time machine in my neighboring city

The old Woolworth’s Building in Oxnard now houses a nice little restaurant. Oxnard is a puzzling city, to say the least. “Whimsy” or “Respect for the Past” does not immediately spring to mind when contemplating Oxnard.

However, the Woolworth’s building is preserved and quite lovely. And behind the restaurant, in the hallway, is a mini museum dedicated to Woolworth’s. And: oh my god.

old woolworths building, oxnard

old woolworths building, oxnard

All the machines still work. Yes.

old woolworths building, oxnard

You can STILL GET A PEN out of this machine.

old woolworths building, oxnard

You can still get hand cream,

old woolworths building, oxnard

… and perfume, in the ladies room.

Pretty incredible, and oh so bittersweet. It doesn’t seem that long ago that you could still find this kind of stuff in the wild.

Time marches on. Sniff.

old woolworths building, oxnard