HERE'S MY 5 (AND 10) CENT'S WORTH!

      SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4TH., 2018
HERE'S MY 5 (AND 10) CENT'S WORTH!

       Every Saturday morning I call a radio
talk show based at a small AM station in
Lansford PA. The program is called "Coal
Region Connections" and, as the title implies,
folks like to talk about the old days here in
Coal country.
         Last week I had some comments about
the F.M. Kirby Theater in Wilkes-Barre
which prompted a listener to ask if the Kirby
family, for whom the theater, a health center,
and a city park are named, was connected
to the Kirby Vacuum Cleaner Company.
          It is not!
          The Kirby family was part of the
partnership that created the Woolworth
chain of five and dime stores across the
country!
            At one time most every area city
and even some of the larger Boroughs
had a 5 and 10 cent store in which you
could buy just about anything you needed.
            And consider this. Three of the
nations largest Five and Dime Store
chains were founded right here in our
area!
             Kirby opened his first 5 & 10
Cent Store in Wilkes-Barre and his
chain became Woolworths.
              Sebastian Kresge was born in
Allentown and grew up in Kresgeville
(named for his ancestors) in Monroe
County.  He founded the Kresge 5 & 10
Cent Stores which eventually became  
K Mart.
                 And J. J. Newberry's Five
and Dime Store empire was started
by John Newberry who was bore in
Sunbury and opened his first store in
Stroudsburg!
                 I spent plenty of time in the
5 & 10 Cent Stores even though I'm
hard pressed to remember being able
to buy anything, except maybe a candy
bar, for 5 or 10 cents! Still, their merchandise
was usually cheap enough to fit within my
salary range, especially in my early days
of broadcasting.
                   They'd fit pretty well into
my retirement bracket too if they were
all still around!
                    Hope somebody brings
them back and that all your NEWS
is good!