Five and Dimes were the forefathers of the K-Marts, Targets, and Wal-Marts of today. They were stores like Kresge's, McCrory's, Ben Franklin, W.T. Grant, and Woolworth's.
The larger chain store five and dimes of the '50s and '60s were set up in a similar fashion to todays larger stores. The higher end merchandise would be to the rear of the store, so you'd have to walk down aisles of stuff you really didn't want, but ended up buying anyway.
The Woolworth's and Kresge's, within a bike ride of my neighborhood, featured basements where the budget items were housed. The budget items in a five and dime were real budget items or, as my mother used to say, junk. And, believe me, she would know. My mother was thrifty before it was fashionable in those days, but even she wouldn't venture into Woolworth's basement.
Personally I liked the basement, and so did my friends. That's where the vinyl records were kept, but it was also where they put the birds, monkeys, fish, and the occasional reptile.
The basement of Woolworth's was a noisy place. You could often hear the commotion from the cages when you walked in the store's main entrance. It would have been a hellish place to work an eight hour shift, and I guess the employees felt the same way because you could never find anybody down there to wait on you.
The lack of basement employees was fine if you were buying a record, but if you wanted a monkey it was a problem. In fact, buying any type of future pet there was a problem because none of the store workers wanted to handle them. More than once I was given a pair of thick gloves with the instructions "Get it yourself".
Five and dimes had soda fountains also, but me and my friends rarely frequented them. For some strange reason they seemed to attract an older mean spirited crowd. Soda fountain workers were usually unsociable to us at best, but the elderly five and dime counter workers would be downright nasty to us. I don't know, maybe it was the constant basement noise that upset them.
There wasn't much in the five and dimes that cost a dime, and even less for a nickle. Comics were still a dime there, until most of them went to 12 cents in the early '60s. Packs of baseball cards, and candy bars still went for a dime or less.
Even in the budget basement, the items usually sold for a quarter or more. Of course the pets were more. You could purchase a parakeet for a mere 5 dollars, and a squirrel monkey could be yours for under forty dollars, but bring gloves, just in case.
The thing about five and dimes was they were an adventure to visit. There was always that thrill of the unknown. You really never knew what you might find there. Sometimes you were dissapointed, but more often you weren't. More than any other stores, five and dimes offered that sense of adventure. They are missed.
