McCrory Five and Dime Deep Dive

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I have 9 shopping baskets availavle! Click here to see my etsy listing.

It’s literally been 20 years since McCrory’s closed up their remaining stores for good. They had already tried to Hail Mary reinvent themselves with their Dollar Zone stores, but the last McCrory stores were gone by 1997, including the one on Penn Street in Reading. Kutztown, the one we frequented, was changed into a Dollar Zone but the hey day of the five and dime draw was well past. It had been a long time since I thought about the stores and it’s even been a longer time since I patronized the Dollar Tree which is in the spot of the former Kutztown McCrory’s. That store was glorious in it’s day. You could find anything you needed there. We even bought our parakeets there and associated supplies. Any store with a pet section had my attention! On Friday’s we shopped. It was the one day mom would take my brother and I out on the town. It always includes a lunch stop. McCrory’s had a lunch counter with some booths and waitress service to the right when you entered the store. It was diner-esque in decor and design. The kitchen was open and it was a full service place. A creature of habit, I do remember my favorite and only choice was the Peachy Grilled Cheese platter which was nothing more than a toasted grilled cheese (American on white), fries and a had a canned peach on a bed of lettuce.

ACtual photo of the kutztown McCrory’s we frequented.

So the estate that I just helped out was from a former Restaurant Manager/cook at the Penn Street McCrory’s. I was able to score 2 albums that contain restaurant staff procedures and instructions plus a giant album of all the recipes for everything from sauces to salads, entrees, sandwiches and desserts! It’s a treasure trove of fun! I plan on trying some myself and would love to digitize them and make them available. I am sure I am not the only one who would be giddy by this find!

Click the following boxes for some articles I found online regarding the Berks County McCrory stores and enjoy a few snaps of some of the cool items in this stash! XO Malissa

Fun manual included in the lot,

The rules! We have SERIOUSLY gone soft since the 90’S! Also, this company was definitely lost in time!

Who knew there was a right way?

Here’s some cool ephemera I have! Training materials as well as an entire binder of recipes! It’s awesome to see especially now that uniforms have been replaced by polo shirts and other things like hair length are less of a factor as long as you have it tied back, under a hat or net. I also read in one binder that the most profitable department in the entire store was the restaurant! A friend asked me for the chicken salad recipe. I found 2. Will share those for now. I hope to scan and digitize more in the future!

See the ‘seasoned salt’ recipe below.

This one is the one i want to try!

Menu pics found on ebay!

Peachy grilled cheese Under the sandwich platters! This menu was dated 1976, which woujd have put Me in 1st grade!

Gearing up for fall season

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I have been buying! Lots of new items are hitting my shops getting ready for fall! I recently had an opportunity to purchase some fine art and decor items and have been adding some to my retail spaces. Please stop out weekly for lots of new finds if you are local!

Hot tip- my Chairish shop will be 15% off for 2 days only, 9/5-9/7. I welcome you-especially if you require shipping on a large item, to shop with me here. Shipping is quoted for you before you buy! Need help, please reach out!

Have a look at some new items that have gone or will go live soon! Temporary seating, 2 sets available just in time for holiday guests and the funkiest folding sets ever!

Summer may be winding down, but garden, patio and sunrooms are still hot! Just in, 2 amazing patio chair sets! One I have lovingly rebuilt the seats and covered in the most beautiful Clarence House Textiles indoor/outdoor print! The chairs could be repainted or powder coated in the color of your choice and I made sure you had many colors to choose from in this work of art!

Sold my awesome restored couch and brought in another beauty! It’s clean and comfy! All my upholstered goods are sanitized and cleaned prior to delivery! THIS COUCH IS SOLD!! 💚💙

Need a great display hutch with lots of storage? I just picked up this beauty! She’s an upgraded version with glass on the sides of the hutch (not common) and 2 light fixtures on the top PLUS glass shelves! Most of these have wood shelves. The curve front low credenza is sexy too. Perfect to highlight any collection!!!!

I am stocked on dining tables, side tables, accent chairs and more! So many high end pieces you’ll be proud to collect and show off in your home. I take pride in keeping my prices reasonable and I dare you to compare! This China hutch is priced half of what some of my competitors are asking and they have the common version. I try to pay fair prices to the estates and homeowners I buy from AND keep my prices to you as low as I can because I am good at what I do. Thanks for your support as I wrap up this year, my best year yet in 8 years of selling and I seriously am so excited about my current inventory. I worked hard to build it up until this point by reinvesting my profits back into inventory and growing! It’s hard to start a business with no money out of pocket. I am not paying myself for my hard work. At some point, I hope to and I am definitely on my way.

Halloween is out at my retail spaces! Stop by and see all the new items I have been adding. Open 10-6 WED-SUN. DOWNSTAIRS:

UPSTAIRS:

XO MALISSA.

Do you Voodoo? Down the rabbit hole of WTF is this?

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I rarely source inventory from thrift stores these days. I am busy buying directly from families and helping them in their home clean out or estate liquidation process. So imagine my surprise when I popped in a NJ thrift I was passing and my kid was happy to walk through and I actually found something GOOD. Never expecting much, I was taken aback by a large collection of YOODOO VOODOO dolls. Peeking through the cello I noticed that these dolls were anatomically correct AND were made with nylon stocking like material like a cabbage patch. But what had my attention…..arm pit hair on the lady doll? What is this? The box in and of itself is a masterpiece. ‘Stick it to them with Yoodoovoodoo!’ And ‘The voodoo-it-yourself kit for people who love to hate’, ‘a product of revenge’. The box is sarcastic comedy gold. I had to have them all.

I am down the rabbit hole of research to try to uncover who made these dolls and why! On first glance, I tried to process what era they came from. No barcodes, no websites. That’s a good sign that they are older. There is a ‘reorder’ card on each with a P.O. Box to mail order more dolls. Another sign it was pre-dot com era. Next I hit the web. I found evidence of one or two known dolls via pics. Then I found the some copyright records from the late 80s/early 90s. The next interesting thing to note is an original advertisement for the doll! It came from an 80s/90s magazine called SPY. It was a satirical journaling of NYC area celebrities and upper class folk. Looking like a fun time, I just ordered a book published later that gives a history of the rag mag and may or may not add some additional insight into the doll. There is definitely a story here as this box is all telling. It even calls out ‘brother Gene’ who sounds like the first voodoo victim.

Each doll comes with 2 pins that you pierce the doll with to inflict pain/your curse/whatever on your victim. This whole gag is like someone’s private joke gone public. It’s genius and whomever took it to this level had the funds to back it up. I am currently in possession of 22 dolls, only 5 males and the rest are female. Here’s a look at this highly detailed beauties.

I also have to note that there are no legal disclaimers on this at al! Like it’s a doll with no keep away from children (considering there are removable pins and glued on hair accents). Also nothing noted that it is a gag gift, which it obviously is. I do believe I linked an ad to another magazine called Chic. It was a Larry Flynt production and upscale porn type magazine. So that confirms the genre it was being sold to, Here’s a look! If you are familiar with them or their story please drop me a line!

XO MALISSA

Just finished the James Mont/Chairmasters chair up! I gave her a colorful ikat seat perfect for boho, transitional and eclectic spaces! Listing is live in my Etsy shop,

Hot Home Summer!

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I hope everyone is having a great summer and your style hot but your home cool! I am working through my projects and adding things to my shops. Stop me if you spy something you need! That said, now is the time to think about fall entertaining. It has been averaging 2 months to ship furniture so make sure you plan accordingly for those gatherings coming up so you can receive your items in time. Chairish is still the best price for hiring a shipper so please check out my listings there to get your instant shipping price. If it works for you, check out and we’ll do the rest!

FYI, I will be heading out for a much needed vacay! Exciting I know. I may put my shops on vacation mode early in the week. I do not expect many delays on furniture as it takes a bit to coordinate the pick up but any smalls will be delayed. This month has been crazy! Thanks for all the love and I’ll leave you with my latest preview. Just picked up this dining room from Young Manufacturing and will have the China hutch all picked up later this week I hope.

Best pic I have of the complete China hutch. I have the base (pic below) but need to pic the top up, which, does not fit in my van and I will not deliver in the Vanagon so this piece is pick up or hire a shipper only.

Base has 2 cabinets, 1 on each side. Center section is 2 drawers. The base is also low and sexy. The top is quite tall and wide. I believe there are lights in the top as I saw the cords. Also there is at least a few glass shelves but I suspect there are wood as well. More info as soon as I collect it!

I just picked up a large stash of some fascinating novelty dolls from the late 80’s. I am in a rabbit hole of research but putting some pieces together so stay tuned for my next update! They are totally wild and obscure! XO MALISSA