February 20, 1945 (Tuesday)

EDNA AND LUCILLE SPEND THE DAY SHOPPING

---

Warmer to-day. Thawing

quite a considerable.

Lucille and I went

to Grand Rapids with

Henry.

We were busy all day

shopping.

Stores are quite full

of new spring goods.

Hank and Ed drew

manure again to-day.

Hank took Ed home

to-night as his dad

planned for him to

come home.

---

Downtown Grand Rapids was a shopping mecca in the 40s and 50s. According to a blog post on the Western Michigan Genealogical Society, it was the second largest shopping center in Michigan and "at its peak in the mid-1950s, downtown Grand Rapids boasted over one-million square feet of retail space."

It's no wonder Edna and Lucille were busy shopping all day.

A handful of the retailers that were in operation in downtown Grand Rapids in 1945 were still open for business in the 80s when I was a teen. While I most remember the Steketee's location at Eastbrook Mall, I also recall traversing the escalator at the downtown location a time or two or more. At the time, I didn't give much to thought to all of the people who shopped the downtown before me. Now, I love knowing that my footsteps have crossed the same path that my ancestors have walked.

Edna and Lucille, I like to imagine, shopped at Steketee's on this day. They also likely shopped at Wurzburg and Herpolsheimer's, and Woolworth, and Kresge's, and several other places. I shopped many of these brands in my youth but most of them, by then, were no longer downtown but shops inside the mall.

I most remember Kresge as the place where I would buy a frozen coke when I went to Woodland Mall. I also remember it for a surprisingly cool (and very affordable top) my mom bought for me when I was in the 8th grade to take a on a trip I was taking with a friend's family to Florida. It was white with cap sleeves and straps that tied in a bow at the back.

Above are a few images of how some of these storefronts looked around 1945.

If you want to know more, there is a great book, 20th Century Retailing in Downtown Grand Rapids by Arcadia Publishing Company that features images of all of these stores and many more along with bits of fascinating history. For instance, did you know that between 1932 - 1947 former First Lady Betty Ford was a model and later a fashion coordinator for Herpolsheimer's?

Perhaps Edna and Lucille and Betty (nee Bloomer) Ford crossed paths on this day.