On 2010-06-22, Christine Dabney > wrote:

> Anyone else have memories, even fond memories?

Of course!

Kress, Woolworths, WT Grant.... they all had lunch counters back in
the day. My primary memory is Mom setting my brother and I down at
the counter for a grilled cheese sandwich and a Coke ....in the
classic glass... so lunch could babysit us while she shopped.

If times were good, we even got a bowl of Campbells tomato soup.
Remember the Campbells display/cooker where cans were prominently
displayed in a row and the soup was warmed in dedicated little metal
containers that plugged right into the front of the stainless steel
machine? King for a day was soup with one of those killer double
layer club sandwiches cut in four sections and held together with
frilly toothpicks.

The last one I ever saw had been converted from counter to a cafeteria
style setup where you chose foods from displays and took it to plastic
booth seating. Just not the same as watching those nice young ladies
in their starched waitress uniforms serving those manna-from-heaven
sandwiches made with toasted Wonder bread on plates heavy enough to
bludgeon a wild buffalo to death. Ahhh.... The good ol' days.

nb