2024 #52Ancestors #Week6 Earning a Living at Dayton’s

 

As it has been related to me, when my aunt (dad’s younger sister) was old enough to be at school most of the time, Grandma went to work in downtown Minneapolis. Suburban malls didn’t yet exist (although the first one in the country would open a few years later near my grandparent’s house). Grandma worked in the gift-wrapping department at Dayton’s on Nicollet Mall, and if you’d ever received a package from her, you knew how very meticulous she was about her wrapping. Lovely boxes in pretty paper, with the seams matched as if creating a new outfit.

It was while working at this job that she was approached by someone in management regarding a new project or department that Dayton’s was embarking on - a drop-in childcare so that mothers could shop without their little charges. Grandma adored small children, and she accepted the offer.

Kiddie Care was set up on one of the upper floors at Dayton’s and installed with every kind of toy. Workers wore white uniforms in the early days, and there was a giant fiberglass elephant whose trunk was a slide. When a child arrived, they were welcomed by an older lady (I believe most were grandmothers), given a sticker in primary colors with the Kiddie Care name on it, and shown around the space. There were “romper-stompers” to walk on, giant hopper balls with handles, counters for Play-Doh and coloring, and many other toys and activities. There were some planned activities, but “free play” led by the individual child was the model. That elephant slide was a huge draw, and i vividly remember helping to wear out the treads on the way to it’s slide. I was signed in countless times as a child, as were my brother and cousin. Grandma became the Director, and as far as I know was always there when we were. In my memory, almost the entire place was a garish 70’s orange, but it’s definitely a delight when it comes to memory.

In addition to the delight that was Kiddie Care, Grandma had all kinds of wonderful toys in a brown cabinet in her basement. We had Slinkies (the stairs in the house were quite steep) and building blocks, puzzles and Candyland, which will forever remind me of her kitchen and playing with her at the table.

Grandma always called her employees at Dayton’s “her girls” with great affection and told me once that she thought calling children “kids” was akin to disrespect. “Little Treasures” is how she referred to all of us. Little wonder Margaret Lowe was known as “Grandma Love.”