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Post by dumdave on Feb 8, 2015 11:30:01 GMT -6
I kind of forgot Spiegel's. It was always the step child to the main catalog houses, Sears, Wards and Penneys. Wasn't Spiegel's pretty much just clothing, textiles, maybe shoes? Also something a little different....what was it? Installment payments maybe? Hey I was just the teeny bopper janitor. No I didn't care for their products as much as SEARS! Then J.C. Penny and Monkey Wards. They had a great group of 4 women that ran the place, taking orders over the phone or getting orders when ppl. came to pick them up. My old boss is still alive and well in Streator. I have been in touch, but never quite got around to having a visit. Spiegel's would be packed to the gills with presents at Christmas time. That was my favorite time of the year to work.
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Post by dumdave on Feb 8, 2015 11:37:34 GMT -6
Rashid's is still a nice place to buy clothes. Excellent quality stuff. Kinda like Currans across the street used to be. MILLER'S CIGAR STORE. It was my home away from home in HS. Great juke box. Pool tables, including a snooker table. And Hoggy Greenwood to talk to. Ralph ran a tight ship and you didn't want to get cross ways with him and be kicked out while your friends got to stay.
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Post by angelsamongus on Feb 8, 2015 12:33:03 GMT -6
My in laws owned a Charles Chips and Home Juice Business in Champaign between 1960 - 1979.
They also ran a business called; " The Whistle Pop Dock "
This business had cases of multiple flavors of soda / pop stacked behind a conveyor belt, You walked inside, picked up a wooden crate(s), placed the crate on a conveyor belt, slid the crate around and filled the crates with the flavors of "soda pop" you wanted to purchase.
You could also purchase Home Juice and Charles Chips products at The Pop Dock.
My husband literally grew up at this place of business along side his Mom. Every so often she would have to drive to Chicago and Joliet to pick up orders, these trips were always in a Panel Truck.
By the age of 16, he ran all 3 businesses so his parents could take their first vacation ever.
It's hard to believe these business could thrive, yet they did quite well during these 2 eras.
The businesses closed down in 1978 after the passing of my Mother in law at the age of 46. It was too much for my Father in law to keep up with, he did a lot of the Route work, not the Business end.
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Post by willy on Feb 8, 2015 12:45:37 GMT -6
You're right Dave, if you ever got Ralph mad at you he'd give you the thumb and most of the time it was for good. No second chances and he had no trouble in his place. Ralph was a soft hearted guy really. He knew I didn't have much and every once in a while he'd give me the best cherry coke in town. I always wondered how he made so much money, didn't know about all the boards at that tender age. Remember he had the baseball machine and the old timers would sit on the bench and watch the scores change. Man those were the days and he put in a lot of hours too.
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Post by angelsamongus on Feb 8, 2015 13:03:49 GMT -6
I received a " Montgomery ( Monkey ) Wards " Catalog in the mail last week. I've not seen anything from WARDS in decades, I'm surprised they are still around.
J C Pennys used to be my "Go To " place for linens and cutains. What see and read from reviews now; everything is Foreign made and prices are Sky High..... for JUNK.
I'm in need of kitchen curtains so I'm going to give Wards a try.
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Post by dumdave on Feb 8, 2015 14:27:34 GMT -6
My Mom liked to sew. She got all her patterns and sewing needs at the J.C. Penny store on Main St. The store was soo neat. It had those cans that ran to the upstairs ofc (On wires?) and it would provide change to the check out person.
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Post by helencrump on Feb 8, 2015 16:22:24 GMT -6
I kind of forgot Spiegel's. It was always the step child to the main catalog houses, Sears, Wards and Penneys. Wasn't Spiegel's pretty much just clothing, textiles, maybe shoes? Also something a little different....what was it? Installment payments maybe? I loved Spiegel's because they had clothing that was more trendy than wards, penneys and sears. So were their houseware items. I picked out quite a few things for my bedroom from those catalogs as a tween teen and my first home.
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Post by angelsamongus on Feb 8, 2015 18:40:23 GMT -6
dd, my Mom sewed out Necessity. There wasn't a place to sell items she sewed SO Beautifully, other than at " Grade School Bazzars. "
With 3 dughters to sew clothing for; ( mainly pinafores and white blouses,) she'd find time to sew "Barbie and Ken doll clothing" from scraps she had remaining at " School Bazzars."
Schools were dependant on funds collected from; Fund Raising / School Bazzars to pay for what would be considered; extracurricular activities in these days.
I still have my original Barbie and Ken from the; " 1960's" with the clothing my Mother made. They are kept at my childrens homes for the "Grands " to play with.
Now days; I don't believe these " Fund Raisers " continue to exist due to Law Suit concerns. Many items sold were home baked goods; pies, brownies, cookies, etc. The school district would be held accountable IF someone were to get ill from eating a home baked good.
SAD ! TO SAY THE LEAST
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Post by father of two on Feb 9, 2015 0:01:22 GMT -6
Willy was talking about Vic Rashid. Vic was a great guy. I have to buy 2 pairs of shoes to make one pair. Vic would go above and beyond calling shoe companies trying to help me out. When I bought shoes he would give me a discount even though I never asked for one, whenever there was any kind of fundraiser back in the day you would find him there too, supporting the cause. They don't make them like him anymore.
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Post by dumdave on Feb 9, 2015 11:21:18 GMT -6
Angel, my Mom was frugal too. I still have old pix of we three cubs in identical checkered cloth made for shirts, shorts and a dress for my sister.
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Post by ~MnM~ on Feb 11, 2015 21:45:41 GMT -6
I used to work after HS school at Spiegel's catalogue center. They were in a pink bldg. just a few doors east of ACE. I remember Speigel's, they did offer many different things that we just didn't see here in our regular stores. Are Speigel's (not here of course, but the company ) even still in business? I kind of forgot about them. I know I used to get their catalogs when I got married, and ordered many items then, and well into the 1980's..... M ?
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Post by ~MnM~ on Feb 11, 2015 21:59:00 GMT -6
How about Dietman's? Miller's Cigar Store? Shab's? Hill's Brother? Bowman's? Lechner's Top Save? Hornsbys? The Blue Room? Coast-to-Coast? Kirk's Furniture? Harvest Bakery? Murphys? J.C. Penney? Zanzwig? Furniture? Perisho's Jewelry? Currey Clothing? Woolworths? Joanne's Haley's Plumbing and Heating? El Camino Restaurant? Super Dairy, North and South? Med O King. g WOW G...what a trip down memory lane! I will although correct you on a couple that you posted. Curren's Men's Wear and Swang Furniture. Curnies (from what people called it) was located where Carbo's is now, and Swang's was around the corner which is now the vacant lot directly to the south of the Majestic Theatre. Let me tell you all a little story about Vince Swang and my dad. On St. Patrick's Day my dad would get out his old Maxwell car, and his good buddy Vince Swang would dress up like leprechauns and drive that car all around the downtown. Well one year Vince thought that it 'would be funny' if he handed something out to people, people on the streets, in the banks and businesses...etc. Unbeknown to anyone, including my dad at the time...Vince had collected "horse apples" and wrapped them individually in green tissue paper....in which he did hand these out to unsuspecting people throughout town with my dad in the old Maxwell................. HAHAHAHAHA.................... Thought I would share that little unknown tidbit of 'downtown businessmen' humor of years gone by............ M
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Post by ~MnM~ on Feb 11, 2015 22:03:03 GMT -6
I kind of forgot Spiegel's. It was always the step child to the main catalog houses, Sears, Wards and Penneys. Wasn't Spiegel's pretty much just clothing, textiles, maybe shoes? Also something a little different....what was it? Installment payments maybe? Hey I was just the teeny bopper janitor. No I didn't care for their products as much as SEARS! Then J.C. Penny and Monkey Wards. They had a great group of 4 women that ran the place, taking orders over the phone or getting orders when ppl. came to pick them up. My old boss is still alive and well in Streator. I have been in touch, but never quite got around to having a visit. Spiegel's would be packed to the gills with presents at Christmas time. That was my favorite time of the year to work. Tell me why in the heck did they ALL call Montgomery Wards...MONKEY WARDS? LOL........ I remember my dad always calling it that...but WHY, or more so how did that name get started, lol? M
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Post by ~MnM~ on Feb 11, 2015 22:05:21 GMT -6
Rashid's is still a nice place to buy clothes. Excellent quality stuff. Kinda like Currans across the street used to be. MILLER'S CIGAR STORE. It was my home away from home in HS. Great juke box. Pool tables, including a snooker table. And Hoggy Greenwood to talk to. Ralph ran a tight ship and you didn't want to get cross ways with him and be kicked out while your friends got to stay. I don't remember any Ralph being in there.......when we went in there it was MAX that ran the tight ship, and Gus was her answer boy, lol. Hoggy now on the other hand was pretty scary to say the least................. M
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Post by dumdave on Feb 12, 2015 10:28:34 GMT -6
Hoggy was not scary or anything that I saw. He was a pretty nice guy in my book.
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