Leonard’s Department Store
Posted: January 13th, 2009 | Author: Mark | Filed under: Childhood Memories, Fort Worth, Vintage Postcards | Tags: leonards |
Whereas mom favored shopping at department stores like Striplings, Cox’s or Monnigs, my father preferred Leonard’s or “Monkey Wards”. This made those two stores frequent destinations for father-and-son Saturday outings, particularly Leonard’s. To a boy age 7 or so, there was simply no comparison between going with mom to Striplings and with dad to Leonard’s. What made Leonard’s special? For one, it had a subway that shuttled customers to and from their remote parking lot. That would be the only selling point a kid would need, but there’s more: the store was great, with a dizzying array of merchandise. Things were presented in a much more cluttered fashion than was seen elsewhere. It wasn’t that you couldn’t find what you were after, but rather that you’d find things you didn’t expect, which was undoubtedly the plan. Shopping at Leonard’s was an adventure.
It’s certainly no secret that I like to illustrate my articles with postcards, even if, as in this case, they aren’t from the same time frame. The back of this one, which is postmarked June 5, 1944, reads like many other cards and letters from the era:
Dear Jean,
Here I am at Ft. Worth at the U.S.O. dropping you this card, having a swell time, wishing you were here.
Love & Kisses,
Joseph Marting
Camp Swift, Texas
Do you ever wonder why things like this are no longer in the hands of a family member? This crosses my mind every time I see old family photos, or postcards with memorable correspondence on the back, residing long-forgotten in an antique shop. Aren’t there any sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, who would treasure such things? Perhaps there are no living descendants. Whatever the case, the simple humanity they display can be cherished by all.
I was born in 1950 and grew up in Weatherford. A trip to Fort Worth was, in my childhood, an adventure and a treat that always included Leonards downtown store (and usually Montgomery Wards, too). I have five specific memories of Leonards, four good and one bad: #1 Their Toyland at Christmas, with the monorail train ride, Santa, a million toys (or so it felt), and little gifts kids could buy for their parents, #2 Chicken and dumplings in their cafeteria, mmmmmmmm….., #3 The subway, #4 Their philately (stamp collecting) department (I still have my collection, partially bought there), and #5 Segregated drinking fountains (not that they were unique to Leonards, by any means, it was just that they first came to my attention there, probably pointed out by my parents, who were – as I still am – Yellow Dog liberal Democrats).
DaveG
Fort Worth, TX
Ohmygosh Dave G your post could have been written by me…right down to the segregated water fountains! I’ve been telling the story for years about the first time I saw ‘colored’ and ‘white’ above the fountains and how bad it made me feel, even as a little girl. (I was a white kid from the suburbs.) I asked my mother why they did that and she said, ‘It’s wrong honey. Very wrong. But you should still follow the rules when you’re out in public like this.’
But the reason I googled Leonard’s is because I’m looking for some kind of confirmation that my memories of their ‘Toyland’ are correct. We moved to Dallas when I was in second grade and never went to Leonard’s after that, and my sister is four years younger and remembers nothing about it. Did the subway take you inside the bldg and run around the upper level of the toyland area? Was toyland in the basement? Was Santa elevated…like at the top of a ‘mountain?’ Did patrons walk up steps on the right side of Santa and then go down on the left side of the mountain? Or did I dream all of this?
I must have skimmed your post so quickly the first time that I missed your comment about Weatherford. After moving to the east coast and back again with my Dad’s government job, we ended up in Mineral Wells, where I attended 9th, thru 11th grades.
The subway and the monorail were entirely different and separate. In fact, the monorail predates the subway by years.
The monorail was small, barely enough room for a pre-teen, and went through the storage area of Leonard’s, where they had
created Christmas scenes at various points for the delight of the riders. I remember this all very well, because my grandpa, James Suratt, was a Leonard’s Santa until
his death in 1957. And I remember the
Lionel trains, displayed behind chicken wire
to keep envious little hands like mine from
derailing the cars. The ride was a nickel,
the red candy apples also a nickel, the
memories, priceless.