What made Wanamaker’s so special to the people of Philadelphia was the obvious: the eagle, the music, the attitude of the people who worked there. They actually wanted to help the customer. They certainly don’t do that now. It was also the presentation of the merchandise that made the store so special.
I always thought that it was fascinating to be able to go to one store and get everything. The store had such a wide variety of merchandise. Pots and pans, hats, dresses, toys, televisions—you could get it all in one building. I always liked the House Furnishings department and remember being fascinated by the refrigerators. It was a wonderful store.
I first met John up in Maine where we both summered with our grandmothers. I was seventeen when we got engaged, and we were married in 1940. In September of that year, I worked at the store as a sales girl. I just wanted to see what it was all about. In those days you had to wear stockings, high heels and a black dress. It was interesting. Every day you had to get dressed up and commute to town. But the salary was so bad that it hardly paid for lunch. It was awfully hard work.
It was wonderful being married to a Wanamaker. My husband knew every single elevator man’s name and every salesperson by first name. Wanamaker’s was a passion for my husband and for my son. Later on, my husband tried very hard to hold the company together. He didn’t want to sell or disperse it. But after it was sold he realized that it was the best thing for the store. I’m glad it was sold because I wouldn’t have wanted to sit with it while it went down. People were staying in the suburbs. They were shopping at boutiques in the country. It seemed that department store shopping was over—our time was over.
I never went back into the stores after they were sold. I just didn’t want to look at it again. Nostalgia, I guess. I’d rather remember it full of people, customers and merchandise. I’m glad the Main Store is still open. I think it would be a shame for it to be closed. Whenever anybody comes up to me and tells me that “they miss the store,”; I just agree with them and say, “So do I.”
January 2010