THE DIAMOND
Images from the 40s through the 70s
| As everyone knows, the Diamond Dept.Store
was THE premier department store in West Virginia. Sporting
the first escalators in the state, people came from miles around
just to ride on them. Some spent the entire day doing just that.
Anyone who's shopped at the Diamond will tell you about the corner
window at Christmas. It was filled with toys of all types and
there was always a wonderful model train layout that you operated
by pushing a special button attached to the window. I wont go
into all the other aspects of the Diamond, as there are too many to
mention. But people today will never know what it was like to
shop locally in a store such as the Diamond. |
This
is the famous Diamond Christmas window in 1957. A few years later
and this window would become very animated with toy trains operating
(you pushed a button inside the window) and other toys and
displays moving about. Photo by Bill Kelly.
This was the last addition to The Diamond: The Mens Department on Washington Street.
Ran across my old Diamond credit card
from the 70s.
HERE'S A QUIZ FOR YOU
What was the connection of The Diamond to:
A.W. Cox Department Stores
Roane County (Red Knob) Clendennin
Mingo County
The Hatfields
OJ Morrisons brother
A School Teacher
Morris Harvey College
See the answers HERE |
This card was made by artist Teresa Scott Woodside,
Teresa grew up in Charleston but now lives in Virginia.
Back in 1975 I was a DJ with WCAW Radio.
One of my jobs was to do commercials. I happen to run across
a "quicky commercial" that I did for the Diamond in 1975. The
tape was old and beat up but you can still get the feeling of the
70s..... Click
HERE to hear it.
In 1970, The Diamond sponsored WKAZ's
Pappa Jay show. Hear a commercial and dedication to the Diamond's
employees HERE
Another WKAZ Diamond commercial HERE |
The new Diamond Dept Store, 1927 
See a much larger photo HEREA very rare photograph...
This
wonderful photo shows phase one of the new Diamond Dept Store which only took 6 months to build. The lot
to the right would soon support the new Kanawha Valley Bank, while the
lot on the left would support the expansion of the Diamond all the way
to Washington Street. For a while, the Sterling Restaurant stood on
that corner, and when the Diamond expanded, the Sterling moved to
Washington Street behind the Diamond. When the Diamond expanded again,
the Sterling had to move again. This time a brand new building was
erected at the North end of Capitol Street.
|
This is a blow up of a section of the photo above And this is the business behind the Diamond
That's a road grader in front of "The Midland Trail Co..... the Nash Automobile dealership.
|
See the men behind The Diamond HERE
1927 Diamond photo curtesy of Marilyn Smock
WKAZ Audio By Johhny Goyen
Card by Melissa Edwards
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