| Variant title |
F.W. Woolworth and the American five and dime |
| Contents |
The worst time of his life -- "The great five" acquires a family -- Luxury in the gay nineties -- The big push overseas -- World's tallest--Woolworth skyscraper -- Heartbreaking tragedy for the Woolworths -- Multi-millionaire Patriarch dies -- "Everybody's store" -- A grim decade begins -- Protests, demonstrations and strikes -- Woolworth hit by sit-downs -- Marriages, divorces and a real war -- Post-war labor problems -- Approaching the billion-dollar sales goal -- Sit-ins challenge Woolworth -- Expansion becomes the byword -- Struggles with the economy -- Ups and downs of the 1980s -- Nobody's store. |
| Abstract |
This work is a full account of the chain, its rags-to-riches founder, Frank W. Woolworth, and his flamboyant and tragic descendants. It traces the important role that Woolworth stores played in the sit-down strikes of the 1930s, the lunch counter sit-ins that began in Greensboro, North Carolina, as part of the Civil Rights movement (which tainted Woolworth's as the Big Business enemy of the downtrodden), and the gradual disintegration of the five and tens during the 1980s and early 1990s. The dramatic story is enhanced with important photos featuring such events as the closing of a Woolworth's in Germany by Nazi soldiers and the Greensboro sit-in as well as archival photos from Woolworth's 40th, 50th, and 60th anniversary booklets. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-210) and index. |
| LCCN | 2002153996 |
| ISBN | 0786414332 (illustrated case binding : alk. paper) |
| ISBN | 9780786414338 (illustrated case binding : alk. paper) |
| ISBN | 0786430249 (pbk.) |
| ISBN | 9780786430246 (pbk.) |
