The "notions counter"
I'd always heard of the "notions counter" or "notions department" as a feature of old-fashioned department stores, but didn't know what constituted a "notion."
Google wasn't much help but this 1961 newspaper article (with input from the "National Notions Association") references shower caps, buttons, "a pink velvet pin cushion," "hair coverings for wind or rain," clothes hangers ...
So was it a sort of dime store within a department store, geared toward products for women?
I want to go shopping for notions!
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 67 | January 26, 2021 6:05 PM
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The term "notions" seems to mostly apply to sewing accessories now, OP. There's a woman named Nancy Zieman who has a PBS sewing show, Sewing with Nancy and a company called Nancy's Notions that's very successful.
Back in the days of dime stores, notions seemed to be nearly anything that didn't fall into another category.
by Anonymous | reply 1 | December 19, 2015 6:08 PM
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It's where bottoms bought their enemas.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | December 19, 2015 6:10 PM
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Notions are now "sundries".
by Anonymous | reply 3 | December 19, 2015 6:33 PM
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I'd like to know where you got the notion....
Our love is like a ship on the ocean
We've been sailing with a cargo full of love and emotion....
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 4 | December 19, 2015 6:40 PM
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The notions department at Hudson's Department Store in Detroit in the 1950s.
I'd love to see what all the items are.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 5 | December 19, 2015 7:09 PM
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If you go to page 9 of OP's link, you can read an exciting installment of Mary Worth!
by Anonymous | reply 6 | December 19, 2015 7:40 PM
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I worked there as a little girl.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | December 19, 2015 7:52 PM
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I do remember the larger department stores having Notions departments. I think it was mostly sewing accessories (but not fabric) and odds and ends that didn't fit into another department. It's a term that seems to have disappeared from the modern retail landscape, like Dry Goods or Variety Store.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | December 19, 2015 7:56 PM
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Screw that, I haven't read Mr Abernathy in years. Thanks
by Anonymous | reply 9 | December 19, 2015 8:30 PM
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Isn't the Notions Department where you could get a rain bonnet? Every single woman used to have rain bonnets.
by Anonymous | reply 10 | January 20, 2021 3:24 AM
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It seems like it was a stop in most elevators in movie department stores.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | January 20, 2021 3:29 AM
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Only on DL, Jesus fucking Christ. I love you, you glorious ancient bitches.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | January 20, 2021 3:30 AM
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Ground floor: perfumery,
Stationery and leather goods,
Wigs and haberdashery,
Kitchenware and food.
Going up!
by Anonymous | reply 13 | January 20, 2021 3:34 AM
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God life used to be so beautiful. We can’t even have small nice things anymore. Just fast food and trash culture.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | January 20, 2021 3:37 AM
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I see buttons, ribbon, pins, needles, thimbles, zippers, dress shields, scissors etc., a proper modern notions department. Hudson's had an excellent fabric selection too, of course. The big stores might have a husk of those now, maybe, but not really.
Department stores in London, Paris, Berlin etc still have notions sections. A well maintained civilized home needs thise things.
by Anonymous | reply 16 | January 20, 2021 3:52 AM
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Historically, Valium 5 convinced you that you could make something and NOTIONS are the method by which you’ll actualize that shiny dream into a poorly executed piece of shit.
So, If I want to close and reopen a seam a bunch of times, I buy a zipper or some buttons or some grommets and then install them. If I want to attach something to something else, I’ll buy a buckle or a hook to join them together. I can get an idea of all solutions available in the Notions department.
Also, it’s one place in the store you are allowed to avoid people, do math on your phone, and talk to yourself.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | January 20, 2021 3:53 AM
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[quote] I see buttons, ribbon, pins, needles, thimbles, zippers, dress shields, scissors etc., a proper modern notions department.... Department stores in London, Paris, Berlin etc still have notions sections. A well maintained civilized home needs thise things.
There's nothing I need more in my well-maintained, civilized home than ribbons, thimbles, and dress shields.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | January 20, 2021 4:03 AM
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When I was younger I worked at Eaton’s and while I generally worked in books, stamps and coins and stationery, I did a few shifts in notions. It was like a drugstore without prescriptions. It appealed to a very old demographic
by Anonymous | reply 19 | January 20, 2021 4:25 AM
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Ofd topic, but not really. If someone wanted to experience the look and feel of one of those grand department stores from back in the day... is there a modern equivalent anywhere?
by Anonymous | reply 20 | January 20, 2021 4:31 AM
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At L. S. Ayres in Indianapolis, if a soigné(e) young man happened to be working the notions department he was "lovingly" referred to as a 'ribbon clerk.' 😊
r5 I see spools of thread in the rectangular case, and trims, such items as lace, soutache, pompoms, braid, etc , sold by the yard(they were wound on cardboard or wooden frames) in the curved section.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | January 20, 2021 4:45 AM
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I'm old enough to remember notion departments. Fabric stores still have them.
I also used to like to shop at dime stores like Woolworth. We had a dime store in a local shopping center that was filled with counters of tiny things for very little money. As kids we would go there and stare at the merchandise and maybe by a tiny cowboy, yoyo or something.
Op, you can also shop for notions on Amazon.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 22 | January 20, 2021 5:00 AM
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R17, what will Valium 10 convince me to do?
by Anonymous | reply 23 | January 20, 2021 5:02 AM
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R14, take a time machine back to the past and enjoy all the racism and homophobia. We won't miss you
by Anonymous | reply 24 | January 20, 2021 5:04 AM
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There was a character who sold "notions" in Carol
by Anonymous | reply 25 | January 20, 2021 5:04 AM
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I used to live in a small town and sewing was still popular there. There were still sewing supply stores there, including notions sections.
I recently got interested in sewing and bought some supplies. Sewing comes in handy. I did a major wardrobe clean-out in summer or 2020. I was able to salvage some items by making some easy sewing adjustments (hemming).
by Anonymous | reply 26 | January 20, 2021 5:08 AM
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Is this where I can buy some toilet water?
by Anonymous | reply 27 | January 20, 2021 5:12 AM
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[quote] It's a term that seems to have disappeared from the modern retail landscape, like Dry Goods or Variety Store.
Cliff's Variety Store has been in continuous operation on Castro St. since 1936. It's comfortably and unapologetically old-fashioned and is a really fun place to go into just to look around. Lots of household goods including paint and glass sheets, and they still sell toys.
by Anonymous | reply 28 | January 20, 2021 5:13 AM
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Britex in San Francisco is still in business, east of Union Square (Post St.).
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 30 | January 20, 2021 5:20 AM
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R30 Britex is the other store I thought of when I posted about Cliff's.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | January 20, 2021 5:27 AM
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Never been to Cliff's, R31, but I was into beads (Mary!) for a short while. I remember a cool bead store in the Castro.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | January 20, 2021 5:29 AM
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Seriously, for being such a modern city (as in the cradle of technology), San Francisco seems to have a lot of old fashioned notions.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | January 20, 2021 5:31 AM
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New York City still has a lot of fabric stores (and notions). I think any city with a theater district or a garment district will still have fabric / sewing / notions stores.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | January 20, 2021 5:35 AM
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Is the Notions Dept. between Better Dresses and the Fur Salon?
by Anonymous | reply 35 | January 20, 2021 1:57 PM
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R33 Those stores were there long before the tech bullshit came to destroy S.F. They likely have had to alter their merchandise to suit the baser tastes of the millennial techies.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | January 20, 2021 2:57 PM
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R34, not sure since covid/last March, but New York City had an old line shop that primarily stocked shoulder pads, sleeve heads, waddinfmg, etc. The exterior remained the same forever. Since the young whippersnapper stepped in, they expanded to zippers and threads in every imaginable color.
by Anonymous | reply 37 | January 20, 2021 3:42 PM
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I’m convinced the Notions Counter inspired Steve Jobs and his anal retentive packaging ethos.
The zipper you purchase is tacked to a cardboard strip, given a crisp cellophane wrap, and then inserted into a windowed cardboard sleeve. Scissors have four layers of wrapping if they’re kept in a locked case.
I’m beginning to think home crafters are known historically as a bunch of shoplifters.
by Anonymous | reply 38 | January 20, 2021 4:06 PM
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The notions packaging isn't that bad, IMO. Cardboard & thin plastic. I actually like Apple packaging. I re-use the boxes.
Costco has the worst packaging: apples in those heavy plastic containers, etc.
by Anonymous | reply 39 | January 20, 2021 4:45 PM
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I haunted that notions street in Manhattan in the 80s for several years. I worked nearby. I still have some of my treasures. Was it 38th street? I'm getting old.
Also there were hole in the wall lunch places on all those streets. It was a fabulous time. Very modern 80s but so much of the old New York was hanging on.
by Anonymous | reply 40 | January 20, 2021 4:56 PM
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They had grosgrain stacked to the ceiling in every imaginable patter and width. And it was all American and French
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 41 | January 20, 2021 4:58 PM
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it makes me happy just looking at it.
It seems there is still a physical Tinsel Trading of NY store in CA now?
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 42 | January 20, 2021 5:02 PM
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R38 is making me remember my first cellphones, and how basic their packaging was.
My first phone in 1995, a MicroTAC (brick), came in a brown cardboard box. The next phone in 1998, a StarTAC, came in a plastic sleeve, the way you'd buy a set of earphones at the dollar store today. My most recent phone, a Pixel 3a, came wrapped in a sleeve, tucked in a clamshell, slipped into a box, covered with a lid, and wrapped in another cardboard sleeve, all wrapped in plastic.
by Anonymous | reply 43 | January 20, 2021 5:23 PM
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Father needed help behind the notions counter!
by Anonymous | reply 44 | January 20, 2021 5:26 PM
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It’s where you bought your pessery.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | January 20, 2021 5:27 PM
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Well I like to know if you’ve got the notion.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 46 | January 20, 2021 5:30 PM
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R10 Some even had women's clear plastic boots to go over their shoes in wet weather.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | January 20, 2021 5:34 PM
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We had a Goldblatts (sp?) where everyone working there had one leg longer than the other and wore 80 pound shoes. Fucking spooky.
Oh, and aside from notions, Goldblatts had pants with one leg longer than the other and shit like that.
by Anonymous | reply 48 | January 20, 2021 7:31 PM
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r46 Until I saw "Derry Girls," I had no idea that "Rock the Boat" was a popular group dance number at Irish wedding receptions.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 49 | January 20, 2021 8:40 PM
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I vaguely remember some sort of very old-school button or ribbon store in downtown DC when I lived there in the '80s.
by Anonymous | reply 50 | January 20, 2021 8:41 PM
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Where can I buy a flexible tape measure that measures body parts and dimensions?
by Anonymous | reply 51 | January 20, 2021 9:01 PM
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“Phyllis, it looks like a retarded person cut your fabric - did you buy it from Goldblatts?”
“Yes, it’s like a dare. Nobody got hurt this time.”
by Anonymous | reply 52 | January 20, 2021 9:07 PM
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Sewing is very satisfying and good for the soul. Creative people are usually very happy people.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | January 20, 2021 9:33 PM
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r46, you were scooped days ago by r4.
by Anonymous | reply 54 | January 20, 2021 9:35 PM
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Whatever happened to Ribbon Clerks??
by Anonymous | reply 55 | January 20, 2021 9:37 PM
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[quote] Where can I buy a flexible tape measure that measures body parts and dimensions?
R51, this is the one I have had for many years (from Britex). It's called the "Rollfix" and is made in West Germany by Hoechstmass.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 56 | January 20, 2021 10:47 PM
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R40 I think 39th had the hardcore notions shops. 38th Street hangs in there with a couple major fabric stores, but the individual small businesses are going by the wayside. On etsy you can find notions shops that bought out buttons, trim, etc. inventory as old businesses closed.
Love the Tinsel Trading link!
by Anonymous | reply 57 | January 20, 2021 11:58 PM
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The no-good bastid who recorded Carol and Terese was a notions salesman.
by Anonymous | reply 58 | January 21, 2021 12:13 AM
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A thoughtful gift for any Datalounger on your shopping list.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 60 | January 21, 2021 12:43 AM
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"Dime stores" also had notions departments. Regardless, the stuff was related to clothes--stuff like hangars, closet organizers, as well as thread, thimbles and that kind of stuff.
by Anonymous | reply 61 | January 21, 2021 1:41 AM
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There’s a notions section in an old-fashioned department store that I visit whenever I’m in that city. It’s more than sewing notions, it has all kinds of odd little things that you could never find anywhere else and you can buy 1 (one) and not be forced to buy a package with six or ten pieces when all you need is one.
by Anonymous | reply 62 | January 21, 2021 3:04 AM
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Could you please direct me to the nearest dime store?
by Anonymous | reply 63 | January 26, 2021 8:44 AM
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In both small shops and later department stores notions counter is where women (or anyone else) who sewed purchased small items like thread, buttons, thimbles, needles, etc... Since for ages all women both high and low born engaged in some sort of needlework (either for pleasure, necessity, or profit), as shops first then giving way to large department stores a counter was set up for such things.
Haberdasher/Haberdashery is the term used in UK, hence "Are You Being Served?" opening credits " Ground floor: perfumery Stationery and leather goods, wigs and haberdashery, kitchenware and food Going up! "
In France it is "mercerie", which some sites such as eBay translate into English as "haberdashery"
In all instances stores or shops that were dedicated to selling sewing notions along with dressmaking and other needle work supplies were called haberdashery, or "notions/sewing" supply or equivalent in local language.
In terms of department store layouts those that did sell sewing machines and other such supplies normally had them deep inside the store perhaps several floors up. It would seem cruel to make Madame hunt all that way just to get a bit of thread or packet of needles. So notions counters were usually on ground floor with other small things like accessories.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 64 | January 26, 2021 9:23 AM
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In High School I worked at JC Penney Co as a stock boy, the store had a partial upper level mezzanine that contained an area called the women's "foundations" department, which was women's sleepwear, bras and underwear.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 65 | January 26, 2021 2:04 PM
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I remember those old-school JCPenney stores with mezzanines.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 66 | January 26, 2021 6:05 PM
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r64 I thought haberdashery was menswear.
by Anonymous | reply 67 | January 26, 2021 6:05 PM
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