Remember department store credit cards?

[Canice]

OK, so they still exist. But I'm thinking waaaaay back in the day (1980s?) when department stores didn't take bank cards, 'cept Macy's which seemed very high falutin' accepting American Express. And Sears. Sears! Anyone remember that that was supposed to be the HARDEST card to get? I remember my mother telling me (again, back in the '80s) that OPRAH said she couldn't get one. They were really stringent. 'course, those nut jobs probably only gave accounts to folks they thought could PAY them -- but that's a separate thread.

Anyhow, I just discovered a bunch of old credit cards in a file, none of which has been used in...well, I don't want to say how long. Suffice to say all are looong innactive. But check it out - did I REALLY once have all these accounts? I do feel compelled to say that I never had giant balances on any of them, but still...:eek:

Neiman-Marcus
Ann Taylor
Emporium
Nordstrom
Express
The Limited
Mervyn's
JC Penney
I. Magnin
Macy's
Saks Fifth Avenue

Again I say, :eek:

[vbak]

Yes, I remember, too.
Sears-use sometimes
Paul Harris-miss this store
Ayres-which is a macy's haven't used that one for years
Casual Corner-miss this one, too
Marshall Field's-Macy's
Carson Pirie Scott-I like that store
Penney's-haven't used it for years

I guess that's it for me.

Vicky

[Peggy]

And Sears. Sears! Anyone remember that that was supposed to be the HARDEST card to get? I remember my mother telling me (again, back in the '80s) that OPRAH said she couldn't get one. They were really stringent. 'course, those nut jobs probably only gave accounts to folks they thought could PAY them -- but that's a separate thread.

Guess I was one of the lucky few. Sears was my very first credit card! :D We got it when we bought a refrigerator and were trying to establish credit. Back then it was hard to get credit. It's not like now...

Peggy

[cookieee]

Way, way, wayyyyy back in my single days, Sears was the one and only card I had. I felt like I was paying off that thing ALL OF MY LIFE. I remember the happy feeling of freedom when I made the LAST (so I thought) payment. Jump ahead to 2004. We were in Sears shopping and they had such an offer if you used your Sears card that we couldn't refuse. Aha, they thought they had me again. Only this time, when the bill comes in, thank God, I had the money to pay the bill in full. :p So there Sears, I escaped your clutches to pull me back in again. (knock on wood)

[slknight]

Ah, I remember my mom having something called a Blue Card or something that was taken at several of the DC-area department stores like Garfinkles, and Woodies. I miss Woodies.

[dreamer]

I don't know if this is true, for sure- maybe someone more knowledgeable than me can confirm- but I heard once that having credit cards you don't use will lower your credit score. (So when I heard this, I cancelled one that I had that fell into that category.) I guess they they think that if you have a lot of untapped balance, you could go crazy and be a risk. Anyway, just thought I'd mention this.

[generic]

I still have my Sears card, but haven't used it in YEARS. It's currently serving as a bookmark. ;) I had a Mervyn's card and Bon Marche and a few others, but I didn't like having to keep track of so many seperate bills to pay each month. (No option to pay online back then!)

[Escher]

I found mine, too...

1) Sharper Image
2) Guns 'R Us
3) Nordstroms
4) Mike's Liquor Barn
5) Black Vinyl S&M
6) Macy's
7) The Spy Shack

;)

[Escher]

I don't know if this is true, for sure- maybe someone more knowledgeable than me can confirm- but I heard once that having credit cards you don't use will lower your credit score. (So when I heard this, I cancelled one that I had that fell into that category.) I guess they they think that if you have a lot of untapped balance, you could go crazy and be a risk. Anyway, just thought I'd mention this.


Kinda Sorta.

The unused, open balance counts against what a lender might be willing to offer.

IE, If your payment history indicates you are worthy of, say, a, 10,000 credit limit, and you already have a CC w/ an unused limit of 2,000, the most they might offer you is an additional 8k.

[ChristieinMB]

and Woodies. I miss Woodies.
That's a card, ohhhh I thought it was something else.
Carry on...

[Wendy w]

I used to have quite a few dept/chain store cards and have since cancelled most of them because it isn't good to have open lines of credit that you don't use. I opened them to get the 20% off for new card holders.

My very first credit card was for Buffum's (a now defunct SoCal dept. store). It was for a $100 limit and my mom had co-signed for it. Yes, I remember hearing that

These days I just use my visa (and have for years) that has a low percentage rate. I did open a Kohl's earlier this year because they have very good deals for cardholders. I opened a Macy's as well because they had a duvet cover on sale and I wanted an extra 20% off. However, I found the same item elsewhere, and not on sale for half the price. I will cancel Macy's very soon as they are ridiculously expensive.

Escher, is Guns 'r Us a real store? Forgive my ignorance, we just don't have these things on the left coast and you never know with the midwest. Your part of the country calls what we call liquor stores, "party" stores. In CA, party stores are where you can buy streamers, cards, and other items for celebrations.

[generic]

That's a card, ohhhh I thought it was something else.
Carry on...
Crack me up, Christie! :D

[Kay Henderson]

I'm reminded of the "Charge-a-Plate" used in Sacramento stores in the 60s. The major merchants got together so that a customer could use one card in multiple stores -- sort of a precurser of bank cards.

Kay

[Valerie226]

My mother used to have a "charge-a-plate" ( wisconsin). it had maybe 15 stores listed but it was a metal edged thing, not plastic, maybe 3"x1" that had notches punched out of the edge for stores you were authorized to use it at. I think they set it on a press type thing, lowered a lid that pressed the card onto paper or something. sort of like a big stapler. this is a pretty vague memory....

[mbrogier]

I found mine, too...

1) Sharper Image
2) Guns 'R Us
3) Nordstroms
4) Mike's Liquor Barn
5) Black Vinyl S&M
6) Macy's
7) The Spy Shack

;)

:rolleyes: stop lying Escher... you've never shopping in Nordies, and we both know it. :D :p

My mom had a Sears card. We moved, and Sears sent a statement to our old address (even though we had never used that address for billing purposes). The person used her card, and it took several months for my mom to get it straightened out even though Sears realized it wasn't her fault.

Rob and I had a Marshall Fields card that we never used. We closed the account.

I would like a Banana Republic/GAP card, but they don't work at Forth and Towne yet. I'd also like to get a Victoria Secret Angels card, a Khols card, and a J Jill card. I don't have any now, but I like the special shopping days, etc. that these cards offer.

I also want a Costco American Express card. You can get cash back even at their gas station when you use that card. I already like the 2% back I get on purchases by being an Executive member. (it completely pays for the membership)

I like having my revolving credit give me something back like rewards or points.

[peachykeen]

I had Sears, but got rid of it when they were tying it into MasterCard.

Filenes (now gone from my area)
Jordan Marsh (changed to Macy's, but didn't get a Macy's card)
Lord & Taylor (just never used it)


Years ago, my mother had Gilchrist and Grants. I remember a store called Almy's, but don't think she had a card.

Her cards were those metal ones.

Not too long ago, I salesperson asked me for my "charge plate" !! I knew she was dating herself, but then again, so was I for being "old" enough to remember when they were called "plates" (Your name and account number were in raised letters on the plate and the clerk would run it through some sort of slide machine that imprinted the name/number on a slip with ink.

Other stores around here that are no longer: Zayre's; Caldor; Bradlees; Ames; Service Merchandise.

[Aubergine]

wow, i am eating my heart out b/c i just spent an hour replying (which vanished)

it's a certainty that it will vanish again, b/c more storms.

i wanted to tell you a story, of a time when there were NO CARDS....can you imagine such a time? none. nowhere. (before Alfred Bloomingdale came up with Carte Blanche, which led to Amex, and we all went to Hades in the same Handbasket)

tbc..it's really storming here (thank heavens)!

if i could begin to find... a like-minded person....M/F, to simply be a friend.

'S

[Canice]

Vicky, is the Casual Corner chain gone? They used to have two stores downtown but both disappeared long ago. Ditto The Limited. That was a good place for a young person starting out in the (casual) business world in the late '80s/early '90s. Haven't seen one of those in a long time either.

Now that you say it, peachykeen, "charge plate" rings a bell with me! My mom's (I remember only The Emporium and JC Penney -- oh, oh! And 'Monkey' Ward's! You could buy goldfish and finches there, as well as wrenches. I bought a "Rocky" t-shirt there with my allowance savings in 1977 :o ) were in my dad's name. I don't know that he ever set foot in a JC Penney or Emporium, but that was the way it was done. My Saks and Neiman-Marcus cards are shaped liked the old-fashioned "charge plates": about 2/3 the width of a standard charge card, perhaps a little longer.

[Robyn1007]

Yep, Casual Corner went out of business either at the beginning of this year or the very end of last.

[Canice]

I remember going in there one time only, circa 1987. They had a big store right on Union Square and every darned item I so much as looked at, a sales vulture was all over me trying to sell the thing. I gave up, left, and never went back. Good riddance to them.

[Casey1230]

Ah, I remember my mom having something called a Blue Card or something that was taken at several of the DC-area department stores like Garfinkles, and Woodies. I miss Woodies.


It was a "Washington Shopping Plate"... good for Garfinkles, Hechts, Woodies, and a couple of other 'upscale stores' in DC. I had mine for years! I, too, miss Woodies... my fav store.

[Lauren]

Other stores around here that are no longer: Zayre's; Caldor; Bradlees; Ames; Service Merchandise.

And Lechmere!

[ellielk]

Other stores around here that are no longer: Zayre's; Caldor; Bradlees; Ames; Service Merchandise.

Ooh, my dad was Comptroller for Caldor for a while in the 60's. I haven't heard that name for years.

[dreamer]

Reading the reminiscenses of charge plates and stuff brought back a memory. When I was a young teenager, around 1970, my mother would let me take her dept. store credit cards with me to our new mall- and in order to be able to use her card, per the instructions by the store, she would also send me with a dated note- handwritten: "To Whom it May Concern: My daughter, (my name), has my permission to use my (whichever store's name) credit card." Signed, (her name).
Can you believe it?!! In these days of identity theft, it really seems comical.

-dreamer

[generic]

dreamer, your story kind of makes me long for the days when we all used to trust each other a little more. About 20 years ago I worked at a ski area, and parents used to send their kids in with credit cards to pay for ski lessons and lift tickets. We never even asked for notes from the parents, and never even got signatures! But the payment was always made.

I can remember when no one ever compared the signature on the back of the card with the one on the charge slip. Even as recently as 10 years ago!

[LakeMartinGal]

I'm reminded of the "Charge-a-Plate" used in Sacramento stores in the 60s. The major merchants got together so that a customer could use one card in multiple stores -- sort of a precurser of bank cards.

Kay
Had those in Buffalo, NY, too! With the notches for different stores... Remember shopping 'downtown?' For you young'ns, that used to be where the flagship stores used to be... and you wore heels to shop... :rolleyes:

ETA - I use a Kohl's card for the discount days and special sales -- plus, that could almost be the only department store in existence, as far as I'm concerned! Now, if they would only come to my immediate area! I write them quarterly to ask...

Oh, Sears was my first card, too... but I worked there, so they 'had' to give it to me! And, my whole family worked at Sears at one time or another... parents even met there! Now, I don't even have a Sears card!

[Cinnamon Crazy]

I can remember when no one ever compared the signature on the back of the card with the one on the charge slip. Even as recently as 10 years ago!


LOL...they still don't. I have three credit cards that I use quite often and then pay the balance at the end of the month. I can't remember the last time a clerk has checked the signature. All my cards state, "Please check ID." My ID hasn't been checked in quite a while.

Anna

[mbrogier]

I remember when my mom or dad would send me to Belk to purchase something and include a note authorizing me to use their card. The guy in the men's department knew us, so most of the time the note wasn't required. My dad was an auctioneer and bought tons of men's blazers. I worked near Belk, so I usually went to pick them up.