After 55 years, Helen Lannin wishes she’d kept a diary.
That way she would have records of people she’d worked with and experiences she had during the more than five decades she spent as an employee at Schweser’s Department Store.
Lannin, who recently retired, began working at the Fremont store in December 1953. Back then she was an assistant to Florence Fouts, the corporation’s secretary. The Schweser’s stores date back to 1880 and by the time Lannin started the business included six locations.
Early in her career, Lannin assisted with bookkeeping, in a time when it was all done with paper, pencil and ink. She and five other employees worked in a small room in the Sixth Street store.
Lannin’s duties weren’t restricted to bookkeeping, however.
“In my years, you did everything,” she said.
During holidays or other busy times, she ran the store’s crank elevator. The elevator was motorized, but when Lannin and her passengers reached the right floor, she had to stop the device with the crank.
And she had to stop it at just the right time so the elevator was level with the floor -- otherwise she’d be asking customers to step up or step down.
During the late 1950s and early ’60s, she’d also help out on the switchboard. When calls came in, she’d answer the phone, pull up the connecting cable and plug it in the appropriate place -- trying not to drop a call in the process.
She worked in the warehouse, unpacking, sorting, ticketing and repacking merchandise in boxes headed for other stores.
“It was kind of fun. You got to wear your jeans,” she said, adding, “I think anybody who’s ever worked here had had their stay in the warehouse.”
One of her favorite jobs was gift wrapping during the holidays. But not everything was easy to wrap.
“It was a challenge if you had a coat in a large box or if you had a crystal vase that you had to be careful with,” she said, adding the store had an extensive giftware area in those days.
Sidewalk sales proved challenging, too.
Trying to keep items tidy and properly stacked amid bargain-hunting shoppers kept Lannin and other workers busy.
Then there was the weather.
“We always prayed for a nice day, weatherwise. I worked them when it rained. You got out your big sheets of plastic and covered up what you could,” she said.
It wasn’t uncommon for temperatures to soar to 100 degrees.
“You’d hope it wasn’t too windy, but that there would be a breeze to keep you cool,” she said.
Perhaps one of the most unusual sales occurred in the 1970s when the store sold old mannequins in the parking lot. Lannin remembers mannequins going out in pickup loads.
“It was very successful and brought a lot of laughs,” she said.
Throughout her tenure, Lannin has seen many changes. She remembers when hats, gloves and handkerchiefs were popular-selling items.
“Unless you go to the Kentucky Derby, you don’t always see a hat now,” she said.
Comfort is key today when it comes to clothing.
“The whole world has become more casual in its dress,” she said. “I never wore slacks to work then. You always wore a dress or skirt or jacket. Pants weren’t in vogue back then.”
Other changes have occurred, too.
“I don’t miss the manual accounting system,” she said. “It’s so much faster if you’re on a computer.”
Lannin smiles when she remembers taking her work home years ago. One night she ran out of adding machine tape. So she took the pile she had on the living room floor, rolled it up and ran it through so the machine would print on the other side of the tape.
Perhaps she was an early recycler. The only problem was trying to keep the tape away from her cat, Buffy.
“She thought it was a toy,” Lannin said, smiling.
Another thing has changed, too: The wages.
When Lannin started, she earned about $35 a week.
“I thought it was wonderful,” she said. “I probably saved more money then than I do now.”
Looking back, Lannin notes that she’s worked through three generations of the family owned business. She first began working for Fred Schweser -- son of the company’s founder, George. Then Lannin worked for Fred’s daughter, Barbara Smith.
Tyler Smith, Fred’s grandson, took over as company president in 2003.
One recent afternoon Tyler sat nearby as Lannin recounted her memories.
“Your grandfather would send a birthday card with a handkerchief. I have a whole box of handkerchiefs that I got from your grandfather. I probably have 40 at least,” she said.
Tyler smiled, later saying: “The company’s history is made up of many people. ... You can’t tell the history of Schweser’s without telling the story of Helen and her successes here.”
Was there anything Lannin didn’t like about working at Schweser’s?
“You don’t stay for 55 years, if there’s a bad part of it,” she said, smiling again.
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