Comments on: Winch Floral (1960)

By: Regina Winch Oldbury

Regina Winch Oldbury — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 09:30:13 +0000

My grandfather, John U. Winch, my father, John M. Winch and my sister, Stacey Winch Gooden, all three worked very hard for many many years at the flower shop. My sister and I grew up in the family business helping out from the moment we could walk and talk. The flower shop was such a huge part of our lives growing up. And being so close to the state capitol building, we met the governors, senators and many state representatives who came and shopped at the store or just came by to chat with our dad. It was a time in our lives when we learned great work ethics and made good friends. We grew up in downtown Springfield. We walked all over downtown. We knew every inch of it. It was a great childhood.

By: Bob Moore

Bob Moore — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 04:36:30 +0000

This was the location of the Illinois Bell Telephone Co. Engineering Department on the 2nd & 3rd floors. We located here in 1960 when we left Chicago to become part of the new State Area. I believe Paul Wanless owned the buiding at that time. The entrance and old elevator were located at the far right of the photo. The S&H Green Stamp store was across the street.

By: Alexis Hemmenway Swigert

Alexis Hemmenway Swigert — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 05:14:09 +0000

My early years as a child I spent growing up watching my grandpa Winch run the Flower Shop. I woul pick up whatever flowers that I felt salvagable up off the floor and give them to him with a huge smile like I just did a good thing. That smile is what got me out of trouble when I picked the Tulips from our garden at home. My mother had moved us (my sister & I) to Texas in 1987, we returned in 1988 for my Grandfathers funeral. Even though that was the last time I had gotten to visit the Flower Shop, it remained to this day just as sentimental to me as it had then.