San Antonio offered plenty of shopping destinations. “Going to the mall” was both pastime and
entertainment. We often went out
shopping with absolutely no agenda other than wanting to see what new
merchandise had arrived since the last visit, usually no more than a week
previously. We went out shopping
frequently and took all the time we wanted.
We often bought absolutely nothing and dinner was late to the table. My mother and I would come rushing in the door
after a spree and find my poor father whipping up scrambled eggs in the
kitchen.
We dressed well to go shopping. It was not casual. We wore full regalia of dress, girdle and
hose, with pumps (matching purse too of course). Our hair was washed and set before we
ventured out.
The premier downtown San Antonio store was Joske’s of Texas, a multi-level art deco wonder with escalators, the first I had ever ridden. At Christmas, its basement became a Christmas and winter wonderland, and a huge Santa perched on a corner of the roof. For many San Antonio children, it was one of the best Christmas experiences of their childhood. Frost Brothers also had a downtown store, reminiscent of the multi-level New York City downtown department stores.
On the way to Joske’s, we meandered down
Broadway. Our first stop was often The
Shoe Box, a charming little Alamo Heights establishment with high end shoes
just for teen girls. The building was
even girly pink. We then maneuvered toward the
huge back East parking lot (later dredged out to make the present-day River
Center) of Joske’s downtown. At the back
main entrance was the shoe department, with nearby purses and accessories. To get to the clothes, you took the
escalators upstairs. If you purchased
something in the store (it didn’t matter what) the sales people would stamp
your parking ticket and make it free. If
we found nothing, we bought a pecan log in the floor level candy department.
Sometimes we walked a bit on the downtown streets and Alamo Plaza,
especially if the organ grinder, or hurdy gurdy man was out. The organ grinder turned a handle on the side
on his box organ on a pole and attracted people around him with a clever
capuchin monkey in a vest and shriner style hat. My mother always gave me a penny to give to
him. The capuchin would take it in his
tiny leathery fingers, deposit it in a box and tip his hat to me. I adored that monkey and gave him every penny my mother could manage
to spare out of her purse.
The downtown streets were also full of pigeons,
which fascinated me with their iridescent throats and tiny pink legs and
feet. I nearly met my maker near
Commerce Street when I ran into traffic after a pigeon. My mother jerked me back in the nick of
time. I had been so determined to catch
a fine, fat one. They mingled at your
feet and didn’t fly away!
That downtown Joske’s rivaled the New York City
department stores. All of my life, I had
heard of the fabled Macy’s in NYC. When
I finally made it to the big city, Macy’s was one of our first stops. Sure, Macy’s was great, but it wasn’t that
much better than our own Joske’s of Texas, “the greatest store in the greatest
state” as the jingle went. The jingle
had started out “the biggest store in the biggest state”, but when Alaska
joined the union in the late 50s, it had to be changed.
A trivial but interesting fact about Joske’s was that Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth the Second) mail ordered part of her honeymoon trousseau from none other than Joske’s. That was quite an honor.
Nearer to our home was the Terrell Plaza Shopping Center on Austin Highway, just west of Vandiver Road. Terrell Plaza got most of our business as it was convenient and covered all of the bases for young middle class families. It was anchored by the American State Bank (where we banked), and a Wyatt’s cafeteria where we ate several times a month. Wyatt’s ran a constant special: all you can eat for $1.00. It was a buy, even back then. A family of four could eat for $4.00 plus tax, and the food was decent. Moving on up the mall was a Satel’s men’s store and a Robinson’s women’s store. Satel’s was high end and sold quality merchandise. Every year or so, my mother would drag Wes into the Satel’s and buy something dressy and make him wear it. Wes hated Satel’s. He would rather have shopped at Chess King or the Army Navy Store.
Robinson’s
was a completely different story. This
store had class, and lots of it. The
saleswomen made it a point to memorize customer names. It was an expensive store and not just
everyone walked in there and bought anything.
The selection was small, but every dress on the rack was gorgeous. In the back, they had a smaller junior
department. You could always go into
Robinson’s and find something you loved.
You might not be able to afford it though. Robinson’s had a good strategy for drawing in
the teen shoppers. They had a Teen Board
and you had to try out for it. We all
frequented the junior section, hoping to be noticed. If you had the “look” (cute, normal weight,
well-dressed) you were invited to fill out an application and a letter would
arrive in a week or so inviting you to the tryouts held at a Country Club on
Contour Drive. Only the most poised and
polished young ladies were chosen out of the herd to be the next year’s Teen
Board. The selection process was short
and sweet. You walked up and down in
front of the panel of judges and stated your name and age. Next, please.
Nearby was a Gordon’s jewelers and around the
corner was Dick’s Hobby Shop, every young boy’s dream. Dick’s sold go-carts and model kits for
everything under the sun, including airplanes, boats and cars.
These were detailed model kits that required determination and skill to
put together. It was a project that
often took weeks and was not for the faint hearted or anyone who gave up
easily.
Near to Dick’s was an optometrist with a great
sense of humor. He fitted me in my first pair of
cat-eyes. He also fitted my visiting
grandmother and when she presented her check to pay him drawn on the Knippa,
Texas, Trading Company, he joked that he would have to take out his fee in wolf
pelts.
The premier store of Terrell Plaza was the JC
Penney. In our day, JCP was most
definitely a lower end bargain type establishment. It could not even approach the quality or
stylishness of Joske’s or Frost Brothers or other higher end stores, but it was
an absolutely great place to shop. JCP
had everything: clothes, shoes, fabric,
towels, sheets, draperies.., and at a price you could afford. If you dug long enough through the clothing racks,
you could dress yourself quite decently.
Our family spent a great deal of time, and money, at JCP. It was the staple of our family shopping for
as long as we lived in the area. My
mother had established credit there, and we whipped out that card a lot.
Next to JCP was a Neisner’s Five and Dime
establishment. This was another great
store, but of a different kind. Here you
could find smaller furniture, pets, school supplies, toys, paper goods,
housewares ….. My Barbie doll came from here as well as a troll doll and a pair
of parakeets, green and blue, named Pete and Gladys.
The next large store was White’s Department Store,
which was a full line furniture store, along with lawn mowers and appliances.
Working down the shopping center, customers could literally find anything they needed, including groceries at a full sized HEB. The HEB was not quite as high end as the Handy Andy down the street, but covered all the bases. At that time, HEB was a fledgling grocery store and not the giant retailer that it has become today. At the check-out counters, they had unique circular conveyer belts. We begged our mother to take us there so we could watch our groceries round the circle before the checker started grabbing them. Being a checker was not easy. Accurate prices had to be read and manually entered into the cash register. Produce had to be weighed on a scale, and the amount per pound matched up to the weight.
Terrell Plaza was set up as an open mall
concept. When you crossed over from the
White’s and HEB, you found Patt’s drug store, Silvey Music, Merle Norman
Cosmetics, a Studer’s Photography studio where we had ALL of our pictures
made. In these days, you only got about
two or three shots to choose from and had to wait almost a week before your
proofs arrived. You paid a sitting fee
whether or not you liked the proofs. You
were stuck with the pictures, even if they were mediocre.
Directly across from the JCP was a Thom McAnn’s
shoe store. We didn’t frequent Thom
McAnn very much and bought most of our shoes at JCP. But before it was Thom McAnn, it was a Red
Goose Shoe Store, which we did frequent.
I hounded my mother to take me there because if you bought a pair of
shoes, the clerk would take you over to an enormous red goose in the middle of
the store and it would lay a golden, plastic egg. I treasured my golden egg for years before it
disappeared. Red Goose Shoes showed
commercials on television regularly with the catchy jingle:
Half the fun of having feet are red goose shoes!
As we grew a bit older, we developed a definite
taste for the main north San Antonio malls:
North Star Mall and Wonderland.
They were a place we just often went to walk from one end to the other,
whether or not we needed anything.
The
North Star Mall opened in 1960 and my family was probably one of its first
visitors. We were absolutely addicted to going there at least once a
week, often on Saturdays but on school nights too, and especially during summer
vacations. I learned the place like the back of my hand. It was a
great place to haul your kids and entertain them for an afternoon or day, and
that is exactly what my mother did, and often. Going to the Mall
was free, and cool in the summer to boot, unlike our home. Gas was cheap,
so we could drive out there whenever we felt like it and comb through all the
stores.
The
original mall was probably half the size it is at present. You entered
the original building through the sloping East parking lot, and went up a short
flight of stairs directly into Wolff & Marx, a small but high-end
department store. In the early days of that Mall, Wolff & Marx had
absolutely no interest for me as I was not into clothes (YET!). As you
cut on through, you came out into the true Mall with its huge cage of very
noisy Mynah birds. You could spend a lot of time just watching the birds
hoot and hop. If I remember correctly, there was a lot of jungle type
foliage that surrounded the cage.
Military basic trainees on a weekend escape taught the mynah birds to
wolf whistle.
Other
original stores from those early days were the big Kress store, chock full of
junk and anything you needed, at a price you could afford and one of the few
inexpensive stores at the mall. Across the way was the higher end Guarantee
Shoe Company, and the lower-end Lerner’s. Lerner’s was a lot like JCP in
those days. It offered racks upon racks of clothes, most of it pretty
reasonable in price, and a good place for mothers to shop for growing
children. Also close by was Carl’s, another much smaller and pretty high
end store. My mother bought me a boxy little girls’ suit with a pleated
skirt at Carl’s which she probably could not afford. I absolutely
detested it, but she made me wear it anyway. Why would any little girl
want to wear a suit? I am not sure if
the Shoe Box had appeared yet, but that was more of a high school store. They
always had the trendiest styles which were the patent leather pumps with square
toes and little stacked heels. On up the mall, we always stopped at the
Pet Pantry that featured a little bridge you walked over to enter the store.
Here you encountered a scarlet macaw just out in the open on his perch.
He was a huge, spectacular creature. For those who have never been around
parrots, they are intensely intelligent and observant. The minute you
walked into that store, the macaw was giving you the once over. He (or
she?) missed nothing. That pet store also had the most beautiful
assortment of dog collars. A lot of them were velveteen with little jewel
studs. I had never seen such a thing.
At
the far west end of the original mall was a Walgreen’s store. We didn’t go there much, but they did have a
lunch counter and you could order hamburgers. Right across the way from
the Walgreen’s was the Luby’s where everyone DID go. There was always a line there, except for
maybe 3:00 in the afternoon. You could
count on waiting in it for at least 15-20 minutes. You went down one direction and could look
over everything that was being served, and then double back in the actual line
and be ready to make selections.
The
first huge North Star renovation/addition was the Frost Brothers wing on the
east side, close to McCullough Avenue. It had a lot of stores besides
Frost Brothers, but the entire wing was named “Frost Brothers AND the
mall.” How snotty, we thought, but it never prevented us from shopping
Frost Brothers. It was simply elegant. Frost Brothers was
arranged “pod” style with the shoes, ladies clothing, fabrics, and lingerie
being off in their own little niches. The staff treated you like royalty,
whether you bought anything or not. How I loved being ushered by an
attentive saleslady into their dressing rooms with a three way mirror,
wallpaper and an upholstered couch for my mother to sit on while I modeled
dresses for her.
The
Cinema 1 and 2 movie theaters followed, and were built in the East parking lot,
right outside the Frost Brothers wing. For many years, they were outside
entrance theatres. There were two screens and two movies to choose
from. We were so impressed. It was the Cinema theatres that showed
“Gone with the Wind” when it was rereleased in 1969. It was packed with
people.
In
1968 or 1969, the Joskes wing was built (and Cinema 1 and 2 became inside
theatres). This just about ate up the rest of the property out to
McCullough. We always did a tremendous amount of shopping at the North
Star Joskes, especially the after Christmas sales. It was smaller than
the downtown store, but still large enough to serve our needs. No longer did we have to drive all the way
downtown!
I
was no longer living in San Antonio when the iconic boots arrived, but I still
visited the mall during my Austin years and found them impressive. I read
later that an enterprising homeless dude actually made one of them his home for
quite a few months before he was discovered and run off!
The
mall of course is almost unrecognizable today from what it was in that
era. When they did the last be
redo of the Frost Brothers wing, they retained and moved a lot of those
beautiful stairways that led up to the second level of that wing. The one
I remember best was circular, and was originally placed right in front of the
old Frost Brothers entrance.
Some
weekends we decided on a change and headed out to Wonderland on the Northwest
side. It was only about eight miles on
out, but always seemed like the longest drive.
By the time you finally arrived, even on Loop 410, you felt you had
driven half way to El Paso. Most of the
area around Wonderland was still mesquite and brush covered hills.
Wonderland
was a multi-level mall. We always began
on the North end with the huge Montgomery Ward, or Monkey Ward as we called
it. Monkey Ward was the twin of
Sears. You could find anything there,
and it was usually reasonable in price.
They also did a catalog which we had delivered to our home every
year. We did a lot of catalog
ordering. There was a great candy
counter where we discovered white chocolate stars. We always had to stop there and buy a bag
full of them. Monkey Ward was one of the
few stores I recall having a candy counter.
The store was strong for furniture, which was quality and lasted. They also had a huge selection of clothes,
like JCP.
During
these years, my father smoked a pipe and Monkey Ward had a great pipe
selection. We visited there every
Christmas and selected a new one for him.
We
never frequented the rest of the Wonderland shops very much, with the exception
of Rhodes and its glass elevator. Rhodes
was another high end store with merchandise as nice as, if not better than,
Frost Brothers. It was a much smaller
store, though. We went there mainly to
ride that charming glass elevator up and down.
You could park underneath the Rhodes and catch the glass elevator
underneath. I often shopped Rhodes for my classy little purses to match my shoes.
At
the other end of Wonderland was a Handy Andy grocery store where many shoppers ended
their day buying the family groceries.
When you finished and paid, you were issued a number. You brought your car up to the store’s curb
and grocery boys were waiting there with your cart of groceries ready to load
you up.
If
you went to Terri, Jr. on North McCullough, a small clothing store that catered
only to teen girls, you might get your picture in the paper. I went there numerous times and lingered
around, hoping to get selected, but it never happened. If they picked you, you appeared in a small
ad in the newspaper with a write-up on how cool you were, and just the right
type of girl who shopped at Terri, Jr.
At the corner of Broadway and Loop 410 was Scrivener's, built in 1945. What can you say about Scrivener's other than it was one of the coolest stores to ever serve San Antonio. There was nothing like it, and probably never will be. Scrivener's had started as a full service lumber and hardware store. My parents often shopped there for building and home supplies. The hardware department was small but well stocked with both staple items and unique finds.
Scrivener's greatest attraction for me was the fabric department which had been one of the first retailers for Comal Cottons. There was nothing like it in the city. You could literally find anything you wanted from the most basic cottons to the sheerest and finest of wools for suits. Evening wear fabric was another strength, and their trim and ribbon section most likely rivaled the garment district in New York City. Whereas JCP or Joske's might have 50-60 colors of thread to choose from, Scrivener's would have well over 100 colors. If you couldn't match your thread there, you couldn't match it anywhere. Their fabrics were not cheap, but were fortunately placed frequently on sale when we would stock up. Tucked into the middle of the store was a crafts and needleworks section.
Scrivener's did not stop with hardware and fabrics. New wings were bumped out constantly to house a small, exclusive tea room, along with high end clothing and purses, and a baby's section. It was a store where you could browse and entertain yourself for hours.
Across the street from Scrivener's, a Gulf Mart store sprang up around 1961 or 1962. It was one of the first discount stores to open in the city. Gulf Mart featured almost everything: clothes, housewares, school and art supplies, and groceries, all at prices lower than surrounding merchants. It was a huge store with a lot of business. It was much like an early Wal-Mart.
At the corner of Broadway and Loop 410 was Scrivener's, built in 1945. What can you say about Scrivener's other than it was one of the coolest stores to ever serve San Antonio. There was nothing like it, and probably never will be. Scrivener's had started as a full service lumber and hardware store. My parents often shopped there for building and home supplies. The hardware department was small but well stocked with both staple items and unique finds.
Scrivener's greatest attraction for me was the fabric department which had been one of the first retailers for Comal Cottons. There was nothing like it in the city. You could literally find anything you wanted from the most basic cottons to the sheerest and finest of wools for suits. Evening wear fabric was another strength, and their trim and ribbon section most likely rivaled the garment district in New York City. Whereas JCP or Joske's might have 50-60 colors of thread to choose from, Scrivener's would have well over 100 colors. If you couldn't match your thread there, you couldn't match it anywhere. Their fabrics were not cheap, but were fortunately placed frequently on sale when we would stock up. Tucked into the middle of the store was a crafts and needleworks section.
Scrivener's did not stop with hardware and fabrics. New wings were bumped out constantly to house a small, exclusive tea room, along with high end clothing and purses, and a baby's section. It was a store where you could browse and entertain yourself for hours.
Across the street from Scrivener's, a Gulf Mart store sprang up around 1961 or 1962. It was one of the first discount stores to open in the city. Gulf Mart featured almost everything: clothes, housewares, school and art supplies, and groceries, all at prices lower than surrounding merchants. It was a huge store with a lot of business. It was much like an early Wal-Mart.
16 comments:
Enjoyed reading this. Brought back so many great memories of shopping with my grandmother and my mom. Of dressing up and even wearing gloves. My grandma and mom would wear high heels and sometimes a little hat. How awesome is that?❤️
I can remember nearly every place you named growing up in San Antonio.
Thanks for the wonderful memories!
Bill Krat
I love to hear that people enjoy the memories. That is why I did this blog.
Shirley
I remember going t Terrell Plaza, primarily to Dick's Hobby Shop, Wyatt's Cafeteria, and Thom McAnn's. Dick's use to be on Broadway and Travis. My parents went to Wyatt's, not only because it was cheap and good, but the chicken fried steaks, you could cut with a fork. I still use that as a guide to chicken fried steaks today. Bill Miller's is the worst. My mother bought me my one and only pair of Beatle Shoes there. Can't remember how much, but they were so cool. And that's what it's all about. Right?
At Wonderland, I worked at Millpond Liquors owned by Handy Andy in the early '70's until they sold it to Don's and Ben's. Then went to work for the store at the other end. Handy Andy unloaded their groceries underneath the store and sent them upstairs to their storage by conveyor belt. That store plus the one at Central Park were their flagship stores, larger and had more items and departments than other stores. Their store in Houston at the Galleria was even larger. They created some of their new departments, on a smaller scale in a lot of other stores, even if they had to expand. All of the stuff HEB does today was originated at Handy Andy. A pity that Becker made some terrible financial decisions later that cost him the stores and his reputation.
About Scrivener's, I've heard it mentioned for years, both as a kid and adult, but never knew where it was located. Shirley mentioned Broadway and 410; where exactly. I can't picture that location as having that type of store unless it was where Chili's is now.
Thanks for your comments and adding good information on the Handy Andy stores. Our Handy Andy was at Austin and Wurzbach Highway. We never made it to any of the other locations though there were plenty of them. It is hard to imagine that the huge Scriveners with lumber yard and hardware store was at the corner of Broadway and 410. But it was. It was on a large property, Northeast quadrant of that intersection. There are probably multiple smaller businesses on those lots now. I still miss going there.
OK, I was right. On the NE quadrant, there is a Chili's, Wells Fargo branch, and a medical office building. Not knowing how big their lot was, I think there are 1 or 2 smaller buildings there, not sure though. Do you know when Scriveners closed? I honestly don't recall seeing that quadrant until 1971-72. If I saw Scriveners then or before, probably focused on lumber yard and blew it off.
That's me.
That's me?? Can you elaborate?
I googled when Scriveners closed and it was apparently in 2005. I too remember driving by the site with a sinking stomach. This is one of the best articles I have read about the store: https://www.satxproperty.com/blog/remembering-scriveners-hardware-store/
Thanks for the memories, Shirley! Didn't remember GulfMart's name, but definitely remember shopping there with mom.
You are welcome, Mandy. Always good to hear that people enjoy this.
I am in my late sixties and I still reminisce about the old San Antonio Department stores. I have another one to add to the list and that is Spartans department store on the North Side not far from North Star Mall. I remember Barbie dolls and mood rings. I miss the old days!!!
Thank you for adding Spartan's to the list. After you mentioned it I remembered the name too. I do not remember the store though. My brother and I also enjoyed the Kiddie City on 410 access just East of the North Star Mall.
Add me, born in SA in 1959, my brothers in 55 and 51, respectively. Born at the Nix; Dad born at the Santa Rosa in 1926. Loved the Piccadilly Cafeteria at Wonderland, used to roll silver trays with the most delicious hot onion turnovers, ay yi yi. Delicioso. Racing slot cars down stairs and having my hair cut, was it Studer's, if you got a star on the receipt the haircut was free. Sadly, at the foot of the elevators were the two sets of water fountains from the horrible segregated Jim Crow days. Horrible, but I remember. I remember when Central Park Mall opened near North Star. Seemed more upscale. My great uncle worked at Rhodes and I loved seeing him there. Wonderful memories. God bless everyone. Love you all.
Thanks, REWolfson, for commenting. I was also born at the Nix, along with my older brother. Dr. Passmore was the attending. I enjoyed Wonderland, but we didn't go there that often as North Star Mall was much closer. I also remember the slot car place and went there a couple of times with my brother and his friends. There was also a huge slot car racing track on the Austin Highway. I do not remember the Jim Crow fountains!
Thank you for your great remembrances. I lived east of McCullough on Stockton up until 1963 so I got to see North Star being built. Also both the bowling alley south of Northstar was that Rampart Street?
I pretty seldom vIsited Wonderland so I barely remember it. I have often thought about moving back to San Antonio from Austin but I never could.
I do need to make a farewell tour soon.
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