Before there was Walmart, there was Woolworth's. These were general-purpose dime stores where shoppers roamed with carts and brought their selected items to the cashier for purchase. In the late 19th century, this was a new kind of shopping experience that has become the norm today at brick-and-mortar shops.
In the 20th century, many Woolworth's opened little restaurants inside where shoppers could grab a meal. These were called luncheonette counters.
There are no more Woolworth's, as the company faced increasing competition after the 1960s by Kmart, Target, and, eventually, Walmart. In 1997, the last Woolworth's store closed.
Thankfully, one lunch counter survived. It's now located at an antiques mall in Bakersfield, California. Eater reports on the very authentic experience there:
There, in the back corner at the ground-floor level of the four-story building, is a fully functioning former Woolworth luncheonette counter, complete with 22 counter seats, Formica tables ringing the room, and an open kitchen for griddling burgers and making milkshakes. But this well-protected bit of ephemera isn’t cordoned off with Do Not Touch signs — it’s still a real, thriving luncheonette counter called the Woolworth Diner, serving police officers, antiquers, and locals daily. [...]
The menu is simple at Woolworth Diner, mostly just burgers and a chili dog with sides like fries, baked beans, or macaroni and potato salad. There are milkshakes available, root beer floats too, but nothing even comes close to crossing the $10 mark. Signs hang both inside the dining area and beyond showcasing five-cent Coca-Colas or ten-cent sandwiches, an overt homage to the five-and-dime history of the place. The workers still don black and white outfits when flitting around behind the counter, and many in the dining crowd are old enough to remember Woolworth in all its glory.
-via Nag on the Lake | Photo: Farley Elliot