The Golden Age of the Department Store

"It's all a far cry from the golden age of the big department store, when it was a place you dressed up to visit, just as you did when boarding an airplane or attending an NHL game."

(Jon Wells, "The Way We Shopped:  Hamilton and the Golden Age of the Department Store")

When my dad was growing up in Toronto in the 1930's and 1940's, that was the golden age of the department store.  Eaton's was located downtown on Queen Street.  My grandma would put on her best dress, don her fur coat and hat, and climb on the streetcar to head downtown for some serious shopping.

Department stores were all about what was pleasing to the eye, "designed with Edwardian architectural touches, ornate doorways, huge display windows; and inside, Art Deco flair".  (http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5441351-the-way-we-shopped-hamilton-and-the-golden-age-of-the-department-store/). When my grandma took a trip to Eaton's, it was like a feast for the senses:  it never disappointed. 

Department stores were all about the ambience.  When my grandma opened the doors to the Eaton's store on Queen Street, she wasn't run over by a sale hungry mob.  She didn't rush down the aisles, her fur hat flying off her head, to find what she was looking for.  She didn't mutter epithets under her breath as she waited at the checkout with her purchases.  No, my grandma took her time when she shopped.  She waited patiently in line until she was served.  She thanked the salesperson properly for her service.

Department stores back then were all about service.  At Eaton's, she would be greeted by a polite elevator operator who would ask her what floor she wanted.  A courteous salesperson in the perfume department would greet her with samples of scents.  Another polite salesperson would help her pick out some children's clothing for my dad, maybe a pair of short pants that he hated so much.  A third courteous salesperson would help her pick out a spring hat for Easter.  In the shoe department, a sales clerk would help her try on a comfortable pair of shoes.  In the housewares department, a sales clerk would show her a selection of casserole dishes to purchase, since casseroles were her specialty.  At the candy counter, a sales clerk would fill a bag with some rosebuds which she would hand to my grandma with a smile.  The same elevator operator who brought my grandma upstairs would bring her back down, still smiling.  Grandma would exit the store, her parcels in hand, feeling quite good about the whole experience.

http://www.blogto.com/upload/2010/12/20101214-Buying_food_at_Eaton's_using_ration_coupons1943.jpg

It Ain't All About the Cookin'

"You may think you know the butter-loving, finger-licking, joke-cracking queen of cuisine...but you have never heard the intimate details of her often bumpy road to fame and fortune." 

Paula Deen grew up in a stereotypical family in Albany, Georgia.  Her parents ran a local store where she used to raid the candy counter.  While Paula did not excel in academics, her exuberant personality helped her get a spot on the cheerleading squad in high school.  She fell in love with a handsome hunk and the two married when she turned 18.  

The couple had two healthy baby boys and Paula Deen settled in as a housewife.  Early on in the marriage, Paula lost first her father, to a botched operation, and then her mother, to cancer.  Paula struggled with anxiety, manifesting itself in the form of agoraphobia.  To make matters worse, Jimmy Deen was not a good provider and struggled to hold down a decent job.   

Paula went out and got a job as a bank teller.  But not long after, she was held up at gunpoint, aggravating her agoraphobia.  She was confined to the house and would not go out for days, fearing that something terrible would happen to her as it had to her parents.  Caught between a rock and a hard place, she knew that she had to provide for her family.  

Paula had always loved her grandmother's recipes.  She dreamed up the idea to start The Bag Lady, providing downtown businessmen with a bagged lunch.  She would work early in the morning preparing sandwiches which her teenage boys would deliver downtown each day.  

The success of the Bag Lady gave birth to The Lady, a restaurant located in the Best Western.  Paula drew on the customers the former customers who had purchased her sandwiches.  The Lady was also a success.  

The Lady gave birth to The Lady & Sons, a restaurant Paula opened in Savannah, Georgia along with her two sons.  Still not financially ready, Paula's aunt gave her a $25,000 loan for the business.  The restaurant was a roaring success and within a few years, Paula found a bigger space for her restaurant. Paula's restaurant provided her with a stepping stone for her first cookbook, and her first television series.  

In the meantime, Paula remarried and has had a successful marriage for ten years.  It's rewarding to see someone overcome such adversity.  

Note:  For more information about Paula's first cookbook, read my post:

http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2012/01/savannah-storm-new-york-publisher.html.

http://www.amazon.ca/Paula-Deen-Aint-About-Cookin/dp/1439163359