I would like to thank the following people who helped honor this Philadelphia institution. Dinty W. Moore, a literary treasure who perfectly put the Wanamaker’s mystique to words; Louise Wanamaker, for trusting me and giving me some personal insight on what it was like to be a Wanamaker; Christopher Kellogg, who helped me fill in many blanks in the Wanamaker story; William Zulker; Herbert Ershkowitz; Joel Spivak; Mercia Grassi; Richard Hauser; Bruce Kopytek, Christian Colberg; Matthew Truch; Ray Biswanger of the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ; and Curt Mangel. Big “thank yous” go to Philadelphia legends Sally Starr, Trudy Haynes and Pat Ciarrocchi.
Thanks and appreciation goes to the staffs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Temple University’s Urban Archives Collection, Free Library of Philadelphia, Wilmington Public Library and Michael Seneca of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia. Special thanks goes to Governor Edward G. Rendell and the Office of the Governor of Pennsylvania; former Philadelphia district attorney Lynne Abraham; Mayor Michael A. Nutter, Jordan Schwartz and the Office of the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia; Philadelphia city councilman Frank L. Rizzo Jr.; and Greta Greenberger and the Tour Office at Philadelphia’s City Hall. Special thanks goes to Jane Von Bergen and the staff at the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News and to Jan Whitaker, who continues to guide me through my unusual interests.
As always, this book could never have happened without the love and support of my wife, Sandy, who helps make my books readable and helps me battle my overuse of prepositions. And to my daughter, Jordan, who continues to let her father obsess about department stores and other endangered things.