Trailblazer: Negro Nurse in the American Red Cross.

Pitrone, Jean Maddern

Harcourt

For more than a century, Woolworth’s five and dime stores represented Americana, mirroring the country’s growth, its good times and bad, its foibles and its fads. The chain was founded by Frank W. Woolworth, who in 1879 established two stores—one in Utica, New York, which failed and was closed down, and another in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which succeeded and marked the beginning of the legacy of the Woolworth’s Five and Tens. 
This work is a full account of the chain, its rags-to-riches founder, Frank W. Woolworth, and his flamboyant and tragic descendants. It traces the important role that Woolworth stores played in the sit-down strikes of the 1930s, the lunch counter sit-ins that began in Greensboro, North Carolina, as part of the Civil Rights movement (which tainted Woolworth’s as the Big Business enemy of the downtrodden), and the gradual disintegration of the five and tens during the 1980s and early 1990s. The dramatic story is enhanced with important photos featuring such events as the closing of a Woolworth’s in Germany by Nazi soldiers and the Greensboro sit-in as well as archival photos from Woolworth’s 40th, 50th, and 60th anniversary booklets.

F. W. Woolworth and the American Five and Dime: A Social History

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

McFarland Publishing

For more than a century, Woolworth's five and dime stores represented Americana, mirroring the country's growth, its good times and bad, its foibles and its fads. The chain was founded by Frank W. Woolworth, who in 1879 established two stores-one in Utica, New York, which failed and was closed down, and another in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which succeeded and marked the beginning of the legacy of the Woolworth's Five and Tens. This work is a full account of the chain, its rags-to-riches founder, Frank W. Woolworth, and his flamboyant and tragic descendants. It traces the important role that Woolworth stores played in the sit-down strikes of the 1930s, the lunch counter sit-ins that began in Greensboro, North Carolina, as part of the Civil Rights movement (which tainted Woolworth's as the Big Business enemy of the downtrodden), and the gradual disintegration of the five and tens during the 1980s and early 1990s. The dramatic story is enhanced with important photos featuring such events as the closing of a Woolworth's in Germany by Nazi soldiers and the Greensboro sit-in as well as archival photos from Woolworth's 40th, 50th, and 60th anniversary booklets.

F.W. Woolworth and the American Five and Dime: A Social History

Business & Money

Biography & History

McFarland Company

"She was one of the world's four best comediennes," said Milton Berle, "but she lived a life of personal disaster." Martha Raye sang, danced, and joked her way into the spotlight of the entertainment world with a career that spanned seven decades and encompassed everything from vaudeville to television commercials to entertaining U.S. troops. Take It from the Big Mouth, the first full-fledged biography of the multi-talented performer, explores Raye's life and career with candor and insight. Raye got her big break when she caught the attention of a film director as she kidded with audience members Joe E. Lewis and Jimmy Durante during an engagement at the Trocadero in Hollywood. In the late 1930s, Raye appeared in a number of films, and the press heralded her as a "stridently funny comedienne with a Mammoth Cave mouth." From there her career soared. She landed a role in Charlie Chaplain's film Monsieur Verdoux, and the New York Post commented that Raye was the only one who could hold her own with the comic master. By the 1950s she hosted her own highly rated television show, reaching millions with her clowning. Behind the huge smile and raucous laugh, though, there was a darker side to Martha Raye. She found solace from her insecurities and a frenzied schedule in the use of drugs and alcohol. Her seven rocky marriages, the last to a man 33 years her junior whom she had known less than two weeks, fueled headlines and gossip columns. Particularly painful was her turbulent relationship with her only daughter, Melodye. She was passionately committed to entertaining troops abroad during World War II, and she worked tirelessly as both entertainer and nurse in the remote jungles of Vietnam. Bob Hope commented that "she was Florence Nightingale, Dear Abby, and the only singer who could be heard over the artillery fire." The Green Berets designated her an honorary lieutenant colonel, and she later received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. After her death in 1994, "Colonel Maggie" became the only civilian laid to rest among the Green Berets at the Fort Bragg military cemetery.

Take It from the Big Mouth: The Life of Martha Raye

Arts & Literature

University Press of Kentucky

From Dust Jacket Flap: This moving and heart-rending story is a portrait of human misery and human courage. You may forget that its setting is mainly a Burmese leper colony, but the story - and the question it raises - linger with you. In a sense this is the biography of Father Cesar Columbo, and Italian priest, a PIME missionary, who unselfishly cared for the lepers and sought to bring hope to hopelessness. But it focuses our attention on a forgotten segment of humanity - and these unfortunate human beings are the center of the story . . . And should be the cause of our concern. If we cannot care for the wretched of the earth today, there is little use in dreaming of a better world tomorrow.

The touch of his hand;: Colombo, a modern day Damien in Burma

Alba House

Chavez Man of the migrants, a plea for social justice

Chavez, man of the migrants: a plea for social justice

Appearing on television's popular "Unsolved Mysteries" the author explored some of the automotive Dodge family's fascinating background and relationships. This expanded theme now weaves its way through the pages of this book.

Tangled Web: Legacy of Auto Pioneer John F Dodge

Avenue Pub Co

This is a great book for anyone wanting to know the history of J.L. Hudson's Department Store. It's a must-have for Hudson memorabilia collectors. For generations, it was as synonymous with Christmas and fashion as it was Detroit. The store at Woodward and Gratiot avenues was absolutely massive, evolving with the Motor City until it became the tallest department store in the world. By the time it finished growing, the store's size almost defied belief. The store was 2,124,316 square feet, making it second in size among department stores to only Macy's in New York. Even then, Macy's is only 26,000 square feet bigger. The store was spread out over 32 floors: 25 floors, two half-floors, a mezzanine and four basements. At 410 feet, Hudson's was the tallest department store in the world. The building had 51 passenger elevators, 17 freight elevators, eight employee elevators and 48 escalators. Its largest freight elevator could accommodate a semi trailer. The store had 39 men's restrooms, 50 for women and 10 private ones for executives. The largest was a women's lounge on the fourth floor that had a whopping 85 stalls. Joseph Lowthian Hudson and his father were running a men's clothing store in the lumber town of Ionia, Mich., when the Panic of 1873 struck. When the sawmills were shuttered, their customers couldn't pay their bills. Then Hudson's father died. Three years later, Hudson went bankrupt, paying his creditors 60 cents on the dollar. Hudson dusted himself off and started over in Detroit. On April 2, 1881, Hudson opened his first store on the ground floor of the old Detroit Opera House. In 1888, he was so successful, he looked up all the creditors he had shorted in the bankruptcy proceedings 12 years earlier and paid them in full - with compound interest.

Hudson's: Hub of America's Heartland

Travel

Food, Lodging & Transportation

Northmont Pub Inc

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Books by Pitrone, Jean Maddern