Why the Five and Dime Was More Than a Store

In 1935, the F. W. Woolworth Company dropped its price limit. A Woolworth's was no longer a five-and-dime in any strict sense. Yet for decades afterward, people kept using the name. So what was the name really holding on to? This video looks at the gap between the name and the place: how one Main Street building worked as a household supply shop, a treat counter for kids, a restaurant, an employer, and a shared public room, all at once. In this video: What you could find inside a downtown Woolworth's, from thread and greeting cards to goldfish and parakeets How Frank Woolworth's open counters and fixed prices changed the way Americans shopped How the price limit slowly gave way, from the dime to 1935 Why the lunch counter was a far bigger business than most people picture, with a 1964 comparison to McDonald's What a 39-cent hot dog lunch cost in 1960, and what it meant in minutes of work The people behind the counter: pay, turnover, the minimum wage, and the many women who ran stores and lunch counters The Greensboro sit-ins of 1960 and what the lunch counter meant to different customers Why the five-and-dime faded: suburbs, the 1962 discount boom (Kmart, Target, Walmart, Woolco), and a slow-moving company How the chain ended in 1997, and why a section of the Greensboro counter now sits in the Smithsonian A note on the sources: the story draws on company histories, reference works, newspaper accounts, and the work of historians. Where the sources disagree or the numbers are secondhand, the video says so. Question for you: what was the first thing you ever bought at the dime store with money that was truly your own? Tell us in the comments. If you enjoy stories about everyday places and the history hiding inside them, subscribe so you don't miss the next one. 00:00 The name that outlived its rule 03:13 Several businesses under one roof, and how Woolworth's began 06:43 The price limit falls and the lunch counter rivals McDonald's 09:31 A 39-cent lunch and the business behind it 12:43 Pay, the minimum wage, and the women behind the counter 16:25 The lunch counter that did not look the same from every stool 19:38 Woolworth's gives way in Greensboro 22:01 Why the five-and-dime faded: suburbs and discounters 25:31 The third cause: a slow-moving company 28:10 The end comes in stages (1993-1997) 30:23 Why the old name stuck, and a counter in the Smithsonian #dimestore #fiveanddime #Woolworths #AmericanHistory #RetailHistory