The teeny-tiny town of Kemmerer, WY is not known for much, but it is where JCPenney's began. Given the size and location of the town, it's hard to imagine that anything like a Penney's could begin there, thrive (and now survive) for 122 years. They call it the "mother" store. And, you know what is really strange? I recognized the layout of the store. I knew the store, as I shopped in one exactly like it when I was a little girl.
I know the store was remodeled at some point in time, as it had modern hardwood flooring that did not creak, but the plan was simple and familiar: A first floor and a mezzanine. I went inside that store and I remembered the Penney's my mom would take us to when we were little. Back then, children's clothes were in the Mezzanine. I remembered, climbing up the long staircase. Yesterday, that staircase did not seem all that long. As you know, it's a matter of perspective.
Around the store there were reminders of Penney's past. Some of them I remembered too. I wonder if you do? Remember a cable system that went from a register to somewhere upstairs (kind of like the Mezzanine, but for workers). The clerk would put the receipt and cash in a canister and hook the canister to the cable where it would wend it way upstairs, was opened, and appropriate change was made. The canister was returned to the register and change was given to the customer. I remember thinking those canisters were magical as they always gave the right change. I had no idea where they went, until one day I visually followed the canister and saw a person open it up. It was not magic after all.
Another display showed a red blazer with a P on the breast pocket. I remember a gentleman walking around the store wearing a similar red jacket. My mother said he was the "boss" and that we should not get in his way. Naturally, being a good little girl, I never got in his way. To tell the truth, he kind of scared me as he never smiled.
A beautiful portable Singer Sewing Machine complete with its carry box, sat atop a jeans display.
This sewing machine was a marvel in its day. One of the moms up the street from my childhood home, had that very machine. She said it belonged to her mother. Once in a while she let the little girls on the block use it to make doll clothes. I loved that little machine...and there it was. What a fun memory.
As a kid, I never saw anything as special as that pram, or the fancy luggage, but back in the day, these were a few of the items sold at JCPenney. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the mother store. Another blast from the past, which sadly, I'm old enough to remember. I don't remember 122 years of history of the store, but I have a memory that goes back several decades. The modern Penney's does not look anything like this little store, and something in me, harks back to this place. It's completely analog. It's mechanical. What you see, is what you get. Everything in that original store was Made in the USA--what a concept. I know we cannot go back to those simpler times, but once in a while we can visit them, by taking a walk down Memory Lane. Yesterday, I took a walk down that time-worn street, and had a good time. Maybe you can take a walk down that street soon and enjoy it too. Remember, we're all in this together.
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