Growing up in the mid-20th century, I remember when the place to shop for clothes was the downtown department store with its intricately hand-painted mannequins in the front window.

In addition to well-known chain stores like Montgomery Ward and Penney’s, Vancouver, Washington was serviced by a locally owned former reserve CC’s department store. CC’s was the type of store that was closed on Sundays and was known for its “better” merchandise.

CC’s was almost a museum, even by 1940s and 1950s standards. Shabby chic and somewhat scruffy, it had creaky bare hardwood floors, wide wooden stairs, and high ceilings, but what really set CC’s apart from other stores in Vancouver was how shopping transactions were done downtown.

When customers made a purchase at CC’s, the clerk handling the transaction would put the money in a metal container the size of a soup can and send it, along with a receipt, by electronic wire to a central ATM on the second floor. floor. The cashier made the change and returned the transaction in the same way to the clerk so that he could close the sale with his receipt.

CC’s is the only store I can recall shopping at that handled their “cash only” transactions in this manner. Grandma was a regular shopper at CC’s and she chose the store especially for its selection of matching Cinderella brand dresses for my sister and me. I remember shopping for back to school and Easter clothes there too.

In those days, women “dressed up” to go shopping downtown, and customers like my grandmother knew store clerks by name. This was a time when personalized service was the norm. Knowing what Grandma liked to buy for us, the clerks would sometimes reserve Cinderella dresses in our sizes for her to come in and choose from.

In addition to buying dresses for my younger sister and me, Grandma would sometimes buy a suit and hat for herself. CC carried a fine line of women’s hats. These days, hats and gloves were one of the ideals of femininity and a must for church attendance on Sundays.

Standing on a corner of Main Street, CC’s was a big part of downtown Vancouver. It was also part of a more polite era, an era in which everyday shopping was much more formal. People dressed up, caught the bus, and took their time perusing the store’s merchandise. If you walked into a store, the owners would chat with you and want you to hang out for a while. It was all part of the local flavor of a bygone era.