Back in the day, it was common for department stores to have restaurants. Ladies would get dressed with their hats and gloves, shop in the morning, go to the restaurant for a Salad Plate and continue shopping in the afternoon. Mall food courts with chain eateries have all but eliminated unique department store restaurants.
As a child, I remember the restaurant at F. W. Woolworth’s at the shopping mall in Mobile, AL. The seating area jutted out into the mall walkway. The mall wasn’t very big so if you were going anywhere in the mall, chances are you’d pass the Woolworth restaurant. The diners always seemed so happy. There they sat, enjoying their lunch while we walked up and down with our mother in search of who knows what. Pleadings to let us eat in the restaurant always elicited the same response from her, “We can’t afford it.”
Then, one day it happened. While shopping, our mother surprised us with a lunch at Woolworth’s! Walking up to the hostess stand was thrilling enough. I might have been perfectly satisfied if we had stopped at that point. My mother, my two sisters and I were seated at what I thought was the best table. It was real close to the low rail that separated the restaurant from the mall walkway. I was certain that everyone passing was looking at us and thinking how lucky we were to be in the restaurant. I never gave one thought to the possibility that no one but us cared that we were there. This was a big moment in my life.
What we had to eat was less significant that the fact that we eating in the restaurant. And all the mall walkers could see us eating in the restaurant. In fact, what we ate was so insignificant, I can’t remember what it was. Most certainly, my mother ordered for us. And, understanding our financial restraints, she probably ordered from the right side of the menu which displayed the prices.
I left the mall feeling that the department store lunch was a very special event. The experience has stuck with me for over 45 years. That’s pretty special.
Y’all come see us!
Department Store Lunch
My friend Dawn’s mother was visiting her from Alabama for a few days. I’d been tossing around the idea of recreating a Department Store Lunch and thought this would be a perfect occasion. It would give Dawn’s mother a chance to meet some of her friends and give us a chance to meet Dawn’s mother and maybe find out some juicy tidbits about what Dawn was like growing up.
Here’s Dawn and her Mama, Judy. Look how pretty they are.
I framed the menu with sales adds.
Each of the place cards had a store department under the name.
We had fashion models as special guests who also served as table decorations.
A shopping bag was the bread basket.
The menu was my version of a classic department store restaurant salad plate.
Spring Lettuce Salad with Blackberry Lavender Vinaigrette
French Bread Rolls with Blackberry Butter
As I shopped for the luncheon, I came across these tissues and just had to have them.
They became favors along with a jar of Blackberry Lavender Vinegar.
I warned the ladies ahead of time that I might be a shutterbug in addition to being hostess and they might want to wear their favorite earrings.
Carol
Jan
Dawn
Shari
Martha
Myrna doesn’t wear earrings. I should have taken a picture of her pretty ears. Judy was so cute and posed for a shot of her earrings. The light was so bright coming in the window in back of her that it completely washed out the picture and I wasn’t able to salvage it.
Jan, Shari, Martha and Judy………
….are listening to Dawn drive home a point to Carol and Myrna.
Colleen says
I LOVE this post!! My grandmother was the manager of a beauty salon inside the Stone and Thomas Department Store in Wheeling, WV when I was a girl. This was the era when even as children we were able to ride the public bus into downtown and spend the day shopping, seeing movies, etc. My grandmother always treated us to lunch in the “Tea Room” at the store and we felt soooo grown up!! What a great memory!
Jackie Garvin says
Colleen,
I’m so glad this post could rekindle a fond memory for you! Times were certainly different then.
Since you have such fond memories of department store lunches, are you considering throwing a luncheon for your friends? 🙂
Colleen says
I hadn’t thought of doing it before but I certainly am now. 🙂
Jackie Garvin says
Colleen,
Great!! Please let me know how it turns out for you. I’d love to see pictures!
Maureen says
What a good friend you are! This was such a special party! The big department stores in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane all have restaurants in them. Stores like Woolworths don’t.
Jackie Garvin says
Maureen,
I had so much fun throwing this party! 🙂
Mary Raymundo says
Long gone are the days of a unique family owned department store. We use to have Bacon’s and Ben Snyder’s here in Louisville. I was able to take my daughter Tina a few times to Bacon’s Tea Room before they closed. It was so nice just to be able to stop and take a break.
Jackie Garvin says
Mary,
Uniqueness certainly isn’t appreciated now as much as in the past. It’s a shame that we’ve lost so much of it.
Prentice Long says
This is a great post, THANK YOU. I was just thinking how i felt when I walked into Sears for the first time. We live far out of any town and we farmed. That store smelled so good of fresh hot nuts and I was hoping my mom had enough money to buy us a few. that was about 60 years ago but i still remember. Thanks for the reminder. Prentice
Jackie Garvin says
Prentice,
The aroma of hot nuts was one of the best things about Sears! Thanks so much for your kind comment. 🙂
Mary Beth says
Wow, I had forgotten about the smell of roasting nuts and the hot griddle in those stores like Woolworth and Kress in my hometown of Tuscaloosa. Like you, it was a real treat to get to eat at the snack bar (that is what our Woolworth’s had–it was in the heart of downtown) usually with my aunt who took me “to town” on Saturdays. The smell of hamburgers on a griddle still brings back that memory and its been about 50 years for me. I love your party idea!
Jackie Garvin says
Mary Beth,
I’m so glad this post helped you relive a happy memory! With sprawling suburbs, we don’t even go “to town” any longer.
Mary Beth says
I also thought your party idea was terrific! I love to entertain and am keeping this in mind for a future time, possibly for my book club group. So do you have any suggestions for books that would fit this theme and era? (other than The Help–we’ve read that one!).
Also wanted to tell you that my early childhood was in Mobile in the 50’s and very early 60’s. I remember Springdale Plaza as the first “shopping center” but we still “went to town” for shopping.
Jackie Garvin says
Mary Beth,
It’s always great to run into another Mobilian! Springdale Plaza was THE shopping center in Mobile until Bel Air Mall was built.
This would be a great theme for a book club luncheon. Let me give some thoughts to a book that would fit the theme. We’ll come up with something!! I’ll post it on my FB page asking for suggestions,too! 🙂
Lori Tindall says
In Southern Indiana we all went “Uptown” to Louisville for fancy shopping and that meant Bacon’s Tea Room and Stewart’s Orchid Room. Being able to plan a trip to go there was a really big deal. After high school, we moved to Chattanooga and my first job was at Loveman’s Department Store downtown in the china department, (which sat right next to the Loveman’s Tea Room). They had the best sweet tea and chicken salad in town! The lunching ladies wore beautiful outfits and it was a treat to watch the elite Lookout Mountain ladies come downtown to meet. Thank you for bringing back those memories and I LOVE your tea room/birthday luncheon.
Jackie Garvin says
Lori,
Someone else mentioned Bacon’s Tea Room in this comment thread! That must have been a special place, indeed.
Thank you for your thoughtful comments, Lori! 🙂
Ann says
Jackie,
I remember the eating area at our Woolworth’s, too! Such a great memory! I love your post and all the wonderful photos. Perfect in every way!
Jackie Garvin says
Ann,
How very sweet of you to leave such a wonderful comment! Thank you so very much! 🙂
Mary Beth says
That would be great, thanks. Our book club tries to plan our meal around settings or theme of our book for the month. If anyone has suggestions, we are open!
And someone mentioned Loveman’s…..that is my strongest memory of a “tea room” in Birmingham. What wonderful times for us with our mothers, aunts, and grandmothers.
Jackie Garvin says
Mary Beth,
Such good times! We’ll come up with a book so you can recreate this memory for your book club. 🙂
Ann says
What an adorable idea! I never had lunch at the dept store, we did get to go to the Walgreen’s lunch counter one time when we were shopping in Pensacola for school clothes and that was a big treat – eating out anywhere was a big treat, as we, like your family, “could not afford it”. What a lovely menu you had for your luncheon!
Jackie Garvin says
Ann,
Thank you for your comment!Your daughter and granddaughter would love having this lunch with you! 🙂
Mary ann says
Oh my, I loved this post for two reasons Jackie! I loved going downtown Chicago with my grandmother to have lunch at the Walnut room in Marshall Field’s. ( sigh, gone now Macy’s just isn’t the same). All dressed up and we would meet 2 or 3 of my great Aunts too, it was a wonderful day.
But seeing your luncheon reminds me of my other Grandma’s card group. Every few months the lunch and game was at our house oh the preparations! Special food, special drinks, a centerpiece and table cloth! And the finale…dessert on special plates, all different, many with a gold or silver rim…I am looking at those plates now as they sit proudly on my plate rail and remind me of childhood days listening from the window to the happy gossip and wondering if there would be any dessert leftover. Thanks for such a happy start to my AM Jackie and Happy Birthday!
Jackie Garvin says
Mary Ann,
Our society has gotten so casual that those special lunches are becoming very rare. I just love special occasions. And there’s something so civil about ladies lunching together using fine china and linen table cloths. You can have an affair that’s refined but not stuffy. That’s what I aim for and I hope I’m able to carry it off. 🙂
Gail says
Jackie, this brings back so many sweet memories. That Woolworth’s restaurant was the best! My mother worked downtown for many years and I remember eating at the Kress lunch counter many-a-time! Also, I worked at W.T. Grant on the candy counter serving customers those hot roasted nuts!! lol
Jackie Garvin says
Gail,
I remember the Kress lunch counter downtown, too! W.T.Grant sounds familiar but I can’t picture it. How could you stand smelling those nuts all day without going nuts?:)
Gail says
Grant’s was on the Square right next to Gayfers. I was 15 and still remember how excited I was. That was the first place I ever worked…as extra help at Easter & Christmas. They had a snack bar but not a full restaurant.
Jackie Garvin says
I do remember it now!!! I miss Gayfers, too. 🙁 They didn’t have a restaurant but I loved shopping there. There was Gayfers in Clearwater, which I was thrilled to learn about after we moved here. When I got homesick for Mobile, I would make the 1 hr 30 minute trek to that store. I don’t know if Parisian kept the store location open after they bought out Gayfers.
Jackie Garvin says
Gail,
Or was it Dillard’s that bought Gayfers??? I can’t remember now.
Gail says
It was Dillards. Certainly been a while! 🙂
Jackie Garvin says
Yes it has!
Mary says
Oh goodness Jackie……did this bring back memories!!!! Your table was lovely. You could tell a lot of thought went into it. The menu was spot on, a typical ladies lunch! Those days were so special, and unfortunately are long gone. So thanks for bringing the memories back.
Jackie Garvin says
Mary,
Those were special days. No doubt about that. We just need to recreate them, as best we can, and write about them so they won’t be forgotten. That’s the reason Syrup and Biscuits came to be. 🙂
Cheryl Scott says
What a wonderful memory. I, too, spent a lot of time at that mall in Mobile, yearning to be allowed to stop at the Woolworth restaurant. I took heard the same reasoning from my mother “we can’t afford it.” With a sister and two brothers, i understand why. My aunt took me one time, just her and me, the french fires were some of the best I’ve ever had. I liked sitting at the counter. When I became a teenager and my girlfriends and I could drive ourselves to the mall — I made sure to go there at least once or twice. Thanks for the memory.
Jackie Garvin says
Cheryl,
You were so smart to go to the Woolworth’s restaurant after becoming a teenager. I never thought of doing that. My impression was that it was very expensive. I suppose I should have checked it out on my own. 🙂 You’re obviously way smarter than me!
Thanks for stopping by, Cheryl!
Dawn says
A good time indeed!
Jackie Garvin says
So glad you could be there, Dawn!
Cindy says
Your story brought back a flood of memories. My mother died in Dec. ’04. I fondly remember us going to Birmingham to go shopping. We loved about 50 miles outside of Birmingham. We usually would have lunch on the mezzanine at Loveman’s Department Store. The tables in the restaurant overlooked the main shopping floor. One of my most vivid memories was that when we finished lunch we went downstairs and went to the glove counter and bought me some new leather gloves. We always dressed up in the 60’s. After we went to Loveman’s we would also hit Pizitz, Burger Phillips, and Blach’s. Those were the days. I miss my mother so much.
Jackie Garvin says
Cindy,
You have such sweet memories of a very special time. Thanks for sharing them with us.
Someone else mentioned Loveman’s in Birmingham, too! 🙂
Mary Beth says
I could have written that post myself! We included Parisian as well. Sometimes we would spend the night at the Tutwiler, usually at Christmas along with viewing the windows at Lovemans. My grandmother and aunt accompanied us always. They are truly my fondest childhood memories.
Jackie Garvin says
Mary Beth,
What special memories you have! You’re so kind to share them with us. 🙂
CinStraw says
oh how I loved your post about “Luncheon w/the Girls “…..I have luncheons w/my girlfriends once a month. Fun Fun Fun…is certainly had by all =;D.
Cin(/)
Jackie Garvin says
Thanks, Cindy! Nothing beats having fun with your girlfriends! 🙂
Ally says
What a great idea! And, look at all the happy faces…nothing like reminiscing…oh, yes, I remember Woolworths and ‘dime’ stores and the soda fountains!! xo Ally
Jackie Garvin says
Thanks, Ally! So glad you could stop by for a visit! 🙂
Jean says
What a fun party! I would have loved to be in that little group. Woolworths…oh does that bring back memories! A magic place to a child and apparently a lot of other people. Wish it were still around.
Jackie Garvin says
Jean,
It was so much fun. I wish you could have been here, too! 🙂
Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen says
WOW Jackie, I hadn’t thought about the old Woolworth days in forever!! I remember going there with my Mom!! Thanks for the memories my friend 🙂 I nominated you for an award http://bobbiskozykitchen.blogspot.com/2012/07/tipsy-tuesday-sparkling-raspberry-lime.html
Jackie Garvin says
Bobbi,
Thank you so much for the award! I left you a comment on your blog post, too.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the post! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.
Purabi Naha says
I loved the idea! The menu looks fabulous and you guys look so adorable! And those models for table decoration….lovely!
Jackie Garvin says
Purabi,
We had such a fun time! So glad you like the idea.
Thanks for stopping by! 🙂