If we take a step and look back in time

A lot that we can see

Necessity moving forward

Can tap ingenuity.

Left over dry goods moving slow

On sale for just five cents

Struck the public’s fancy

Immediate sales!  They were intense!

Cheap, clear priced and touch for yourself

A template there was set

Soon were born “consumers”

Fixed prices capped, more buys to get.

New kinds of shoppers there were now

No prices to haggle here

No clerks to pull down from showcases

Both shopper and clerk were immediate peers!

Shoppers could handle goods on their own

Touch and feel and smell

Shop freely “island” counters

Look here and there before the sell.

No more pointing. “Could I see that please?”

All the colors to behold!

Five cents or a dime, the item,

All of it looked like a pot of gold.

Frank Woolworth, the man who started it all.

The year 1879.

A dedicated fellow with kindness

218 years prodigiously timed

Along with all sales there brought an intrigue

It sparked a moral debate

Those with vulnerable values

Such cheap goods were theirs, they’d self state.

A cool little locket, I’ll take it for sure

Only a dime!  Poof it’s mine!

So said young Eva, the shoplifter

“No one will notice, it’ll be just fine.”

It’s not really stealing she told herself

I’m not a criminal mind

And with just such a cheap price…

And my nonchalance, the clerk will be blind.

Touched for a moment of feeling “all right”

The hand slid into the pocket.

Out it came and empty.

While folds of cotton held fast the locket.

To be  continued…

By Flo Lawrence and Zane Tatum

Hold onto your hats for the next reveal.

See how Woolworths played into the music business! 

Explore the intricacies, the talent and story of each performer at The Unurban Coffee House.  All decades of hand down music and new originals!