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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The new Elizabethan age - the 1950s Gallery in the Original Virtual Museum

The Fifties

Queues round the block at new stores   H.M. Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation

Digital interactive 1950s store tour   Embassy Records cover story   

Digital Jukebox   The mobile shop   Overseas expansion in the Commonwealth

First self-service stores   Fiftieth birthday 'Golden Jubilee' celebrations

A warning call from the USA   What's on TV?
A steam train with a placard saying "More fresh fruit for Woolworth", illustrating the range diversification of the 1950s
 Brylcreem, on sale at Woolworths for two shillings and threepence (11p) per jar, for the 1950s style generation
A Woolworth colleague looks up from her counter and finds her next customer is ... Santa Claus, in this 1950s cartoon
Woolworths first attempt at mobile top-up in the 1950s. At the time this meant taking the shop on wheels to those estates that didn't yet have a store of their own.
Portraits of Her Majesty the Queen featured prominently on the cornices of Woolworth stores in the 1950s, particularly in the run-up to the Coronation
Customers waiting to see a new look Woolworths store in the 1950s. Post-war austerity measures meant that a new opening was a rare occurrence and often resulted in a queue right round the town!
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