Woolworth Store Employees, 1941

Woolworth Emlployees 1941.jpg

Title

Woolworth Store Employees, 1941

Subject

Stores, Retail

Description

When Woolworth’s opened in Tuscaloosa (AL) in 1917, crowds poured in for inexpensive lunches at the soda fountain and could open a newspaper to read about World War I. An article in the Tuscaloosa News on March 20, 1992, announced the store’s closing.

In 1992, patrons could still get lunch for under $5. They could also shop for cards, toys, or other items in a dime store setting.

The Woolworth Corp., a pioneer in the five-and-dime retailing method where customers could, for the first time, select their own items rather than presenting a list of items to a clerk. In addition, one could have lunch or a soda while they shopped.

Nina Willmon, manager of the Tuscaloosa store in 1992, recalled that, in the 1950s and 1960s, a typical lunchtime would have customers standing behind each stool to wait for a place to open. The store’s food service remained popular. The vegetable plate with five veggies and two cornbread muffins was $2.50 and the most expensive lunch item was the filet fish platter at $4.95.

Willmon was a long time employee of Woolworth’s, starting when she began working there after school in 1945. Longevity with the company was not unusual, Willmon said, because the pay was good and the company offered good vacation, insurance and other benefits.

The lunch counter was successfully integrated on July 8, 1964, after being picketed and subject to peaceful sit-ins.

The stores couldn’t compete with modern retailers and the Tuscaloosa store was one of Woolworth’s 900 specialty stores slated for an “accelerated redeployment program” in the 1990s.

You can still see the Woolworth’s building at 2319 University Boulevard. The space is used for a consignment store at this time. The building features a red tile cornice with arched windows. The store was renovated three times, one time by architect D. O. Whilldin, and expanded considerably from its original space into stores next door.

Partial names are known for some employees in the photo. First row: unknown, Floyd, Hollis, Causey, Earline Carnathon, Monday, Ouita Allen Livingston, Hester Earnest, Evans, Windham, Duran, unknown, unknown, Thelma Ray.Second row: Truitt, Velma Hogge, Bonnie Yancey, Jewell Hamner, Alice Dumas, Sheffield, unknown, Lancaster, Arde Hayes, Pearson, Cignus Adams, Myrtel Ballard Third row: O'Bryant, Harvey, Vertis Davis, unknown, unknown. Those in white uniforms worked at the lunch counter.

Source

Ouita Allen Livingston

Date

1941

Contributor

Betty Slowe (Description)

Type

Photograph

Identifier

2286

Coverage

Tuscaloosa (AL)

Original Format

Photograph