On day 9 we finally left Utah and headed into Wyoming. On the way we passed by JC Penny's "Mother Store" and I had to stop. So we parked the truck and RV around the corner and headed into JC Penny's first store (gotta say I love the unexpected stops on a road trip). Who knew it was located in Kemmerer, Wyoming? There's nothing else in this town and this store is located on a main street that only has 2-3 blocks of stores, and most of them were empty. I'm amazed how a small store in the middle of nowhere actually became such a prolific chain. I remember going to the JC Penny's in Ala Moana (Hawaii), and to think this is where it all started. Too bad JC Penny's is going out of business now (edit: well it's not really too bad since they're an example of bad fast fashion--how else could they sell their clothes so cheap? Well at least I'm glad I got to see this piece of history before it's all gone.
When the store first opened, they didn't have a cash register on the floor so they would send the money up to the second floor in those canisters and someone would calculate the change and send it down. They probably got robbed one too many times back in 1902 so they devised this system.
That was the first cash register, next to the bust of Mr Penney. I loved all the history and relics on the top of the shelves.
And some scenic stops in Wyoming. So beautiful!