Edward's 5 & 10c Store

[David Sechrest]

Edward's was another popular downtown shopping attraction!

[Babs]

This is not about Edwards, but another store that no one has mentioned. F. W. Woolworth!!
This smaller 5 and 10 cent store was on Washington Street, just South of The Greeks. I began working there when I was only 15 (my cousin was the manager when I was hired and she fibbed about my age because you needed to be 16 to work). I worked at Woolworth's until my senior year in high school and at that time got a job at Irwin Union Bank and Trust.

Actually I preferred Woolworth's to Murphy's, it was smaller, the clerks were friendlier and I just liked it better. I began at the makeup counter and I worked with a very nice lady, oh her name won't come to me right now. From there I eventually was moved around to all the counters to learn where things went, prices, etc. One Summer the "candy counter" girl quit and I was given that job for the whole Summer. Let me tell you there was never a cleaner or a fresher display of candy anywhere. I'd scour and clean and then when the stockboy couldn't get me the new candy from the stockroom in a timely manner, off I'd go to the upstairs attic and carry down two twenty lb boxes of candy. I couldn't stand to have an empty space in my candy counter.

Maybe no one else remembers Woolworth's but I sure do, as it was my first "real job" and I was paid 50 cents an hour.