I found this advertisement in the April 1917 edition of Good Housekeeping Magazine. The hat on the bottom left especially caught my eye. How I wish hats were still a part of everyday fashion. I love hats and wear them at every available opportunity.
Notice the heading? "Good Housekeeping Readers May Now Get the Newest Fashions Direct from Wanamaker's"? Wanamaker's was the first department store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and one of the first department stores in the entire United States.
John Wanamaker, the founder of the store that bears his name, was unable to join the U.S. Army during the Civil War because he suffered from a persistent cough. Having been rejected from war duty, he ventured into business with his brother-in-law, Nathan Brown. In 1861, they founded a men's clothing store in Philadelphia called Oak Hall. Wanamaker carried on the business alone after Brown's death in 1868.
Wanamaker first gave thought of how he would run a store on new principles when, as a youth, a merchant refused his request to exchange a purchase. A practicing Christian, he chose not to advertise on Sundays. His retail advertisements—the first to be copyrighted beginning in 1874—were factual, and promises made in them were kept. Wanamaker guaranteed the quality of his merchandise in print, allowed his customers to return purchases for a cash refund and offered the first restaurant (The Great Crystal Tea Room) to be located inside a department store. Wanamaker also invented the price tag and held the first ever "white sale".
His employees were to be treated respectfully by management (including not being scolded in public), and John Wanamaker & Company offered its employees access to free medical care, recreational facilities, profit sharing plans, and pensions—long before these types of benefits were considered standard in corporate employment.
In 1910, Wanamaker constructed a new building for his retail business. The new store, built in the Florentine style with granite walls by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham, had 12 floors (9 for retail), numerous galleries and two lower levels totaling nearly two million square feet. The store was dedicated by President William Howard Taft on December 30, 1911 and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated as a US National Historic Landmark.
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| The Grand Court |
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| The Great Crystal Tea Room |
After John Wanamaker's death in 1922 the business carried on under Wanamaker family ownership. Rodman Wanamaker, John's son, enhanced the reputation of the stores by offering imported luxuries from around the world. He died shortly before the Great Depression and after his death in 1928, the stores (managed for the family by a trust) continued to thrive for a time. However, over time, Wanamaker's lost business to other retail chains in the Philadelphia market. By the end of the 20th century in the shopping-mall era, there were 16 Wanamaker's outlets, but the chain was absorbed into Hecht's (now known as Macy's) in 1995.
Wouldn't it be lovely to time travel and be able to shop at Wanamaker's then take tea in the Great Crystal Tea Room (while wearing a fabulous hat, of course)?
