Welcome to the Original Virtual Museum - celebrating Woolworths' century at the heart of British High Street Shopping
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please click a menu button Original Virtual Museum Home Page please click a menu button The Woolworth value store concept is born in the USA please click a menu button Laying the foundations as the first British Woolworth store opens in Liverpool in November 1909 please click a menu button Woolworths rapidly open forty-four stores in Britain and Ireland before facing a World War please click a menu button Bigger, brighter and bolder Woolworth stores in the Roaring Twenties please click a menu button Woolworths go to amazing lengths to keep all prices under sixpence in the Thirties please click a menu button Bravery and defiance during World War II in Woolworths' finest hour. We pay tribute to the sacrifices made and look behind the scenes please click a menu button Redefining the Woolworth brand for modern times in the 1950s, as prices go up and stores get bigger and bigger please click a menu button Superstores in and out of town, a new own brand and the opening of overseas Commonwealth stores during the 1960s please click a menu button Woolworth struggles to keep up during the rapid inflation and change of the 1970s please click a menu button Woolworth stores in more recent times, covering the period 1980-2008 please click a menu button
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Background to the Original Virtual Museum and copyright information about the contents Origins of the firm's legendary pic'n'mix and a century of chocolate, candy and confectionery in the High Street A century of music and entertainment in the High Street from sheet music and gramophone records to CDs and blu-ray discs A century of toys, games and fun in the High Street stores of F. W. Woolworth A century of fashion in the High Street, from paper patterns and sixpenny knickers to an extensive range of award-winning Ladybird clothing A century of cards, pens, pads and books from the shelves of F. W. Woolworth stores Pots and pans, paint and brushes, bulbs and compost and even toiletries - all in High Street Woolworth stores for much of the twentieth century Woolworths pioneered Christmas decorations in the 19th century and supplied presents for our parents, grandparents and great grandparents from their High Street stores Working conditions and pay rates at Woolworths over a hundred years and some of the people behind the brand-name Our cinema, quiz and picture gallery features Visit the new look 21st century Woolworths on line, on the site operated by Shop Direct Group
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Working for Woolworths in the 1910s - meet the team
         

During the twentieth century more than a million people worked for Woolworths somewhere around the world. Some worked their whole careers with Wooies in Britain from leaving school at 14 or 15 to retirement at age 60. A few worked even longer - invited back to help the company through World War II. Others, particularly youngsters who worked on Saturdays, popped in for a short while on their way to other careers.

On this page there are snapshots of the teams from four stores:

  • two from the UK - Ramsgate, Kent and Southend-on-Sea, Essex
  • two from the USA - Marshalltown, Iowa and Glen Falls, New York
         
The staff of the F.W. Woolworth & Co. Ltd. store in High Street, Ramsgate, Kent - pictured in 1917
         
1917 was the first year when all Woolworth staff in the UK were issued with uniforms, rather than being told to wear their own clothes with white blouses or shirts and black skirts or trousers and black shoes. The picture was taken to mark the store's first birthday - it had opened on 5 August 1916.
         
Colleagues at the Southend, Essex UK (left) and Marshalltown Iowa branches of Woolworths in 1918-19
Above: Southend-on-Sea, Essex, UK 1918
Above: interior of Marshalltown, Iowa, USA 1919
New US Store 1919
         
The team of Charles Sumner Woolworth's store in Glen Falls, USA - pictured in 1911 (Image with special thanks to Mr Scott Oakford, C.S. Woolworth's great grandson)
Above: the team at C. S. Woolworth's store in Glen Falls, shortly before the name was lost in the $65m merger
If you have enjoyed our Virtual Museum website, why not check out our complete history of Woolworths in a 194 page, richly illustrated paperback book? A Sixpenny Romance is just £10.99, with free delivery in our on-line shop.
The special DVD, the Wonder of Advertising, is now available in our on-line shop for £7.50 with free delivery. A fully illustrated 194 page history of Woolworths, or a selection of professionally authored DVDs in our on-line shop