sometimes we would join them and watch mom work.

2nd floor was shoes and thats where we were all taken to get our school buster browns. thats also the floor that santa was on during the holidays. he seemed like the king at the end of the very long aisle.

5th floor was toys,,,on the 9th floor was a very fancy restaurant called the tea room. on the weekends they would have fashion shows and once a month, we got to go to the teen fashion show when we got older.

later in the afternoon, we would go to penneys, sears, etc., but nothing quite measured up to blacks. i wish my children could have experienced such afternoons.

Answer 9

Mountain Gal...you are a knockout! Leave your avatar alone !
Sorry to chime in here, but I went with my mom (both my brother and I) on shopping trips, did the lunch thing, carried around all the purchases, etc...the only difference was, I had a harness and was kept on a leash! I had a nasty habit of quickly wandering off whenever I could..mom found that the only way to "Housebreak" me was a leash..worked! I never got lost again! No more, "Will Mrs. Brandt please come to the security department"! Oh, I was such a joy as a child! I am truly surprised my mother allowed me to live through it! Love and peace, Phil

Answer 10

I grew up in New York City. And a trip to Macy's, Gimbel's or Abraham and Strauss was a marvel as we neared the holiday period. Even as a young adult I once went to Marshall Fields in Chicago and was awestruck at the merchandise and the staff.
I've lived in Southern Nevada for 25 years. And I've seen the rise of Target, Wal-Mart and K-Mart. But, at the Fashion Show Mall on the Strip is one modern-day "throwback" to those stores of yore: Nordstrom's! They even have a pianist.