Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

Back in the days of ample parking spaces every square had a “five and dime” store.

In Davis Square there we’re two, Woolworths and Grants. I started as a stock boy and worked my way up to the luncheonette making grilled cheeses, hot dogs and ice cream treats. Let’s toss around some memories of those stores of yore.

“I used to spend hours in stores like that as a kid, they had everything you could possibly need, from toys to clothes to household items, and the best part was the five and dime section where you could buy all sorts of treats and trinkets for just a few cents, those were the days.”

“Used to go to lunch with family then buy baby turtle s around 1960”

“That was a great place mom always took me when we went shopping together when I was small. “

“Oh, I loved getting my weekly allowance (25 cents!) on Saturday back in the day and heading for the Woolworth store! This was long before Walmart and was a wonderland for kids … celebrity/sports hero notebooks, toys, it amazes me how little things cost back then … even gas was in the teens and dropped to 9 cents one time in a gas war!”

“Yes! My aunt and I would go there to the restaurant counter on Wednesday to eat on occasion, ‘cause it was meatloaf with mashed potatoes with gravy and green beans, our favorite! Great memories! Miss her!”

I guess the closest thing we have to Woolworths is perhaps Target or Walmart.

One of my favorite things about those days was the photo booth. I still have a couple of those photos someplace.