Nyack's 5 and 10 Cent Stores

They are long gone, the Five & Dime stores, replaced with a myriad of restaurants and speciality shops, but most of us who are old enough to remember Nyack back before the bridge also remember the Five and Ten Cent stores on Main Street. As kids they were our favorite places to shop.  Five and Dime stores were located on almost every main street in America. Known by a variety of names they were the for runners of today's Wal Mart and the like. Nyack was home to two the them in the 40's and 50's.  Woolworth's was the BIG one and J.J. Newburry's, later called  Ben Franklin and then Scott's was the little one. The stores were a delight for a kid who had a shiny quarter in his pocket. For adults there were Nyack's favorite spot to shop for all the things they needed.  Opposite the telephone building on Cedar Street was the little 5 & 10. Just down the block was Woolworth's.  Just for the history of it:  Woolworth's was originally located in the store on the northwest corner of Main and Broadway. (Yup a pizza shop today) In the late 1930's they moved west on Main and took over the larger store once called Harrison & Dalley's. Both stores had huge doors made of heavy glass that were hard to pull open for a little kid. Inside we would run to the rear of Woolworth's to look over the birds, turtles and fish. they were only a dime. They would put my goldfish in a little white cardboard container, (like Chinese food today) and I would proudly carry it home and add it my fishbowl.  The little goldfish didn't seem to live long so then needed replacement often.  While the kids looked over the amazing selection of animals moms would pour over bolts of yard goods and then look through the dress patterns of Butterick, Simplicity and McCalls for that special new dress.  On the left side of the store as you entered was a large book and magazine rack.  There I could find my favorite comics like The Lone Ranger, Superman and GI Joe.  When I was a real little tyke, a lunch counter was on the right side of the store.  Oh how I love the Grilled Cheese sandwich and a Cherry Coke for under a buck.

Fran Manning worked in the office with Helen Johnson and for years, the store's manager was Rod Delphos. Josephine Doller, as floor supervisor, was in charge of hiring. Some of the folks working as cashiers and on the sales floor were Edna Orbine, Rose Dutcher, Sally Sarvent and Mrs. Vogel. There were often students of Mr. Fabien Englander's business class at NHS working at Woolworth's and Scott's in what he called the "Early Release Program."  By this time of year, when the holidays rolled around, we would gaze at the holiday scenes in the large front windows.  Inside cutouts of pilgrims, pumpkins and turkeys lined the counters.  Right after Thanksgiving the decorations would be changed for the coming Christmas.  That's when the kids started looking over all the new toys and waiting for Santa to arrive at Woolworth's. A Huge Christmas Tree would be placed in the center window of Woolworth's covered with lights ten sizes larger than we see today. On Friday nights all the stores in downtown Nyack stayed open for more shopping time. Inside the 5 and dime stores you experienced the wonderful smells of the holidays: popcorn, hot chocolate, peanut brittle and hot coffee perking for the adults. I would stand and watch the HO Trains for hours as they travelled around the display counters; their tooting whistles and Gene Autry singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer made the shopping trips with mom and dad all that much better. Today's shopping with the mega crowds and heavy traffic don't do much for me.  No, I long for and remember the Juke Box in Schmidt's Confectionery playing White Christmas, and all the things I could dream about in the Five and Dimes of Nyack.