Five and ten cent stores were a lot of fun. There you could get rings for very little money. Droozy enjoyed looking at the ones that looked like green ice; some were a clear red, then there were the sky blue ones. They came in many sizes and Droozy would often try on a number of them. She never really did buy more than one because the metal turned her finger red and black and hurt after she wore it a while.

     There were other interesting items in those stores. Droozy applied for a job in the Weirton dime store. That is what it was called because you could buy trinkets for as little as a dime.

     Droozy filled out an application form which asked all about her, her name, her address, had she ever worked before, etc. She filled it out carefully - she was fourteen years old then - and was given a part-time job for after school hours. Droozy was very happy because it would give her the opportunity to earn some money that she could use to buy some clothing, buy pop and potato chips for her little brother and herself and save some for later for her college education.

The boss started her out in the stocking department. Droozy would show the ladies silk stockings. She would gently place her hand inside the stockings to demonstrate how sheer they were. She next went to the men’s tie department where she folded one part of the tie over the top creating a knot like appearance; that way the men could see what the tie would look like on the shirt. From the tie department she was shifted to yet another job. It was the most fun task. It was three weeks before the Easter holiday when she was transferred to an upstairs storage room to make Easter baskets. What joy that was! There she was with another girl, surrounded by colorful wicker baskets of all sizes. First you would put colored thin straw-like strips of paper in the bottom of the baskets, then there were sugar candies with designs in them. Many were red, yellow, green and mixtures of shades. Next came little chocolate eggs; some were filled with marshmallows, others with creams, still others with caramels and nuts. On the very top came chocolate rabbits of various sizes. When the baskets were full they were coved with see-through paper with colorful ribbons tied around the middle. How beautiful and delicious they looked!

Droozy would frequently pop one of the smaller chocolates into her mouth, especially those that had nuts in them because they were her favorites. She would laugh and think, “One for the basket and one for the mouth.”

When enough baskets had been filled they were taken downstairs and placed on the candy counter from where they were sold. Droozy took great pride when she looked at her handiwork, especially when customers admired them. Easter basket making and selling was her favorite job in the dime store.

Up
Introduction
Pork Dumplings
Please Don't Eat the Goldfish
Pretty Shoes
Blueberry Cake
Sukkot
The Garden
Maxel
The Red Rabbit
Passover
The Lost Bathing Tickets
What Shall I Do?  The Double Message
Pieces of Gold
Aromas of the Sabbath
The Birth of a Brother
Green Apples
Herr Kübler
The Broken Leg
Boarding School
The American Calendar
Suse Puppe
Shirley Temple Eyes
Kristallnacht Nov. 9, 10, 11
Aunt (Tante) Mathilde
Ice Skates
The Cologne Cathedral
The Escape
A Belgian Holiday
Gas Balloons and the S. S. Washington
Papa
The Statue
A Bad Dream
A Pencil Thief
The West Virginia Hills
Thanksgiving
Ice Cream, Grieben and Baked Spaghetti
The Gypsy’s Song
Venetian Blinds
The Deaf One
Dimmed Lights
Marryyayo
Friendship
Norma Mae
The Spelling Bee
Run, Thief, Run!
Chances
The Candy Store
The Birthday Party
Deep, Shallow Waters
Red Riding Hood
Small Mama
Droozy In Love
Eskimo Pies
Apple Picking Time
Working Days
Easter Baskets
Valedictorian
Farewell
Blind Joe
Lessons Learned From Parents
About the Author