Lunch counter

Woolworth's, an early five and dime store chain, opened their first luncheonette in New Albany, Indiana around 1923, and expanded rapidly from there.

Typical foods served were hot and cold sandwiches (such as ham and cheese, grilled cheese, BLT, patty melt, and egg salad), soups, pie, ice cream (including sundaes, ice cream sodas, and milkshakes), soda, coffee, and hot chocolate.

Integrating lunch counters in the Southern United States through the use of sit-in political protests in the 1960s was a major accomplishment of the civil rights movement.

These involved African Americans and their supporters sitting at the lunch counter in areas designated for "whites only", insisting that they be served food and beverages.

In recognition of its significance, part of the Greensboro lunch counter has been installed at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, while the former Woolworth's building is now the site of International Civil Rights Center and Museum.