Glenn James, Class of '65 - The only memory I have of the downtown Dunnavat's is it was where I had to go to get my Boy Scout and Explorer uniforms. The area where they had the uniforms was upstairs over in a very dark crowded corner. I think I remember them having a pneumatic tube thingee that took your money and sales slip off to some secret place, then your change and the sales slip would come shooting out of the tube to the sales lady that had waited on you. There were no cash registers used like we see today. And they had the creaky floors as the other stores downtown had. The building has been remodeled into an office complex now, some of the original facade remains.
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Escoe German Beatty, Class of '65 - I'm not sure which two other memories you are thinking about but one of the coolest thing I remember was the mezzanine that was virtually a balcony overlooking the ground floor. The next memory was the elevator with the ever present attendant. Going to Dunnavant's was always special because it was a bit expensive ... there was not as much 'spendable cash' around in those days as our society sees now (even in a recession!). Another shop I used to love to go into was the Town and Country Shoppe. They had wedding gowns and fancy dresses. The ladies that worked there tolerated little girls 'just looking' but were not always happy to see us. Another isolated memory was going to the... was it Rexall Drugs (??) across from the Lyric.and wanting desperately to buy the beautiful little bottles of "Evening In Paris" perfume. Another thing that Mc Clellans had in addition to the soda fountain with BIG ice cream cones was the spinning ceiling fans. Rose Jewelry and the Jewel Box were also favorite day dreaming spots. One last memory was of the guys that sat on the sidewalk usually with a questionable bandage on their head and a tin cup in hand. By the way, did anyone else besides me get on the city bus and ride the whole route just to see where it went?
Tommy.. keep us remembering it is so much fun to go back to those innocent and care free days but, it is bittersweet to know that it can't be enjoyed ever again except in the corners of our minds.
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Editor's Note: It took three of you to come up with the three things I remembered about Dunnavant's. They were the elevator and elevator operator, the pneumatic money change machine, and the Boy Scout Department. Thanks.
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Carolyn Taylor, Class of '64 - I think the biggest thing I remember about Dunnavant's is you got to put your feet in this big x-ray machine to see how the shoes fit. I think we use to put our feet in there even though we weren't buying shoes.
Also, Dunnavant's had a water fountain in the store.
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Don Blaise, Class of '64 - One of my fondest memories of the Dunavant’s department store was my mother taking me and my brothers there at least once a year to buy our shoes. Do you remember the Buster Brown brand? The most interesting part of buying shoes there was the machine they had that you could put your foot in with the new shoe on to make sure it was fitting properly. From what I can remember it used x-ray technology. This was obviously before anyone really knew much about the potential harm of being x-rayed too much.
Can you imagine a store doing that today?
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Myra Mullins Jackson, Class of '66 - The photo of the old Dunnavant's building brings back memories of the shoe department. My mother used to go and buy me shoes there. What I remember, more than anything, was that there was this machine that you put your feet in and it showed an ex ray of your feet. You stood and put your feet in two slots and looked down thru lenses and could actually see the bones in your feet. Guess they didn't know about the dangers of ex ray then!
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Subject:
The YMCA
Susan Sims
Class of '65
Well, at the end of this epistle, I do hope you won’t regret asking the question about the Greene Street YMCA.
First of all, I have a confession to make . . . I’ve never remembered that the YMCA was on Greene Street. But then, I’ve never known street names in Huntsville. It was always . . . “next door to Dunnavant’s; across the street from the Lyric; on the North side of the square” kind of thing for me!!
Like many kids, I learned to swim at the Y. I was also part of Tri-Hi-Y (for the girls); it was Hi-Y for the boys -a type of service organization.
But the greater impact has been that since 1971, save but for 5 years, the YMCA has been my career. Somebody once said, “Find a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life”. And, for me, truer words were never spoken.
And, in a sense, I’ve seen it all. I started at the YMCA in Birmingham, went to a regional office in Atlanta, then to the National Headquarters in Chicago. But for the last twenty-one years, my efforts have been with the Armed Services YMCA . . . a part of the YMCA that not too many folks know about. This wing of the YMCA began in 1861 as the U.S. Christian Commission when 5,000 volunteers came together to support the soldiers of the Civil War. Our “mascot” has been a coffee wagon – a mule drawn “Starbucks on wheels” that delivered coffee, tea and hot cocoa to the soldiers on the battlefield. The coffee wagon was also present at the surrender at Appomattox, Virginia.
On a more personal note, I have the YMCA songbook my father was given when he was in France in World War I (1917). When he came back he went to college on a YMCA scholarship (forerunner of the GI bill) and organized the student YMCA at the small college he went to in Fayetteville – Bryson College (Bryson later merged with Erskine College in South Carolina). I guess my blood runs red, white and YMCA.
The YMCA was the lead agency in forming the USO in 1941. Other agencies included: Salvation Army, Traveler’s Aid, Jewish Welfare Board, Catholic Charities, and the YWCA. The USO was granted a separate charter in 1977 when the YMCA decided to focus efforts on the emerging need of support to military families – an element growing quickly because of the all volunteer military system that had replaced the draft.
I often tease my USO friends that they’re the show horse and the YMCA is the work horse.
2011 will mark the 150th Anniversary of YMCA support of the military and their families. We plan to kick that celebration off next year when the YMCA General Assembly meets in Salt Lake City. Over 8,000 YMCA staff and volunteers from around the world will converge for three days of renewal and celebration. It’s always quite a sight!!
I’m very proud of what the Armed Services YMCA does in support of our country’s military families. These families serve with distinction and honor and need our support.
To learn more, visit
www.asymca.org
O.K., I’ll shut up!
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