Welcome to the Original Virtual Museum - celebrating Woolworths' century at the heart of British High Street Shopping
- - - - -
please click a menu button
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
please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button
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
please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button please click a menu button

Make it yourself - patterns and thread

 

Mary Ethel Goetz's "New Woolco Sweaters" was a very popular pattern book on both sides of the Atlantic at the end of the Great War. Many of the designs look remarkably contemporary over 80 years later.

 

 

On its opening day, 5 November 1909, the first British store in Liverpool offered a range of fashions, along with a counter full of 'notions', which was the American parent company's name for Haberdashery, or Hab'y for short.

Part of the chain's brand essence was a self-imposed maximum price of sixpence (2½p). As a result, rather than selling made-up clothes, it specialised in selling everything that people would need to make their own garments at home.

Life was very different in Edwardian times. Most homes had gas lighting and were heated by coal fires. There was no television or radio. A popular pastime on long winter evenings was to knit or sew. Many women repaired the family's clothes, and some also made items from scratch, guided by a paper pattern.

Whatever the project, making a sweater or mending a rug, Woolworth had the right needle and all the raw material. It also offered the needles, wool and yarn, cotton and thread and even the scissors, all for sixpence or less. Adjusted for inflation the pre-war prices would range between 17p and £2.11 or 27 cents and $3.59 today. The low prices made the stores very popular with thrifty mums working to a tight budget.

 

The pattern is 91 years old and yet still quite contemporary, thanks to the imagination of the designer, Mary Goetz. Click the image for a larger version

 

 

Many of the patterns were designed for beginners. At the time most girls were taught needlework at school, in preparation for a life minding the home. Life has changed a lot since then, but most of clothes still look quite fashionable!

Everything to make a complete outfit cost less than ten shillings (50p), but it is a sign of how values have changed over the century that at today's prices some of the finished garments would cost as much as £42 ($71.40) to make. At the time it was much cheaper to make garments than to buy them ready-made.

When Woolworth first opened in Britain, it was one of the only international chains. It drew on thirty years of experience in the Main Streets of the USA, and incorporated design ideas from its stores in Canada and Buying Offices in France and Germany. The goal of the Buyers was to imitate the latest catwalk fashions from Paris, Milan and New York at sixpenny prices.

The Crochet Over Blouse on the right could be made for five shillings at the time (25p), the equivalent of about £10.50 or $17.85 today.

 

Woolworth sewing needles made in Redditch, Birmingham, England were a big seller in the USA before World War IIn a twist of fate, while most of the patterns were of American origin, virtually all of the original accessories and threads sold in the USA were British made. Sheffield steel and needles from Redditch in the Midlands were the finest in the world. The factories were ultra-efficient and offered the lowest cost price.

In 1912, when Frank wanted mementoes for the Woolworth Building, the British Needle Co. Ltd. of Redditch was the obvious choice. They designed and made the needle books, which became million sellers.

Just two years later, the outbreak of war in Europe interrupted the supply line, quickly emptying the Stateside counters. Unable to overcome the U-boat threat, Woolworth found a novel way of rising to the challenge. Using what he had learnt on visits to the Redditch factory, he instructed a leading US supplier on how to update its manufacturing process to do things 'the British way'. Today Frank is revered in the USA as much for the stimulus he gave to the country's mass manufacturing as for the five-and-ten cent store chain that he founded.

 

As the new Woolworth's subsidiary expanded across the UK and Ireland and its stores grew larger, the haberdashery department was extended, making room for lots of new lines. By the 1930s it was possible to buy ready-made accessories, including sew-in pockets, and fabric panels in a variety of styles. There were also sequins and costume jewellery for dresses, and lots of fancy buttons and zips. New patterns showed customers how to make soft toys, lampshades and carpets. The picture below shows some of the new items. Click the image if you would like to open a high resolution version in a new window.

 

A 1936 window display crammed full of Woolworths haberdashery (click to open a larger version in a new windw if you would like to see more of the detail)

 

To add spice to the offer, the firm looked out for bin-end fashions, particularly after the Woolworth headquarters moved to fashionable New Bond Street, Mayfair in 1931. This placed the Buyer just a stone's throw from the London fashion scene in Regent Street and Saville Row. Treasures like silk stockings and ladies underwear, sold for sixpence as a special offer on the occasional Saturday, caused mayhem in the stores. Customers besieged the fashion counter towards the back of the salesfloor in search of a bargain.

It became a standing joke that when well-to-do shoppers were seen by their friends in the throng, they would explain that they were buying for their servants or a child's school play. In fact it reflected Woolworth's great and enduring strength as the everyday store for everyone.

The picture below shows the store in Chiswick High Road, West London in 1936. The window is captioned "Lace for Loveliness" and features some of the things people could make with a large consignment of lace that the Buyer acquired after a large factory went out of business. If you would like to see more detail, please click the image to open a larger version in a new window.

 

'Lace for Loveliness' - an elaborate window display from the F. W. Woolworth store at Chiswick, London in 1936. (Click for a larger version in a new window)

 

'You weave it, we sell it' - A popular window display for Woolworth stores in Lancashire during the 1930s, that served to emphasise the fact that nearly all of the firm's goods were British made at the time

 

The 'everyday store for everyone' brand was reinforced by a series of local initiatives, designed to appeal to customers in different areas of the country.

For example the chain had over a hundred branches in old county of Lancashire, which included the major conurbations of Liverpool, Manchester and Preston. The District Manager brokered a deal with the largest mill in the county, Horrockses of Preston, to borrow a small portable loom. He also hired a signwriter to make a large banner declaring:

'You weave it, we sell it. British looms and British Labour.
  Handkerchiefs for Easter Gifts.
  Pave the practical path to prosperity.
  Millions of hanks and miles or ribbon.
  Manufactured in local mills and factories by local work people.
  Help us to help you.'

The display was circulated between the stores across the county, following a carefully crafted timetable which aimed to line up with local wakes week holidays. It proved a highly-effective sales aid, and built priceless goodwill for the brand, which endured long after the original window was forgotten.

 

Du Barry dressmaking patterns from the 1930s. These were sold in Woolworths stores in both Britiain and North America and brought a touch of the exotic to the Threepenny and Sixpenny Stores

Du Barry dressmaking patterns became very popular in the 1930s. Each one included drawings and sewing instructions; some also had a cut-out of the outfit. There were patterns for all sorts of things, including dresses, blouses, hats and even men's suits.

Innovative marketing was used to drive sales. A teaser version called Free Fashion Forecast  was given away to customers. This showcased the latest designs, with enough detail to help readers choose. The measurements were omitted to make them buy.

Click here to view a PDF example.
(Download a free copy of Adobe Reader)

 

1950s Knitting Patterns from Woolworth's - priced at sixpence (2&frac12p) for a single pattern or a shilling (5p) for a book

 

The chain stocked paper patterns until the mid 1980s. Until 1965 the price of most individual patterns was kept down to sixpence, with a themed booklet even better value at a shilling (5p).

Like the Fashion Forecast  of earlier years, the patterns were treated as a sales aid for the stores' own wool, needles and buttons.

 

What an absolutely fabulous picture - who's that modelling the Aran Sweater?

 


Each pattern was carefully crafted. The goal was to persuade shoppers that the garments were easy to make and guaranteed that a skilled knitter would be able to create a stylish and fashionable look to be proud of. To achieve this Woolworth commissioned a full fashion shoot for each batch of patterns and hired the best models that money could buy.

The firm's talent scouts chose models from drama schools and beauty parades, picking artists who they believed were 'going places'. The patterns show that they knew their stuff. Among those pictured in 'Woolies' Woolies' were the Gurkhas' champion and absolutely fabulous Joanna Lumley, and the shaken but not stirred Persuader and super-sauve James Bond, Roger Moore.

In between the patterns each booklet featured advertisements for the extensive range of accessories that were available in the haberdashery department at Woolworth's. By the 1960s the range in the largest superstores had expanded to include material by the yard, and even electric sewing and knitting machines.

 

 

You can see more window displays and paper patterns in our tribute to Woolies fashion - The Easter Parade, here in the fashion and Ladybird gallery of the Original Virtual Museum. Why not take a look?

 

The Ladybird and Fashion Gallery

Fashion overview (1909-2009)   Make it yourself patterns and thread   The Ladybird Legend is born

Woolworths' first Ladybird items (from the 1930s Gallery)    History of the Ladybird Company    Building fashion sales (1950-80)

Launch of Ladybird at Woolies     Kids and Celebrations In-Store     The Easter Parade

Museum Navigation

Home Page    Fashion Gallery Home Page    Interactive    Buy Ladybird On-Line

 
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 in our on-line shop. A fully illustrated 194 page history of Woolworths, or a selection of professionally authored DVDs in our on-line shop