Woolworth/Woolco Hallowe'en

[horrorhunter]

Found this pic in a S.S. Kresge search.

[Hepcat]

Anyone else remember JJ Newberry stores?  Similar to Woolworths .  I have great memories of their toy section with Colorform sets and cheap Godzilla toys.  Also getting those Fleer and Topps novelty candies like Mr Bones at the register when mom was checking out.

The first J.J. Newberry's store was opened in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania in 1911 by John Josiah Newberry. By the time of his death in 1954, the Newberry's chain had grown to 475 stores and by 1961 reached 565 stores.

The chain was sold to McCrory Stores in 1972 but continued to operate under the Newberry's name until 1997 when almost all were closed.

In comparison there were over 1000 Woolworth stores in the States at one time and the chain lasted until 1997 in the United States and 1993 in Canada.

Kresge stores completely disappeared in the States in 1987 and in Canada in 1994.

[Earth 2 Chris]

We had a Newberry's in our town when I was really young. I don't remember much about it, but it did have a lunch counter. It was right across from our Ben Franklin store, which had tons of awesome toys downstairs!

Chris

[glane21]

The first J.J. Newberry's store was opened in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania in 1911 by John Josiah Newberry. By the time of his death in 1954, the Newberry's chain had grown to 475 stores and by 1961 reached 565 stores.

The chain was sold to McCrory Stores in 1972 but continued to operate under the Newberry's name until 1997 when almost all were closed.

In comparison there were over 1000 Woolworth stores in the States at one time and the chain lasted until 1997 in the United States and 1993 in Canada.

Kresge stores completely disappeared in the States in 1987 and in Canada in 1994.

The Newberrys of my youth was in Spokane Washington at a place called Shadle Center.  It did indeed close in 1997 ( though we had moved away in 1982).  I even found an article about its closing here:

http://www.spokanejournal.com/local-news/jj-newberry-to-close-its-last-spokane-store/

Amazing what you can find on the interwebs.

Interesting thing about your picture is that Prius parked in front looks like it is a later model than the 1997-2000 body style.  Maybe that was one store that managed to survive a bit longer.

[marsattacks666]

Found this pic in a S.S. Kresge search.

Very cool foto, horrorhunter

[ChrisW]

We had both a Woolworth's and Kresge's in my hometown of Wilkes-Barre, PA - where coincidentally, S.S. Kresge was born. I always considered Kresge's the better of the two, but I honestly couldn't tell you why, because both carried similar product. Maybe it was "Aunt Claire", who ran the toy section at Kresge's. I do remember perusing the Halloween section in both stores.

Thanks for posting the pics - can anyone figure out a date on them?

[Hepcat]

The Newberrys of my youth was in Spokane Washington at a place called Shadle Center.  It did indeed close in 1997 ( though we had moved away in 1982).  I even found an article about its closing here:

The Newberry's you remember in the Shadle Center doesn't sound so much like an old downtown one as a newer suburban one like this one:

[Hepcat]

Great picture of a display from Woolworths in Australia! Woolworths in Australia though consists of a chain of supermarkets with no relation whatsoever to the F.W. Woolworth company that operated five-and-dime stores in North America and England.

[Monsters For Sale]

This 21" X 14" full-page Chicago Tribune newspaper ad popped up on eBay and very quickly disappeared:



                                          Sunday, October 25, 1964


The seller pulled the listing because it was "incorrectly listed".

[marsattacks666]

This 21" X 14" full-page Chicago Tribune newspaper ad popped up on eBay and very quickly disappeared:



                                          Sunday, October 25, 1964


The seller pulled the listing because it was "incorrectly listed".

Without-a-doubt, extremely cool advert.

[aura of foreboding]

No doubt where the inspiration for this art came from. 

[Hepcat]

This 21" X 14" full-page Chicago Tribune newspaper ad popped up on eBay and very quickly disappeared:



                                          Sunday, October 25, 1964

Wow! Now that says Halloween!

[Monsters For Sale]

Wow! Now that says Halloween!

It was being sold by a comic book shop.  I suppose a customer came into the store and bought it in person.

I just hope that the buyer had the intention to make a hi-res scan, clean up any defects and produce full-sized posters to share with the rest of the world.

It would be a shame if he frames it and puts it out where the sun will fade the colors and make the paper brittle like old leaves.


I think the mostly black Classic Monsters page is much prettier than the 1965 Munster craze artwork that was posterized by another eBay seller:




A year later Ben Cooper costumes emphasized super heroes and went up in price:

[Monsters For Sale]

Here is a pretty ad of unknown year:



Halloween mostly meant candy in the 50's.  I think in the 40's it involved a lot more making as much noise as you could. 

I remember these noisemakers as a kid in the early 50's, but they had pretty much disappeared by 1960.  They appeal kinda waned as the metal clackers and ratchets were replaced with cheap plastic items that sounded as bad as a plastic bell and were too easily broken.

[Hepcat]

Here is a pretty ad of unknown year:

Probably earlier than 1965 given the old Woolworth logo but still from the 1960-1964 period given that the costumes were the same $1.98 price as they were in 1965.