A rectangular stick of stale gum with stickers of gag consumer products was a pre-adolescent kid's entertainment center. I remember walking up to the Woolworth's and buying them on half-days of school, and then trading them with my friends at school the next day.
There are some great Wacky Packages websites out there. I got the following photos from John Mann's Website. I'm sure the originals are worth 'millions' today. Some of my rememberances:
Those pictures bring back a lot of memories. I think I like the "Have a Temper Tantrum" the best.
ReplyDeleteI miss good old Woolworths!:)
Luce!
ReplyDeleteWoolworth's- home of Wacky Packages, postage stamp collections, and green bubblegum cigars.
I didn't remember Wacky Packages until I looked at those pictures. Wow. Those pictures bother me now as much as they did then. I think that reveals a little bit of rigidity in my thinking; I don't like to see something not be the way it is "supposed" to be.
ReplyDeleteWoolworth's deserves a whole post by itself, Lucy, maybe we could collaborate. I have great memories of the downtown Minneapolis Woolworth's as a teenagers. Two floors. The ultimate bargain spot, even had clothes (not wearable for a teenager, but fun to check out). Where was your Woolworth's (urban, suburban)? I remember a junky one at our local mall. The downtown location was the good one.
Hi TK! We had a couple of Woolworths. One was downtown, and the other one was in a nicer part of our city. The one downtown was a little dirtier than the one farther out. Like yours they had some great bargains. I used to eat there with my grandma and mom when we'd go shopping. The food was a little greasy but not bad. I would imagine that all the Woolworths stores closed a long time ago. Those were the good old days though! :)
ReplyDeleteMy little brother and I spent SOOO much of our allowances on those. We didn't have a Woolworth's nearby, but we rode our bikes to Duckwall's in Topeka, Kansas.
ReplyDeleteThere was a Woolworth's in the town we moved to in Indiana when I was 14 and they still had the counter, formica tables and stainless steel and the best patty melts I ever had. Unfortunately, first they got rid of the coffee shop and the Woolworth's followed soon after.
Jane!
ReplyDelete"Duckwall's" sounds even cooler than "Woolworth's".
How come when we are kids we don't invest our allowances, instead of spending it on crap like Wacky Packages and bubble gum cigars? It's unfair to market to children.
Lots of good memories.
ReplyDeleteWacky!
ReplyDeleteYour website rocks.