I wish I DID have a picture of the tea room to send you! I came here hoping to see one. I lived in Sioux City in the '50s and '60s and oh, I loved this store. My best friend and I used to come down here after school (Central) and spent hours shopping (rarely buying much) here and at Davidsons and Sioux City Stationary. In the picture at 43:09, I'm pretty sure you are looking at the south side of the mezzanine, where the Ladies' Lounge was. It was a real lounge, too. There were restrooms in the corner, but there was a whole section overlooking the beautiful main floor with couches and easy chairs for women to sit and take a break. This was important: Women made special trips from small towns and farms to Sioux City and they might have babies with them or a small child that needed a nap - or grandmothers might need a nap themselves. The restaurant would have been to the left and what a treat to order a cup of tea and a piece of cake (instead of our usual fare: Coke and French fries) and sit next to the rail so we could watch people shopping below. To the right, I believe, were ladies shoes. I know that on the north side of the mezzanine, there were yard goods - fabric and thread and patterns. We spent hours looking at the patterns. We'd take the bus home if we had enough money left over after shopping - Pierce was a steep hill to climb!
My father, Paul Detches, was a chef at the Martin Hotel during the 40s and 50s. I worked in the Design Studio of the Younker-Martins furniture department in the early 60s with Mr. Dale Fairweather. Mr. Fairweather, who was also active in the Sioux City Community Theatre, had been the Interior Designer for Younker-Davidsons. He was instrumental in opening the Younker-Martin design studio located in the 4th and Jackson corner at the top floor of the store. The mezzanine coffee shop was a regular lunch stop, and the smaller grill on the main floor located at the Jackson Street entrance was where everyone usually "reported" for work. I left SC in 1963 and was delighted (and saddened) by this presentation. Thank you.
I wish I DID have a picture of the tea room to send you! I came here hoping to see one. I lived in Sioux City in the '50s and '60s and oh, I loved this store. My best friend and I used to come down here after school (Central) and spent hours shopping (rarely buying much) here and at Davidsons and Sioux City Stationary. In the picture at 43:09, I'm pretty sure you are looking at the south side of the mezzanine, where the Ladies' Lounge was. It was a real lounge, too. There were restrooms in the corner, but there was a whole section overlooking the beautiful main floor with couches and easy chairs for women to sit and take a break. This was important: Women made special trips from small towns and farms to Sioux City and they might have babies with them or a small child that needed a nap - or grandmothers might need a nap themselves.
The restaurant would have been to the left and what a treat to order a cup of tea and a piece of cake (instead of our usual fare: Coke and French fries) and sit next to the rail so we could watch people shopping below. To the right, I believe, were ladies shoes. I know that on the north side of the mezzanine, there were yard goods - fabric and thread and patterns. We spent hours looking at the patterns.
We'd take the bus home if we had enough money left over after shopping - Pierce was a steep hill to climb!
My father, Paul Detches, was a chef at the Martin Hotel during the 40s and 50s. I worked in the Design Studio of the Younker-Martins furniture department in the early 60s with Mr. Dale Fairweather. Mr. Fairweather, who was also active in the Sioux City Community Theatre, had been the Interior Designer for Younker-Davidsons. He was instrumental in opening the Younker-Martin design studio located in the 4th and Jackson corner at the top floor of the store. The mezzanine coffee shop was a regular lunch stop, and the smaller grill on the main floor located at the Jackson Street entrance was where everyone usually "reported" for work. I left SC in 1963 and was delighted (and saddened) by this presentation. Thank you.