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Thread Number: 8575
Department stores and our childhoods |
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| Post# 161649 10/21/2006 at 04:48 (6,397 days old) by robm (Buxted) | ||
Hi everyone, I was given the idea of the thread from Dascot who mentioned he used to walk around Allders looking at the washers. I wonder, like me, how many of you used to walk around department/electrical stores all the time looking at the latest machines and where you used to go? My memories are like this. When I was very small I used to get my mother to look around the machines in Pratts in Streatham (south London). To my amazment they had a whole display washing, I will never forget that. In the early 80s you used to get a lot more individual electrical shops selling machines on the street with hand written price tags. We also had shops like Rumbelows and in later years Seeboard, which had a large range. There were also loads of second hand washer shops, which now seem to have gone. One unfortunate thing about the internet is that it was removed the electrical store except for the biggies on the outskirts of town like, Curry's and Comet. Fortunately, Allders (in Croydon, South London) still has a large washer floor. What would I do without it! So what are your memories, both in the UK and elsewhere? Rob | ||
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| Post# 161657 , Reply# 2 10/21/2006 at 05:10 (6,397 days old) by newwave1 (Lincoln, United Kingdom) | ||
My mother and grandmother used to push me around in my pushchair around the co-op everytime we were intown! My grandma and Mum collected brochures for me. I particularly remember lookin at Hoover and Electrolux machines,Lots of Hotpoints. I loved it. My grandma was forever pretendin she was lookin for a new machine, while she had a bendix at home that went on forever lol! I Used to walk around Comet where i now work, and currys on weekends when we were on the retail park...i'd never let us go to "Texas" the DIY store without a visit to either comet or currys lol. As i grew up i used to go in on my own and talk to the staff for hours while my mother shopped for groceries. This eventually led to me gettin the chance to visit the hotpoint factory in late 97! which was aweeeeeeeeeeesome! Darren | ||
| Post# 161673 , Reply# 4 10/21/2006 at 07:10 (6,397 days old) by sudsman () | ||
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I loved to go to Sears and Monkey Wards. Western auto and White Auto were always fun too. We also had a Westinghouse dealer Parker Electric that always had Westinghouse slatfronts and Space Mates and would love to show them to me and make them run .. | ||
| Post# 161741 , Reply# 8 10/21/2006 at 11:41 (6,396 days old) by seamusuk (Dover Kent UK) | ||
FAO Neil/Glamwales
And for anyone else who hasnt seen it Click on the link below and enjoy- the 1st part will be the most interesting for washer ppls :). Just look at all the 3224 Keymatics ;-) Seamus CLICK HERE TO GO TO seamusuk's LINK | ||
| Post# 161789 , Reply# 9 10/21/2006 at 18:02 (6,396 days old) by glamwales () | ||
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Thanks How nice :) | ||
| Post# 161800 , Reply# 10 10/21/2006 at 19:17 (6,396 days old) by jasonl (Cookeville, TN) | ||
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One word.... SEARS! All those belt-drive Kenmores, the DAA, the electronic Lady K and then the Silvertone stereos and TVs, and of course, the TOYS! | ||
Post# 161805 , Reply# 12 10/21/2006 at 19:53 (6,396 days old) by nurdlinger  (Tucson AZ) |
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Now in Detroit...
there were Sears, Wards, Crowleys, Federals, like everywhere else but THE department store was J.L. Hudson's downtown 12-story emporium. (You may remember seeing it exploded a few years back) Before the advent of the suburban shopping centers, it was the place we went to buy school clothers in the fall, and for other occasions the reason for which I no longer remember. They had elevators with uniformed operators, which I found fascinating because by the mid fifties self-service elevators seemed ubiquitous. Mostly I remember waiting for one or another of my parents to find what they were looking for and conclude their transaction. I was always hot, when we went there in the winter I had to wear my coat or jacket all the while "so I didn't lose it". I often had a headache during these times. They had some sort of signaling system based on a gong, and standing around listening to BONG-BONG-BONG-BONG was torture. Once I was a little older I tried to observe what was going on when the gong sounded, but never did discern a pattern. They also had these wooden boxes hanging from the ceiling with small colored glass squares on the sides. These were different colors, and were obviously part of some other system I did not figure out. They had the pneumatic tube system running all over as well, and it was enjoyable to stand near one of the stations listening for the whoosh/wump as the carrier arrived. All in all, not remembered as a good time. StandThere--TooHot--Headache--BONGBONGBONGBONG.
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| Post# 161821 , Reply# 13 10/21/2006 at 23:01 (6,396 days old) by oxydolfan1 () | ||
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Sears on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. | ||
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Post# 162021 , Reply# 14 10/23/2006 at 08:10 (6,394 days old) by toggleswitch (New York City, NY) |
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Macy's , the world's largest closet. 
Sears on Northern Boulevard in Flushing, Queens (NYC)[ok ok stop snickering that is its truee name]. and it WAS IIRC named to honor John Crapper, the inventor of the flush toilet. HUGE improvement in sanitation... Anyhoo.. Sears was fun for appliances. Yiayia (granny) used to shop in the BIG Macy's by Herald Square 34th Street in Manhattan. I used to remember it fondly and their appliance dept, before the department eliminated. CLICK HERE TO GO TO toggleswitch's LINK | ||
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Post# 162022 , Reply# 15 10/23/2006 at 08:13 (6,394 days old) by toggleswitch (New York City, NY) |
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Post# 162047 , Reply# 17 10/23/2006 at 10:46 (6,394 days old) by toggleswitch (New York City, NY) |
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| Post# 162140 , Reply# 18 10/23/2006 at 21:40 (6,394 days old) by johnb300m (Chicago) | ||
Chicago - State Street, that great street | ||
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Post# 162224 , Reply# 19 10/24/2006 at 08:37 (6,393 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O ) |
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