Ben Franklin Five and Dime Stores - Life in America 

We had one back home, we all called it the dime store. They had everything there. I used to get all my 45 records there. Ah, the good old days!

I can remember getting 45's for 39 cents. fairly recent ones not 45's that were 20 years old

@@larryshaver3568 In the 1970's I bought a "fair chunk" of my record collection at Ben Franklin (45s and albums) Still have most!

There was a Ben Franklin in Leroy, NY right next to the Star Market. Sadly, both are gone.

@@stephaniebibb9102 i got a ton of 45's at a store in Grayslake,ill

I know what you mean. It is sad, we can't ever go back but we can be reminded of how much better it was.

They had time in these stores and cared about the customers and customer service. None of us “have time” to be friendly. And we customers are also very rude. It’s just sad.

I miss those days too Sally! I'm thankful Jesus is coming to take the Church home to Heaven very soon! This world is passing away- there will be a 7 year tribulation on earth-- but soon We ( Born again Christians) Fly Away!!! Hallelujah! Romans 10:9-10 KJV tells how to get saved! Jesus is the Only Way, the Truth and the Life!!! Rapture of the Church is imminent!!!!

@@cherieadams77 I sure hope and pray he comes soon! I'm so ready to leave this wicked world!

@@cherieadams77 Amen!

What did you learn?

@@jockellis A work ethic? duh...

@@asmodeus1274 I was hoping the OP would have offered this reply.

My mother and her siblings grew up in Anderson. Perhaps they may have even frequented your uncle's store.

I live in Philadelphia where Franklin lived when he wasn't in England or France. I've never heard of these stores.

And you could see it all behind the glass in the boxes and you’d stand there and decide and ask for three of this and two of that and it would take forever to fill your little bag with 25 things. That’s when there was patience and interaction. Lol

Remember CANDY LIPSTICKS ???

I'm literally a few from blocks away from where Franklin lived and was buried. Not sure what he would think of these stores.

Things change and/or become obsolete. The device you are using is proof of that.

I did that at the one in Fargo ND

Um what about Aurora MONSTER MODELS ? @markrapacki5855

AMEN to that !!!!!!!

Pre Clinton era

Very refreshing to see! And the stores were stocked with made in America products.

@@alicephillips3214. Pre Reagan era, is more like it. Saint Reagan is the one who destroyed the unions, by firing the air traffic controllers in 1981 The rest just followed.

@@3713msg President Reagan was right to do so, and you are wrong in everything you said about him. Unions are a Communist plot against American society and the American workers.

Even the music sounds good. Opelousas Louisiana had one.

My exact thought while watching. We used to call them “the dime store” Irony: ability to relive the past via the technology that has destroyed our society

Remember to keep it all in context... there was also nasty brutal segregation. These same stores didn’t allow coloreds to sit at the counter. They could mop the floors but not sit there. As there are these photos, remember there are also pictures of young girls sitting and getting a milkshake poured over their heads and clothes. Yes it was pretty ....and also not so pretty. .

@@noble604 no. You do that. Life is a learning curve. I was just a freaking kid And look at the bullshit we are dealing with now for something my generation has nothing to do with. GFY.

Tor - I have no idea what that comment even means... however - I will assure you - the same way you’re wondering what your generation has to do with what’s going on is what these people getting ketchup poured on their heads and shoved off five and dime diner stools were thinking. I promise you they thought that as 15 year olds trying to go to school and getting spit on by adult women and men Life is a continuum and if we think photos from a mere 50 years ago don’t have anything to do with where we are today, I can again promise you we will surely repeat it.

Were there any Gibson’s in Irving? We had one in Richardson.

@@asmodeus1274 Yes! We had one there at the NE corner of N O’Connor and W Pioneer drive. Back in the 70’s teenagers from all 3 High Schools in Irving used the Gibson’s parking lot as a hangout on Friday and Saturday nights. We would hang out and then get in our cars and drive west down Pioneer Dr to the Sonic, make a loop through the Sonic to see who all was there and then drive back to the Gibson’s. And then repeat that over and over again. Sounds silly but it was great fun scoping out all the girls between the two locations. Man those were some good times.

Was that the Ben Franklin in Maywood? I remember that Ben Franklin! I still live in Independence MO near Susquehanna!

Same here it was late 70s also. I lived in Columbus Ohio my grandmother lived on Napoleon Avenue and there was a five and 10 on the corner my grandfather used to walk me down and I picked up a pair of play pink eye heels in my mind I thought they were the coolest thing even though they probably cost five cents :)

I remember the Ben Franklin 5 & 10 store near the corner of 62nd & Elmwood Ave in Southwest Philadelphia when I was a kid in the 1970's. It was in between Uncle Nick's grocery store and the Thomas G. Morton elementary school that I attended. I can still see all of the cheap, but neat items that were on shelves and tables. It was a great childhood growing up in that neighborhood with so many other kids. We rode our bikes everywhere for blocks without a care or any real concern.... and we were in a big city! Neighbors looked out for each other... especially for the kids. The yearly St. Barnabas School street fair, Italian water ice or cheese steak shops on every other corner... with pinball machines in the back! I saw Jaws and Star Wars at the 61st St. Drive-In. School trips to the Liberty Bell and Betsy Ross' house. Our Country's Bicentennial, the Flyers winning the Stanley cup happened while I lived in Philly. Fire hydrant sprinklers on hot summer days! Getting home for dinner just as the street lights came on in time to watch The Six Million Dollar Man or Starsky and Hutch. Those were the days!

Such special memories. My grandma took me too. It was like a wonderland. I’ll never forget it.

And they say classical music take talent.....

There were a lot of mom and pop 5 and dime stores.

@@BarnabasCollinsXIII No, I don't recognize Goldblatt's as a name I remember. For some reason, I keep thinking, Grants, but I don't know if that was it or it's just some random thing that keeps popping up in my head. I lived in CT and NJ.

@@BarnabasCollinsXIII I can remember going into 5&10s when I was a toddler in NJ with my mother and coming home with yet another Little Golden Book. I don't know why I remember it; we're talking over 70 years ago. I really miss these places.

Where I grew up in south central Oklahoma, we had Gibson's, TG&Y, Ben Franklin's, McClelland's, Kress and Tower's Discount. That was all in one town. Couple of towns over, they had the Woolsworth. They were such nice stores. My first stereo came from Kress.

G.C. Murphy was another one.

Yes. I remember the Metal Lunch Boxes with the Snaps, I remember one with a Baseball Field picture!

@@BETTERWORLDSGT I had Pac-Man…how wholesome lol

@@Still-Sitting Pac Man came in the scene when I was in High School, used to love going to the Arcade now and then, We had Video games just not at home yet!

@@BETTERWORLDSGT that’s awesome. 5$ in quarters used to go a long way at the arcade. Felt like my dad bought me the world when he handed me a 5. Great memories

@@Still-Sitting definitely!

Model car kits! Thanks for reviving those memories! I had forgotten about the ones I purchased there as well.

There was a mid 70s Oldsmobile in the pictures too

I saw that, a 73 Olds 88.

Thanks for sharing this. I remember too now

3:19 reminds of being a kid they laid stores out like that here in Australia too. Instantly made me think of country towns and 30s buildings.

@@FlyxPat I remember a "general store" type, the old fashion where pickles were in barrels, and flour was scooped out and put in paper bags. My dad would sit outside on a bench, talking with the owner between his waiting on customers. The freeway replaced it all. Progress😞.

@@marylamb7707 - oh wow. I do know my grandad had a grocery store like that in the Depression, in a mining town in Queensland. He could not bear sending a mother with children away without food so in the end they went broke and lost the store. Ever after my grandmother who was more of a businessperson never let him forget it!

@@FlyxPat Life, right?

Amen 🙏

Craig you are so right .We could get a meal or shake at our Woolworth store. So much fun ,could fine ANYTHING you wanted and play with the merchandise.

Dollar stores R just outlets for made in....Jina! The prices r so cheap.... Cuz of the 120.million prisoners?

So sweet

Yep, I remember ME Moses stores

I live in Milwaukee and we had a Ben Franklin on 35 & Lisbon back in the 60’s.

Great story.

Love this! 😌

We got fish for our aquarium at Woolworths growing up in CA.

I just re-read my comment from several months ago. CORRECTION: Should say "Rexall" pharmacy.

@Michael Klouser Thank you so much:)!! I will look up Rt. 2 into Washington State from Idaho:)!!

@Mark rapacki great memories!🔥