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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Woolworths' Finest Hour: World War II in the Original Virtual Museum
 
A defiant sign displayed at the Oxford Street branch of Woolworths at the height of the blitz

The 1940s Gallery - War, Austerity and Recovery

Xmas 1939: UK and USA a world apart   Fire from the sky - Blitz hits major cities

Woolies buy two Spitfires for the RAF  Channel Island Occupation   

Rationing & Price Rises   Home front defiance  D-Day 'Home from Home'

   V1 and V2 rockets and the darkest hour   Reconstruction and Austerity

High bandwidth:   New Cross Memorial   Staff War Memorial  Picture Gallery
   1950s Gallery   Museum Home Page
Members of the Woolworths team from Gosport, Hampshire in their ARP uniforms and hard hats during World War II
Woolworths Board ordered that conscripted workers would retain their employee benefits and bonuses and their service would be maintained during World War II
Over 700 Woolworth stores managed to open on every trading day during World War II, but 40 were forced to close and one store, New Cross, paid the ultimate price, destroyed without warning with the loss of more than 150 souls
An F. W. Woolworth store razed to the ground in Berlin in 1945
Mighty Midgets - tiny war story books for threepence from Woolworths - credited with helping City-dwellers through the darkest nights in the air raid shelters
 
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