Judy’s Montgomery Ward Memory

Special thanks to Judy from Parker, KS for sharing her Montgomery Ward memory with us. Judy will receive a $50 gift card to wards.com for sharing her story. Don’t forget: you can also share your Montgomery Ward story or memory with us!

“Imagine my surprise when I learned that Montgomery Ward had made a comeback! You have no idea what a thrill it was to see the web site and the familiar logo! I began working for the company in 1973 in Jefferson City, MO. I worked in the credit department and when our office closed, I transferred to Merriam, KS (1978-early 1979). I remained with the company and left in the late 90′s when my department was re-located to Atlanta (with only 1 month lacking to have 25 years). I missed the early years and the true honesty of this retailer. It was always a joy to work with my co-workers and the management team when we were WARDS- everyone cared about each other.

“A strange event happened several years back. When my office closed, I chose to try out other avenues of livelihood (since I was commuting 115 miles each day to my office in the city.) With the closure I decided to look locally and soon I began ‘multi-tasking’ as I took on several positions that did not involve time clocks. Among them, I am a reporter for the local county newspaper, an eBay seller and a housekeeper with several clients in my rural area.

“One client of mine is a retired dentist from the Kansas City area. I have worked for his family for nearly five years. About two years into the job, I was cleaning a mantel clock and noticed that the clock was an award to my client’s father for his past service with Montgomery Ward! I was very excited and asked him just exactly what his father had done with the company. I was astonished that his father had been regional manager for the retailer and had actually been over the small store that I began my career at in Jefferson City, Mo.!

“His father has been gone now for many years, but the concept of the old saying that it really is a ‘small world’ comes to light! To come to a small town of nearly 200 people and have connections from over 25 years ago – all from Montgomery Ward!”

–Judy K.
Parker, KS

Jackie’s Montgomery Ward Memory

Special thanks to Jackie M. from Kansas City for sharing her Montgomery Ward memory with us. Jackie will receive a $50 gift card to wards.com for sharing her story with us. Don’t forget: you can also share your Montgomery Ward story or memory with us!

“When I was a kid, there were only three people in my family living in the Midwest: my mother, my sister and me. My Father had passed away many years before and so there were only us three girls.  We were really poor; however, my sister and I did not know that.  My mother was a wonderful provider and knew how to stretch a dollar and make life fun. 

“Each year before the school year began, my sister and I would get new school clothes and a new pair of shoes. We would all get in my mother’s 1963 Ford Falcon (without air conditioning) and we would drive to Montgomery Ward to make our treasured purchases.  I can still remember the smell of the store, all the wonderful sites and new things we saw and each new year we anticipated our trip.  I will always remember with great fondness that wonderful place.”

–Jackie M.
Kansas City, MO

Anne’s Montgomery Ward Memory

“As a young girl, I passed the summers on my Grandmother Harriet’s farm in Vermont. Grandmother’s house was the most beautifully decorated I’d ever seen – and, when I told her so, she’d laugh and say, ‘Thank my interior designer, Montgomery Ward.’ Grandmother seemed quite fancy to me with her red nail polish and stylish Sunday shoes, so I was not surprised she had an ‘interior designer’ from the big city – a Mr. Montgomery Ward – decorate her house. It was not for a few years before I realized she had purchased all her lovely household items from a catalogue called Montgomery Ward.”
–Anne H.
Philadelphia, PA

Do you have a favorite Montgomery Ward memory you’d like to share with us? Send us an e-mail at memories@wards.com! If we pick your memory and share it online, you will receive a $50 Montgomery Ward Gift Card!

Be sure to check back and read more Montgomery Ward memories here online, as we’ll be adding new stories, too!

Our Favorites: Cindy’s Wards Memory

One of our favorite Montgomery Ward stories has to be from Cindy M., (of West Lafayette, Indiana):

“When I was almost 4-years old my grandmother called me over when the pastor dropped by and said, ‘Cindy, go and fetch that book I read so often and love so much’.

 

“Dutifully, I toddled off and returned with the Montgomery Ward catalog and plopped it on her lap.”

Cindy was our grand prize winner in the “Montgomery Ward Memories” contest. Want to read more? Read the stories of our second place winners.

Do you have a favorite Montgomery Ward memory you’d like to share with us? Send us an e-mail at memories@wards.com! If we pick your memory and share it online, you will receive a $50 Montgomery Ward Gift Card!

Be sure to check back and read more Montgomery Ward memories here online, as we’ll be adding new stories, too!