Shopping Days of Yore

Biftu · ‎02-05-2011

Out shopping today I was thinking about how different shopping was years ago. People were dressed, not in their PJs. Sales people were always available to help with questions or sizes. Department stores provided a box with your purchase and free gift wrapping or wrapping for a minimum charge. Some stores had coat checks. We even had a store shuttle bus that would drive you to your car in the parking lot. Now people are home in their PJs shopping on line with fingers crossed their packages will be delivered on time. I think we were spoiled and didn't even know it at the time.

Bookplate · ‎08-19-2011

I grew up in a NJ suburb of NYC and all the Fifth Avenue stores had branches in the area, and those stores - the L&T, Saks, Bonwits etc - had their own delivery trucks and the stores would deliver purchases to your home at no charge. This was pre-UPS of course; later they took over and deliveries were no longer free. It's hard to imagine that kind of service now.

Witchy Woman · ‎03-15-2010

@Biftu

I rarely shop in store anymore, but I'm not an avid shopper anyway. My gift/shopping/giving days are long gone.

But, your post made me nostalgic for my childhood and "shopping" in the tiny town where I grew up.

My sis and I would go out a few days before Christmas and had maybe $10 to spend. There were, perhaps three or four smallish stores....a gift shop, "dry goods" store and such.

I remember how thrilling it was to browse the stores and make a selection. Then, the wrapping and waiting for Christmas.

One year, my sis and I bought each other the same little sliver clutch purse! We were both so thrilled as it was something each of us had wanted most.

Those were sweet, innocent times for us. As years went by I shopped the local department stores in St. Louis. They were just glorious at the holidays. So many beautiful decorations...yes, people dressed up...windows decorated to the hilt.

Beautiful merchandise displayed everywhere. So lovely to look at.

Nice memories.

GingerHead · ‎03-10-2010

@Biftu

I remember shopping during the Holidays being such a fun event. An especially fond memory of mine is years ago, and not that long ago in the nineties, my husband and I had a tradition of getting all dressed up and going to see the Nutcracker (ballet) downtown and either afterwards or before we'd walk around downtown and window shop and browse in all the beautifully decorated shops.

One that was especially fun to stop by was a big department store (Meier and Frank) now long gone but at the time they had the neatest old school holiday animated scenes of the 12 days of Christmas in their windows, it was magical....

It's just not the same anymore unfortunately. Something in all the online shopping, etc has changed things....some of that magic is gone....sigh

"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals" -Immanuel Kant

"Once you have had a wonderful Dog, a life without one, is a life diminished"-Dean Koontz

kaydee50 · ‎02-07-2011

Agree with all of the above. Used to love going to Lord & Taylor's on 5th Avenue and Macy's on Herald Square to see the decorations. It's a big change for this "old timer" and not for the better.

ninjawife · ‎11-15-2011

When my children were young I used to get up super early to shop on Black Friday. I would go to Toys R Us and the nearby mall. I was usually finished by 8:00 am and treated myself to Harry and David's Moose Munch for breakfast.

Nowdays I would not go near the mall during the holidays. In fact DH and I are going to see Wonka on Sunday and we are proposely not seeing it at the movie theater at the mall. I have most of my shopping done before Thanksgiving and almost all of my shopping is done on line.

Othereeeen · ‎03-13-2010

For some nostalgic shopping from days of yore.....You Tube has LOTS of videos taken of shoppers at Kmart, Sears, Penney's etc from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.....just put in your favorite store....

People must've used early video tape equipment....there are lots of them on there...

Things to note....civility of the people in the store, people are dressed in clothes, not pajamas, there are few overweight people, and there's music playing in the store.....cars in the parking lots...( I've started taking photos of cars in parking lots...we think nothing of them today...but think how fun to look back and say..."we owned one of them!!!"....

Lots of the videos have prices too....and examples of the things we used to buy in "those days"...

Take a trip down memory lane.....I did one night, and it was fun and sad at the same time ( I'm 67 and remember Penneys, Sears, Kmart,Jamesway, Korvettes, Woolworths,etc from days gone by....)...

Meowingkitty · ‎06-19-2010

@Biftu wrote:
Out shopping today I was thinking about how different shopping was years ago. People were dressed, not in their PJs. Sales people were always available to help with questions or sizes. Department stores provided a box with your purchase and free gift wrapping or wrapping for a minimum charge. Some stores had coat checks. We even had a store shuttle bus that would drive you to your car in the parking lot. Now people are home in their PJs shopping on line with fingers crossed their packages will be delivered on time. I think we were spoiled and didn't even know it at the time.

I've never ever dressed up to go shopping. Always jeans and a sweat shirt and rarely more than a light jacket or hoodie. Never have I seen a coat check or had a shuttle to drive me to my car. I only remember gift wrapping or boxes at a store named Bullards.. Always had to go to another location in the store if you wanted a box. Salesclerks we're always meh. Must be a difference from east coast and west coast. I like shopping with my fingers any day. I can get what I want in the size and color I want and not have to deal with all the fluff.

On It · ‎03-15-2021

I remember Christmas shopping before we had a mall. Everyone was dressed nicely as they walked down the sidewalk. The store windows were decorated to entice customers to come inside. The streets had tinsel decorations strung across the lanes of traffic. People smiled and were polite to fellow customers and to staff. You could feel the excitement in the air.

Roscoe the Rascal · ‎04-19-2016

The store windows were decorated and so fun. Boxes offered for your gifts and free gift wrap for certain paper or paid for other choices. My sisters did wrapping in high school for Christmas money.

Always clerks to help and just a wonderful time for shopping. I miss those days. I still like going out to shop but not like it use to be.