Crescent memories (Part 1): Readers share memories of the downtown department store

In October, The Spokesman-Review wrote about how “The Strange Beautiful” author Carla Crujido is seeking stories from the Crescent. After researching to write a novel inspired by the meet-cute of her parents at the downtown Spokane department store, she was quickly met with dead ends.

So, Crujido and The S-R called on readers to submit their tales of the shopping mecca.

“What I would love to see happen is for the community to write letters with their memories of the Crescent,” Crujido told reporter Megan Dhein in October. “Whether they worked at the Crescent, or they were customers, or maybe their memory is just looking at the Christmas windows when they were children. Whatever the memory is, I would love for them to write letters to me, and I’ll collect them. I’ll read them all. I’ll use them for inspiration and flavor and texture for the stories.”

And boy did readers respond. Nearly 50 subscribers wrote or emailed letters sharing their favorite and most interesting memories.

Beginning today, The Spokesman-Review will then print a handful of these Crescent letters so that the entire city can share this history. We will run them today through Christmas. And next week, editors will hand those letters off to Crujido so she can begin her deep dive into her next Spokane-centric novel.

Memories of the Crescent in the early ’60s

Who doesn’t remember the iconic clock and often telling a shopping friend to “meet me under the clock at __” and the annual trips to Spokane during the holidays so that our children (and their parents) could marvel at the extraordinary animated Crescent window displays?

But our family embarked on another annual trip to the Crescent each spring to buy our girls Easter frocks. Her mother (me) was a great fan of the Polly Flinders line so the girls, Kathy and Karie, were decked out in a new Polly Flinders dress each year! (See picture)

One of those spring trips was especially memorable as our older daughter, Kathy, disappeared while we were finishing our sales transaction. As is expected in such an incident, her parents and the employee panicked! The request for help in locating her was announced over the intercom. She was soon found, having followed the Crescent Easter Bunny to the employee lounge! Not wanting to ever lose her again, I returned to the children’s department and purchased a harness; I was going to make certain we’d not lose her again!

–Midge Bashaw, of Pullman

Young couple finds love (and love of shopping) at store

This is a letter describing the times my girlfriend Leanne Helm and I, Craig Davenport, used to frequent the Crescent and later Frederick & Nelson.

Leanne and I met in November 1987 and she took me all around town to the splendiferous places, particularly the Crescent. We used to frequent the Crescent, especially during the Christmas season, and admire the Christmas displays in all the windows of the store. We also listened to the youth choirs that sang at the Crescent during Christmas.

Then in August 1988, the Crescent was bought out in what I believe in business law is called a Leveraged Buy Out by Frederick & Nelson from Seattle. We went every day at morning openings to go to the Under the Clock restaurant on the first floor to have a cinnamon roll and coffee. We knew two of the waitresses there, Charlene and Gayle. Charlene had auburn, windswept hair and Gail had dark hair. Charlene and Gayle were always courteous and looked forward to seeing Leanne and I every morning.

Then, just to test the waters, I asked Leanne one morning in the fall of 1988 when we were at the Crescent if she would “marry a guy like me?” and she exclaimed “yes!”

Then Leanne took me at another time to the posher restaurant on the fifth floor of the Crescent which was the Apple Tree. Leanne knew all the great and remarkable places – be it restaurants or lounges or dance floors in Spokane. Leanne used to work at the Crescent in the ’70s in cosmetics as well as when Nordstrom came to town in 1974. Leanne was the first trained Clinique woman in all of Spokane.

I do remember the prices at Under the Clock. In 1990 a half-sandwich, cup of soup and any drink was just $2.50. Coffee was just 25 cents a cup. Amazing, wasn’t it!

Sad to say, Frederick & Nelson filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in fall 1991. The restaurant Under the Clock closed in March 1992, and the entire store had their liquidation in April 1992. This signaled the end of a Great Department Store since 1890, and the decline of downtown Spokane.

–Craig Davenport, of Spokane

Former worker rates department store No. 1

I will start by saying what an honor and wonderful experience to have worked at the Crescent from the summer of 1968 to the fall of 1973. My mother worked there first, followed by my brother, and then me.

Working there was truly an experience of Americana like you would find in an issue of the Saturday Evening Post with Norman Rockwell’s flavor of American life.

One of my favorite memories was meeting under the renowned Crescent hanging time piece, “The Clock,” on the morning of Christmas Eve before the store opened. Here, all employees gathered and were led each year by a senior executive in singing Christmas carols. Such fun and lots of Christmas spirit.

After the singing ended, the buyer of the department I worked in would take us up to the “Tea Room” where he would buy everyone breakfast and we would have a gift exchange.

Another memory happens to be a funny one. One of the department buyers I worked for was a buyer for toys wear and the toy department. It was Christmas time and the Crescent was alive with the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping. The air was filled with Christmas merriment and a constant hum of conversation. I’m getting on one of the elevators and at the same time my boss gets on with a small red cloth bag in his hand and joins me in the back of the elevator. I ask him what it is, and he says, “you’ll soon find out.” The elevator car fills quickly up with people and suddenly, when the elevator door closes, you can hear a pin drop. Perfect for what my boss had planned. Suddenly, he pressed the side of the red bag and we heard a loud boisterous “Ha! Ha! Ha!” The silence in the elevator car broke into an atmosphere of “what’s going on?” and then laughter, as the toy buyer held up the red bag and pressed it again, producing more “Ha! Ha! Ha!” He gets off on the fifth floor of the toy department and turns around, holding the elevator door open and says, “You can purchase a ‘Bag of Laughs’ right here in the toy department. It makes a great Christmas gift.” I thought it was an ingenious idea to sell the toy. Well done!

Of course, when you think of the Crescent you have memories of the beautiful Christmas windows created there each year. There was a crew of four people who would do them. My favorite was the Alvin and the Chipmunks window display. People would come from all over to enjoy the windows at Christmas. A lasting legacy. Helping with these displays would be the seventh floor carpentry workshop. I think there were around five carpenters who worked there.

Also, at Christmas the Main Street entrance was something special. Doormen dressed in red jackets and caps welcomed the Crescent patrons.

Above the Main Street doors on the overhead flat canopy was anchored a huge, lit up Santa Claus. This is now on display at the Grand Hotel in Spokane at Christmas time.

How about the elevator gals, usually in the first two elevators, who would get Christmas shoppers to the right department for their Christmas adventures? What a great job they did.

This is a scary memory that I have that happened in the summer of 1968. When I first got hired I worked in the toys department. I worked there with a gal my brother was dating that he had met at the Crescent. Later that fall they would get married. We were standing in the department talking, when all of a sudden we heard a horrendous crash. Just around the corner from our department was the large freight elevator that my brother often operated. In fear, we both ran to the elevator, thinking something terrible had happened. Luckily, he was not hurt. What occurred was, as the elevator was going up in between floors, a large ladder on the elevator fell forward over the top of the elevator gate, hanging out into the elevator shaft. In doing so, it got caught and smashed in the elevator shaft. We were so relieved to know he was all right. He even got a big kiss and hug from his soon-to-be wife, which helped make things better.

In February would come the yearly Coliseum sale. This event was something shoppers in the Spokane area always looked forward to. I think it broke up the winter blahs.

Each buyer was responsible for ordering merchandise at a great price. Once all this merchandise got checked in and priced on the seventh floor stockroom, it was trucked over by Crescent trucks to the Coliseum. Here, every department was given a space to sell their wares.

This sale always brought in thousands of people looking for quality merchandise at a super price. I remember the first day I ever worked a Coliseum Sale. It was February 1969. I was the stockboy for the toys department. My job was to get all the tables stocked with the various clothing and to keep the merchandise neat and sized. Well, good luck on that! When the doors opened at 9 a.m., a rush of shoppers poured down the halls of the Coliseum. Those coming to my department attacked the tables, and in a matter of seconds my neatly piled merchandise was a heap of entangled clothing. Well, looking at this from the bright side, it gave me job security.

My wife wanted me to mention how girls in the eighth grade could take a charm class at the Crescent. In 1969, a small group of Campfire Girls, my wife being one of them, attended in the spring a charm school class here. They come in every Saturday for six weeks to attend the class.

At the Crescent Charm School, the girls learned amongst others enrolled in the class how to be a young lady. They also were instructed on how to walk properly, were given their first Bonnie Bell makeup for teenage girls, and taught how to use it. They got to participate in a fashion show where each modeled two outfits. My wife enjoyed the experience and thought it was fun.

I remember a couple times at least, the National Duncan yo-yo champion came to the store to show some amazing things he could do with the various Duncan yo-yos, such as the Sputnik Duncan yo-yo. A crowd would assemble around him with sounds of “oohs and aahs.” When he was finished you would see an exodus of parents and children heading for the toy department for a flashy Duncan yo-yo! Who knows, there may have been a future Duncan yo-yo champion among them.

The camaraderie and friendship of the Crescent employees was what helped the store be such a great place to work. Many people who worked there spent many years in employment and retired from the store. I feel this is a testament to how people loved working for the Crescent.

One such place where the camaraderie was shared was in the eighth floor employees cafeteria. There, you could get a very good lunch or dinner at a very reasonable price. The chicken à la king was great! You could get a piece of pie à la mode for 25 cents. But beyond the great food and prices was meeting up with your friends to share how your day was going and to enjoy a laugh or two. It was also a great way to meet new people who worked in different departments throughout the store.

I must mention the bond I enjoy with the older salesman when I worked in the suit and sportcoat department. On Friday nights, it was slow until after the dinner hour. During the slow period most of them, who were raised in Spokane, enjoyed telling stories about the past. Such interesting stories of what life was like in their younger years. Hearing them tell of going to the local dances, Natatorium amusement park, and many other adventures I loved hearing.

Also, the Italian tailor was a great guy! He was one of several tailors, but he was the main one who worked in the tailor shop right above the suit department. Oftentimes on my break, I would go upstairs to see him. He always encouraged me to stay in college. He served in the Italian army during World War II and had many interesting stories to share.

In closing, the motto of the Crescent was “the customer is always right.” I would like to add that the Crescent, through its rich heritage over the years of serving the Spokane area, did something right! Congratulations to a department store, who in my opinion, will always be rated No. 1.

–Leroy Bishop, of Newport

Window display worth remembering

My fond memories of the Crescent Department Store was walking on the snowy pavement with the glistening snow falling down lit by the beautiful lights of the decorated windows. All the mechanical movement of the figures and so much detail, that to a small child, became real and part of our memories. Years ago, I brought my own children down to see the decorated windows and listen to the Christmas sounds of joy.

There is a lovely article in The Spokesman-Review, Nov. 24, 2022, which has fond memories with a couple of pictures. The beautiful tree made of lights was dated 1958, coincidentally, my birth year. The story is wonderful. I think Carla Crujido would draw some inspiration from it.

–Linda Kavanagh, of Spokane

Fountain (found) family

I worked at the Crescent Fountain from August 1960 until March 15, 1966. The starting pay was under a dollar. We adopted a baby to be born March 15, she was born March 16. When the doctor called to tell me it was a girl, I called the girls at the Fountain before I called my husband. There were 20 employees in our department, 10 Servers, four in the kitchen, two dishwashers, one busboy, one cashier, Manager Jack Lovejoy and Assistant Manager Hazel Babcock.

We sold cigarettes and sometimes customers would request that one package be delivered and they would. That did change to one-carton minimum later. We had a $150 working fund. At the end of the day we would count out $150 and put it back in the unlocked register and put the rest of the money in an unlocked zipped bank bag with the register tape and on the way out, on Wall Street door exit (all the departments) throw it in a 3-by-4 cloth rolling basket with security standing there. I don’t know if it was one night or several we came up short. Jack even cut out a drawer thinking maybe it dropped behind. No, the head of security hid behind a heating louvered door and watched one of the new janitors just unzip different bags and help himself.

It was great fun with all those girls, always a shower for a wedding or a baby shower. At my daughter’s shower she received 23 dresses and a bib from one of the janitors and he lived in the Ridpath Hotel.

–Irene Dixon, of Spokane