Among the items of Aunt Marian’s that I found in my parent’s attic was a small booklet published by the Miller Brothers Company department store in Chattanooga. The booklet apparently was given to new WACs who were in basic training at nearby Fort Oglethorpe. It describes the store and the general area, and includes some blank pages at the back.
I was amazed that the first few pages of this book don’t describe the various departments in the store, but rather focus on personal shoppers, a mailing room (the women must have wanted to mail gifts home to family and friends), and food.
There are more pages–I’ll share a few of them in future posts.
The store no longer exists, but the building was so awesome that today it is on the National Register of Historic Places.
My Aunt the WAC 
I would have been happy shopping there!
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I miss old-fashioned department stores like this one.
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We still have one like that in Christchurch.
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That’s a bittersweet booklet. I wish the store was still there, it must’ve been a real treat for the WAC’s to have such care and attention while serving our country. 🙂
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Times have changed. Modern stores at the malls just aren’t the same. 🙂
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That was quite a popular place. I like the personal shopper page.
You can buy artwork of the building. http://bit.ly/1KnFcH5
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Wow, great picture! Thanks for sharing the link. You did a better job searching for pictures than me. I did a very quick google search on the store name, and came up with some text about the National Register of Historic Places, but didn’t find any good pictures,
I wonder if there was a charge to use the personal shopper. It doesn’t seem like WACs would have been able to pay much.
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I can still remember the old department stores with a tea room, beauty parlor and an elevator man. Did you ever shop at L.L. Sterns?
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I loved L.L. Sterns.Thanks reminding me of it. We only went shopping in Williamsport once or twice a year–and L.L Sterns seemed really special. I do remember the elevator with the man sitting on the little stool and the lever he had to pull up and down to open and close the door. Do you remember the pet shop with the Myna bird on the 3rd or 4th floor? That was my absolute favorite part of the store.
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I forgot about the pet shop. They had everything there! Do you remember the Christmas decoration of the girl on the giant bell attached to the ceiling? I was always afraid to walk under it.
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Hmm. . .I don’t remember that, but probably never shopped there in December. (We did most of our Christmas shopping in Milton. It was before Agnes and back when Milton still had a nice little downtown.) My memory is that we went to Williamsport twice a year–once during Dollar Days in Feb. (back when a sale really was a sale) and once during the summer.
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What a neat find. Those were the days when service was a priority in shopping and the whole experience was meant to be enjoyable – right down to the tea room.
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There definitely are some very nice stores now, but somehow shopping seems like it was a more elegant experience back in those days.
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What a friendly place. The women probably enjoyed the tea room very much after that obstacle course.
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🙂 Yes, it definitely would be nice to relax after that obstacle course.
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The Tea Room and cafeteria are only open from 11 am to 2pm, how odd…what a clever idea to have a booklet made that could be kept handy at one’s fingertips at all times. The wording really speaks to customer service. Just phone Jane or write us… we sure don’t have that type of customer service or customer-centric focus nowadays!
Diana xo
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I didn’t key in on the hours that the tea room was open until I read your comment–but now that you mention it, it does seem really odd. You’d think that shoppers would want a place to have some tea (and maybe a dessert) later in the afternoon.
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Interesting ! I wonder if Aunt Marian went to tea much with some friends , or called Jane? 🙂
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It’s fun to imagine that she did. 🙂
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Quite the relic! In reading this, I understand why they capitalized the word War (shortened from WW2) but Copy? And I wonder if Jane also was really in uniform.
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Interesting. . . You’d think that the army would frown on Jane wearing a uniform. I can’t quite tell whether the capital “C” was a typo or used to let the WACs know the this was a Really Important booklet. 🙂
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Now that sounds like a great place to shop! That must have been one special store and it sounds like they put the customer first!! 🙂
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It does sound like a special place to shop. I think the thing that surprised me most was how little of the booklet dealt with traditional store departments (women’s clothing, housewares, jewelry, etc.)
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This brought back memories of the Younkers Store in Des Moines I wrote about. The tea room was such a special place, and going there to shop was an all day experience.
Oglethorpe is south of Macon. It would have been quite a jaunt up to Chattanooga. I suppose for a three-day leave it would be doable, depending on the kind of transportation they had available. In any event, it’s wonderful that they made the effort to accomodate the women.
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Amazingly Georgia has both an Oglethorpe and a Fort Oglethorpe. Fort Oglethorpe is near the northern border of the state and is just south of Chattanooga.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Oglethorpe,_Georgia
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Ah! That’s my confusion. I was looking at Oglethorpe the town.
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Great to have the authentic materials. Attics are great places to explore.
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I am fortunate. I find old papers and documents to be so interesting.
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That interest shines through so clearly!
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What a treasure!
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I agree! I am very lucky to have these items.
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Here is a news story on Millers. http://youtu.be/HI3-dVMl4vA
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Sheryl, I’m behind and playing catch-up this morning! Good link with the national register of historic places and you’ve got some great links in the comments too. So interesting! ~Elle
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Loved reading this thank yoou
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