![]() ![]() When a new counter at the Newberry store was opened in Fremont OH in 1941, an advertisement stated, “Daily there arrives, fresh from the finest markets, a big assortment of garden vegetables and fruits from the best local dairies come rich milk and cream and palate-tempting butter. So did using fresh produce and buying locally. But there were also many ways in which they were not like the fast food chains that helped put them out of business.īaking on the premises and selling baked goods in the store certainly set them apart from burger chains of the later 20th century. They depended on fast delivery of food, high turnover of each counter stool, and price breaks for quantity buying. She predicted that with 62 stools and quick service, the Butte store should easily be able to serve 1,000 persons at lunch.ĭime store lunch counters have been seen as early versions of fast food restaurants and to a degree this is true. This was surely a role not often played by women in the world of business then. When a new Woolworth store opened in Butte MT in 1928, the opening of the lunch counter was under the supervision of a woman who managed a busy lunch counter in a Denver Woolworth store. ![]() Although I’ve seen no numbers, Woolworth’s claimed that the majority of their lunch counters and bakeries had women managers. I have no doubt that due to their expensive kitchen and counter equipment, dime store food service far exceeded the typical under-capitalized independent lunch room or restaurant of the same time in terms of sanitation.Īnother modernizing feature was promoting women into lunch counter management. When a new Woolworth store opened in Abilene TX in 1939, a lengthy story reported that “All utensils touched by food are of stainless, seamless steel.” Plus, it said, the food was kept at the correct temperatures at all times, dishes were washed and sterilized automatically, and the kitchen was lit by fluorescent fixtures. ![]() Through the first half of the 20th century, the stores constantly reminded the public that they were outfitted with the latest in modern gas and electric appliances for cooking, refrigeration, cleaning, and sterilization. As dime store advertisements proclaimed, they were modern and sanitary. Their installation involved significant capital investment. But dime stores added something new to their lunch counters – soda fountains - giving them wider appeal and the ability to attract customers between mealtimes. The earliest lunch counters were probably the ones associated with the railroads, going back at least several decades into the 19th century. And though not in the top ten, other dime store chains also had notable lunch counter sales, particularly Kresge, Grant, Newberry, and McCrory.ĭime store lunch counters dated back to the 1910s. McDonald’s was ahead in sales with $114M while Woolworth was at $100M, but Woolworth dominated the landscape with 1,950 units across the country as compared to McDonald’s 611. were neck and neck in the chain restaurant race. It isn’t surprising that dime store lunch counters were chosen as sites of protest in 19 if you realize that they were among the top food service chains in the country then. In fact, some black activists still had criminal records on the books for participating in sit-ins. Nostalgia was mostly confined to former patrons who were white and not involved in the 1960s protests to integrate variety store lunch counters. Waves of nostalgia about lunch counter menus, low prices, friendly waitresses, and non-pretentious hospitality surged when dime stores began closing their counters in the 1970s and 1980s. ![]()
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