I remember many, many days as a kid, when my mom would go to Hancock fabrics with us kids, making a beeline for the high swivel stools in front of the tall tables where they kept the pattern books. Mom, of course, bought them to make stuff for us. I just liked looking through them all.
Wow, I *hated* the fabric store. It felt like time stood still in there.
IT DID. I don't think they changed in decades. Honestly, I can't say I loved our trips to the fabric store until I started looking for material myself (well into my thirties). But those pattern books captivated me - and usually for long enough to keep me from bugging my mom while she shopped.