G. C. Murphy's 5 & 10

[David Sechrest]

G. C. Murphy's was located where SIHO is today. It was a great place to shop throughout the 50's and 60's for kids of all ages. Toys were in the basement, 1st floor offered records, a lunch counter, and the infamous candy counter, plus other asundries. 2nd floor had clothes.
There are pictures of Murphy's on the website! I was thrilled the day Joy Deckard gave me a picture of the outside, showing the original store front almost in its entirety.

[David Sechrest]

There's a picture of a 5 & 10 in the same location as G. C. Murphy's 5 & 10 in the Illustrated Columbus Indiana 1914-15 book, but it isn't Murphys.

From the info in the Looking Back column in today's paper (July 2, 2006), I would assume that G. C. Murphys began business in Columbus in the early 1930's.

[terrys]

I remember how huge that multilevel store was to me as a kid. At one point it became an antique mall. Does anyone remember a record store on Washington Street in the seventies or early eighties I think. It seems it was upstairs and sold used records mostly, if not totally.

[Beverly Kingsley]

I too remember the 1950's and there was a Murphy's 5 & 10 in Sharon, PA. I believe it only had 2 stories. But it too was huge.
I even worked there during high school over one Christmas vacation. What service!! A sales clerk behind every counter to help. I miss those stores.

[atsmom]

My biggest memory of G. C. Murphy's is how the wooden floor would creak when you walked across it. I also remember a coin operated horse at the bottom of the stairs.

[Tim Ault]

I remeber going to Murphy's in the 60's with my grandmother and her taking me downstairs to the toys. The smell and sounds of the store is unlike any kid today knows. The floor creaked like Cummin's Bookstore's did as well. I still have baseball cards bought at Murphy's and Street and Smith Football yearly's from Cummin's Bookstore. I often wonder if mom & pop stores thought of Murphy's as the big box store of their era and wonder what in the future could make Walmart look out of date. Big thanks to David and everyone who helped make this site possible as I have spent many hours remembering places,people and things and also learned alot about the town I grew up in that I did not know.

[David Sechrest]

The lunch counter inside Murphy's five & dime. I'm sure most of us remember it, and if you didn't grow up in Columbus but had a Murphy's in your home town, I'll bet it had a lunch counter too.

Which got me to wondering about something. Do any of you remember any other department stores that had a lunch counter? I'm pretty sure that the old Penney's store downtown didn't have one, and I'm trying to recall if Edward's had one.

I wonder if Murphy's was the first department store in Columbus to have a lunch counter?

[jabaker]

You know I cannot for the life of me remember the lunch counter in Murphy's! and I spent a lot of time in that place. I remember buying records there and goldfish. They had parakeets too and boy were they noisy! I also remember buying Adorn hairspray and Dippity Do styling gel. They used to have small promos with the purchase. I still have my "bikini comb" here somewhere and although I never got any, I remember that Dippity Do had a promo with jumbo hair rollers. I found a photo of them on Ebay recently. And spoolies! Any of you ladies remember those? and the tangle tamer comb that came attached to a bottle of Tame. Tame creme rinse! You had to mix a tablespoon in a cup of warm water and pour it over your hair. Guess they don't make creme rinse any longer. It smelled so good!
One last thing about Murphy's. Does anyone else remember the blind mad who would sit outside on the sidewalk , leaning against the building by the front door? I believe he was blind and he played an accordian and had a tin cup beside him for donations. There may have been another man too, seems I can remember one who just sat there and sang. Or maybe it was the same man?

[nancs]

Jun 18, 2010 8:23:25 GMT -5 jabaker said:

You know I cannot for the life of me remember the lunch counter in Murphy's! and I spent a lot of time in that place. I remember buying records there and goldfish. They had parakeets too and boy were they noisy! I also remember buying Adorn hairspray and Dippity Do styling gel. They used to have small promos with the purchase. I still have my "bikini comb" here somewhere and although I never got any, I remember that Dippity Do had a promo with jumbo hair rollers. I found a photo of them on Ebay recently. And spoolies! Any of you ladies remember those? and the tangle tamer comb that came attached to a bottle of Tame. Tame creme rinse! You had to mix a tablespoon in a cup of warm water and pour it over your hair. Guess they don't make creme rinse any longer. It smelled so good!
One last thing about Murphy's. Does anyone else remember the blind mad who would sit outside on the sidewalk , leaning against the building by the front door? I believe he was blind and he played an accordian and had a tin cup beside him for donations. There may have been another man too, seems I can remember one who just sat there and sang. Or maybe it was the same man?

Hi, and am LOVING your memories............and yes, there was a man that sat on the sidewalk, now that you mention that.

Wasn't the lunch counter near the back door on the alley, E of Washington St., maybe the 'pets' in almost the same area??? As I recall this counter was on the S side of the building. I remember a lot of canaries in cages.

What I remember was the 'wall hanging/picture dept.' that sort of displayed items under a stair case on the first floor................good grief, I bumped one, broke it, and my mom made me pay for it out of my meagar allowance! It was a Masonic 'thing' and I bet when I finally get through all the stuff my mom saved, that I will find it, as we glued it back together and I gave it to my dad.

I used Noxzema----------on my face, a little jar of same cost less than 15 cents. Still use it. The one thing I am not allergic to.

And the nailpolish, back in the day-----------the little bottle, as the cap, was shaped like a fingernail, and painted the color within.

To roll your hair, did you ever use concentrated orange juice cans, cheaper than the big rollers!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep on posting----------you are definitely prodding and plowing up the memories for those of us that have been 'here' for a long time. Love it.

Nanc

[jabaker]

Thanks Nanc, glad to hear someone is getting enjoyment from them. I'll keep going as long as you guys keep reading!
Great description, but I still can't picture it. You'd think I would at least remember smelling food, but I don't.
I remember those nail polish bottles! and yes, I tried the orange juice can trick. I hated sleeping with rollers, it was SO uncomfortable, but we had no choice. The first blow driers came out when I was in college I think.
I seem to remember a beauty salon on the second floor of Penneys at the top of the stairs in a "back" room with those big monster hairdryers with the steel hoods that were on stands that sat on the floor. Or maybe I'm dreaming that one.
I used to sit on the stairs at Penneys on the first landing while my mom shopped. Remember how there were about four steps up and then a landing and it turned and the main flight of stairs went on up? They had a wire shelf standing on the landing that held story books (Little Golden Books, etc) and I would sit and read them. They had a round glass gum machine that said "Ford" and you got a gum ball for a penny? or was that the other type of machine that dispensed gum that was flat and square like chicklets? That one I think might have been two cents and you got two pieces of gum?
The reciepts from those old cash registers were a heavy paper about half the size of an index card and were perforated right down the center. Penneys was about as far south as we ever went downtown.
Checking the decades thread for the 40's, i just replied to you there.

[David Sechrest]

I remember the lunch counter being on the north side of the building, to the right of the double doors. I remember it being a very small area. A lunch counter with stools and possibly a few tables. It would have been on the left side of this picture.