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Evolution of Department Stores in the Common Erra
2/26/14
PLAN OF THE INVESTIGATION
In the late 1800’s to early 1900’s, The United States underwent major economic and industrial changes. Factories and mass production began to become the norm, and society had to adjust to this new way of living. One of the biggest aspects of this new mass culture was the creation of department stores which began to appear across the nation. The first of the department stores arose in France in the middle of the 19th century, and the concept of a store that provides for such a varied assortment of needs quickly found its way into America. These stores gave their customers far more choice than other specialty stores at the time, and began to shape American society in a variety of different ways. Perhaps most significantly these stores gave consumers the ability to purchase things cheaply, which they may not have been able to do previously. It also brought the advent of mass production closer to the consumer and made the resulting products more easily accessible. Much of today’s America shops in these stores, which eventually differentiated from clothing to cover many more of the needs of the customer. Department stores sponsor parades, advertise incessantly, and heavily influence the concept of and actual logistics of the American Holiday. The enormous role that such stores play in an American’s life seems to go unnoticed, and their influence as well as how they came to be needs to be seen.
Primary sources on this issue are numerous, as department stores had to advertise to survive. Along with these advertisements are letters to government officials, simply because department stores seized a large role in American politics and the economy from the beginning. Unfortunately, secondary sources seem to be limited in number simply because this topic is not seen as interesting to the majority of people. There can be sources found on mass production however, which is related significantly to the rise of the department store. Evaluating the effect of the rise of department stores on US culture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries yields the conclusion that despite the few instances in which they did not support certain aspects of it, these stores had an ultimately positive influence on America’s economic expansion and progressivism.
ANALYSIS OF EVIDENCE
Department stores in the period of American industrialization had a very positive effect on the advancement of industrialized America socially and technologically. Firstly, department stores introduced and sold radical and new technological advancements to the lower classes. In the early Macy’s for example, there was “a soda fountain and a department selling velocipedes, early bicycles.” This technology, which was brand new at the time, would likely have been limited to the higher classes if it had not been implemented and sold in department stores which sold to people of all classes. In addition, just the department store buildings themselves helped to advance technology at the time. The period of industrialization in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s brought with it a danger, with the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and several other fires which leveled homes and stores alike. With this in mind, the creators of the new Filene’s store in Boston in 1911 “included a water curtain on its façade that prevented fires” (Lisicky, 19). In addition, this eight-level store included Boston’s first telegraph station for public use. Department stores also made advances socially, such as appointing one of the first women to an executive position, with Macy promoting Margaret Getschell to store superintendent in 1866, in charge of 200 employees (Hendrickson, 65). Edward Filene himself wrote that “good business policies will be found to be good social policies,” meaning that businesses such as department stores helped to shape America’s social landscape (Filene, excerpt from The Way Out). Small and large businesses alike needed to set an example for how the US was to be run socially. Department stores also helped to accelerate America’s expansion Westward, with people like Marshall Field and John Shedd leaving their comfortable East coast lives to establish themselves closer to the frontier. The result was the civilization of cities along the frontier such as Chicago and throughout the surrounding states (Wendt 187). In conclusion, department stores had a profoundly positive effect on the nation technologically and socially.
Department stores had a lasting impact on family life and the government as well in the late 1800s and to this day. Many former store owners such as George Talbot and Edward Filene became very active in politics later in their lives, and their influence shaped American family life. Thanksgiving Day for example, was set back one week permanently by a cooperation of store owners across the country in a petition to the president so that the Christmas shopping season would be extended and profits for the fiscal year would rise (Hendrickson, 73-74). In addition, it was seen by many as the job of the department store “…to create a demand and constantly nourish that demand,” which meant that the store had to make the things that they were selling necessary to families (Wendt, 202). This meant anything from simple advertising to the novelty of the traveling salesmen. These men had a profound effect on family lives, and “were welcome in many communities for more than just the goods they sold; William F. Hypes; for one, who traveled in the Dakotas, staged concerts and sang at prayer meetings and County Socials” (Wendt, 193). The department store also brought about a new type of financing called “Installment Buying.” These plans allowed those of low income to pay for department store items gradually in monthly payments, a practice which has lasted to this day. This type of financing was seen by many as a gimmick or con, and it was met with much opposition over the years even by store owners such as George Talbot who was in favor of simple budgeting saying “Who shall say that a budget is dry figures-when it unites a family?” (Talbot in “Installment Buying”). Eventually though, this type of financing became accepted through most of department store culture. These financing plans and the hundreds of thousands of dollars that were spent by department stores on advertising ensured that the department store had a great effect on family lives at the time.
Department stores also brought with them a new form of distribution that has been part of the American experience ever since. The previously mentioned traveling salesmen, for example, had a lasting impression on the American identity. This new distribution method employed by great department stores allowed the store to be versatile and cater to the needs of the consumer. A traveling salesman for Marshall Field’s in Michigan for example, had a difficult time selling anything because it had been raining there. He asked his supervisor what to do, and with his suggestion of selling umbrellas “…snared orders for $3,500 worth in a single week” (Wendt, 193). As well as traveling salesmen, there were also distribution methods at work in the department stores themselves. This era brought with it the advent of the “bargain basement,” perhaps most famously in Filene’s and Gimbels at the time (Lisicky 25, Hendrickson 73). These “basements” made clothing available for extremely low prices, so that the stores were not for just one specific income bracket. The department store also gave rise to the new idea of chain stores, with Filene’s growing exponentially in the early 1900’s and it profits growing as much as 183% per store (Filene). Edward Filene himself said that this new era of “mass production has made mass distribution necessary and as such his store was one of first to sell “ready-to-wear apparel” (Lisicky, 16). Macy also contributed to this new distribution with “…His red delivery wagons…” which were a common sight through New York City. These wagons made such an impression that one fire chief complained “’…Them wagons is too damn fast and too damn red- people think it’s a hook and ladder roaring up the street!’” (Hendrickson, 65). All of these distribution methods were brand new at the time, and the majority of them have all lasted up to this day.
Finally, department stores had an enormous and ultimately positive effect on the United States economy and the way it was run. Filene’s for example, became a retail giant quickly and “by the time Filene’s landmark store opened on Boston’s Washington Street in 1912, the company employed 2500 people and had annual sales of $4.5 million” (Lisicky, 11). These department stores and their eventual store chains provided a job source for much of America’s unskilled workforce at the time, and also managed to boost the economy significantly. In addition to large store chains making enormous profits at the time, small-business local department stores also gained consistently high profits. One such store was “…employing fifteen people…and showed total sales of $90,000” (Hendrickson, 64). This very same store spent $2800 for advertising, another of the ways that department stores revolutionized the American retail system and economy. This store soon went on to be department store giant “Macy’s,” and the owner of the store was “…spending an unheard of 3 percent of sales on advertising, three times more than any of [its] competitors, and originating several advertisement stratagems…” such as their aforementioned red delivery wagons (Hendrickson, 65). Changing the entire market in a similar fashion, “[Macy’s] comparison shopping department spent as much as $250,000 a year in competing stores to enable Macy’s to cut prices on identical items that it carried, such price reductions having occurred as often as a thousand times a week” (Hendrickson, 67). This idea of cutting prices based on the competition became prevalent among department stores like Macy’s main rival “Gimbels,” and has continued in one way or another to the present day. Department stores also helped to pioneer such financial devices as Installment Buying and a credit system, although Macy’s adamantly fought this development with their “6% less for cash policy” (Hendrickson, 67). Finally, department stores were easily able to provide for those in lower income brackets while also catering to the world of the wealthy and cutting edge. Countless department stores, Gimbels, Macy’s, and Filene’s among them, had “bargain basements” which cut prices on much of their inventory as much as 75% (Lisicky, 25). In short, department stores affected the US economy in a number of different positive ways.
In conclusion, the rise of department stores in the 19th to early 20th centuries had a positive effect on the US economy and how it functions. While some in these stores did oppose a few of the new financial strategies that were becoming prevalent at the time, this setback was overcome by the way department stores spurred the advancement of new technologies and made them readily available to lower classes. The new selling strategies and distribution methods shaped America’s retail as it is today. Although many do not see the institution of the department store as a significant part of American culture, it has heavily and positively influenced the way that Americans lived in the late 1800s to early 1900s and how they live today.
Works Cited
Primary:
Filene, Edward A. "The Present Status and Future Prospects of Chains of Department Stores."American Decades Primary Sources. Ed. Cynthia Rose. Vol. 3: 1920-1929. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 113-117. Gale U.S. History In Context. Web. 17 Oct. 2012.
Filene, Edward A. "Business as the Agent of Social Progress." World War I and the Jazz Age. Woodbridge, CT: Primary Source Media, 1999. American Journey. Gale U.S. History In Context. Web. 14 Dec. 2012.
Wannamaker, John and George Talbot. "Installment Buying." American Decades Primary Sources. Ed. Cynthia Rose. Vol. 3: 1920-1929. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 87-92. Gale U.S. History In Context. Web. 17 Oct. 2012.
Secondary:
Hendrickson, Robert. The Grand Emporiums: The Illustrated History of America’s Great Department Stores. New York: Stein and Day, 1979. Print.
Lisicky, Michael J. Filene’s: Boston’s Great Specialty Store. Charleston: Arcadia Pub., 2012. Print.
Steevens, George. “The First Department Store.” Eyewitness to America: 500 Years of American History in the Eyes of Those Who Saw it Happen, Ed. David Colbert. New York: Vintage Books, 1998. 353-355.
Wendt, Lloyd and Herman Kogan. Give the Lady What She Wants! : The Story of Marshall Field & Company. South Bend: And Books, 1979. Print.
PLAN OF THE INVESTIGATION
In the late 1800’s to early 1900’s, The United States underwent major economic and industrial changes. Factories and mass production began to become the norm, and society had to adjust to this new way of living. One of the biggest aspects of this new mass culture was the creation of department stores which began to appear across the nation. The first of the department stores arose in France in the middle of the 19th century, and the concept of a store that provides for such a varied assortment of needs quickly found its way into America. These stores gave their customers far more choice than other specialty stores at the time, and began to shape American society in a variety of different ways. Perhaps most significantly these stores gave consumers the ability to purchase things cheaply, which they may not have been able to do previously. It also brought the advent of mass production closer to the consumer and made the resulting products more easily accessible. Much of today’s America shops in these stores, which eventually differentiated from clothing to cover many more of the needs of the customer. Department stores sponsor parades, advertise incessantly, and heavily influence the concept of and actual logistics of the American Holiday. The enormous role that such stores play in an American’s life seems to go unnoticed, and their influence as well as how they came to be needs to be seen.
Primary sources on this issue are numerous, as department stores had to advertise to survive. Along with these advertisements are letters to government officials, simply because department stores seized a large role in American politics and the economy from the beginning. Unfortunately, secondary sources seem to be limited in number simply because this topic is not seen as interesting to the majority of people. There can be sources found on mass production however, which is related significantly to the rise of the department store. Evaluating the effect of the rise of department stores on US culture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries yields the conclusion that despite the few instances in which they did not support certain aspects of it, these stores had an ultimately positive influence on America’s economic expansion and progressivism.
ANALYSIS OF EVIDENCE
Department stores in the period of American industrialization had a very positive effect on the advancement of industrialized America socially and technologically. Firstly, department stores introduced and sold radical and new technological advancements to the lower classes. In the early Macy’s for example, there was “a soda fountain and a department selling velocipedes, early bicycles.” This technology, which was brand new at the time, would likely have been limited to the higher classes if it had not been implemented and sold in department stores which sold to people of all classes. In addition, just the department store buildings themselves helped to advance technology at the time. The period of industrialization in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s brought with it a danger, with the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and several other fires which leveled homes and stores alike. With this in mind, the creators of the new Filene’s store in Boston in 1911 “included a water curtain on its façade that prevented fires” (Lisicky, 19). In addition, this eight-level store included Boston’s first telegraph station for public use. Department stores also made advances socially, such as appointing one of the first women to an executive position, with Macy promoting Margaret Getschell to store superintendent in 1866, in charge of 200 employees (Hendrickson, 65). Edward Filene himself wrote that “good business policies will be found to be good social policies,” meaning that businesses such as department stores helped to shape America’s social landscape (Filene, excerpt from The Way Out). Small and large businesses alike needed to set an example for how the US was to be run socially. Department stores also helped to accelerate America’s expansion Westward, with people like Marshall Field and John Shedd leaving their comfortable East coast lives to establish themselves closer to the frontier. The result was the civilization of cities along the frontier such as Chicago and throughout the surrounding states (Wendt 187). In conclusion, department stores had a profoundly positive effect on the nation technologically and socially.
Department stores had a lasting impact on family life and the government as well in the late 1800s and to this day. Many former store owners such as George Talbot and Edward Filene became very active in politics later in their lives, and their influence shaped American family life. Thanksgiving Day for example, was set back one week permanently by a cooperation of store owners across the country in a petition to the president so that the Christmas shopping season would be extended and profits for the fiscal year would rise (Hendrickson, 73-74). In addition, it was seen by many as the job of the department store “…to create a demand and constantly nourish that demand,” which meant that the store had to make the things that they were selling necessary to families (Wendt, 202). This meant anything from simple advertising to the novelty of the traveling salesmen. These men had a profound effect on family lives, and “were welcome in many communities for more than just the goods they sold; William F. Hypes; for one, who traveled in the Dakotas, staged concerts and sang at prayer meetings and County Socials” (Wendt, 193). The department store also brought about a new type of financing called “Installment Buying.” These plans allowed those of low income to pay for department store items gradually in monthly payments, a practice which has lasted to this day. This type of financing was seen by many as a gimmick or con, and it was met with much opposition over the years even by store owners such as George Talbot who was in favor of simple budgeting saying “Who shall say that a budget is dry figures-when it unites a family?” (Talbot in “Installment Buying”). Eventually though, this type of financing became accepted through most of department store culture. These financing plans and the hundreds of thousands of dollars that were spent by department stores on advertising ensured that the department store had a great effect on family lives at the time.
Department stores also brought with them a new form of distribution that has been part of the American experience ever since. The previously mentioned traveling salesmen, for example, had a lasting impression on the American identity. This new distribution method employed by great department stores allowed the store to be versatile and cater to the needs of the consumer. A traveling salesman for Marshall Field’s in Michigan for example, had a difficult time selling anything because it had been raining there. He asked his supervisor what to do, and with his suggestion of selling umbrellas “…snared orders for $3,500 worth in a single week” (Wendt, 193). As well as traveling salesmen, there were also distribution methods at work in the department stores themselves. This era brought with it the advent of the “bargain basement,” perhaps most famously in Filene’s and Gimbels at the time (Lisicky 25, Hendrickson 73). These “basements” made clothing available for extremely low prices, so that the stores were not for just one specific income bracket. The department store also gave rise to the new idea of chain stores, with Filene’s growing exponentially in the early 1900’s and it profits growing as much as 183% per store (Filene). Edward Filene himself said that this new era of “mass production has made mass distribution necessary and as such his store was one of first to sell “ready-to-wear apparel” (Lisicky, 16). Macy also contributed to this new distribution with “…His red delivery wagons…” which were a common sight through New York City. These wagons made such an impression that one fire chief complained “’…Them wagons is too damn fast and too damn red- people think it’s a hook and ladder roaring up the street!’” (Hendrickson, 65). All of these distribution methods were brand new at the time, and the majority of them have all lasted up to this day.
Finally, department stores had an enormous and ultimately positive effect on the United States economy and the way it was run. Filene’s for example, became a retail giant quickly and “by the time Filene’s landmark store opened on Boston’s Washington Street in 1912, the company employed 2500 people and had annual sales of $4.5 million” (Lisicky, 11). These department stores and their eventual store chains provided a job source for much of America’s unskilled workforce at the time, and also managed to boost the economy significantly. In addition to large store chains making enormous profits at the time, small-business local department stores also gained consistently high profits. One such store was “…employing fifteen people…and showed total sales of $90,000” (Hendrickson, 64). This very same store spent $2800 for advertising, another of the ways that department stores revolutionized the American retail system and economy. This store soon went on to be department store giant “Macy’s,” and the owner of the store was “…spending an unheard of 3 percent of sales on advertising, three times more than any of [its] competitors, and originating several advertisement stratagems…” such as their aforementioned red delivery wagons (Hendrickson, 65). Changing the entire market in a similar fashion, “[Macy’s] comparison shopping department spent as much as $250,000 a year in competing stores to enable Macy’s to cut prices on identical items that it carried, such price reductions having occurred as often as a thousand times a week” (Hendrickson, 67). This idea of cutting prices based on the competition became prevalent among department stores like Macy’s main rival “Gimbels,” and has continued in one way or another to the present day. Department stores also helped to pioneer such financial devices as Installment Buying and a credit system, although Macy’s adamantly fought this development with their “6% less for cash policy” (Hendrickson, 67). Finally, department stores were easily able to provide for those in lower income brackets while also catering to the world of the wealthy and cutting edge. Countless department stores, Gimbels, Macy’s, and Filene’s among them, had “bargain basements” which cut prices on much of their inventory as much as 75% (Lisicky, 25). In short, department stores affected the US economy in a number of different positive ways.
In conclusion, the rise of department stores in the 19th to early 20th centuries had a positive effect on the US economy and how it functions. While some in these stores did oppose a few of the new financial strategies that were becoming prevalent at the time, this setback was overcome by the way department stores spurred the advancement of new technologies and made them readily available to lower classes. The new selling strategies and distribution methods shaped America’s retail as it is today. Although many do not see the institution of the department store as a significant part of American culture, it has heavily and positively influenced the way that Americans lived in the late 1800s to early 1900s and how they live today.
Works Cited
Primary:
Filene, Edward A. "The Present Status and Future Prospects of Chains of Department Stores."American Decades Primary Sources. Ed. Cynthia Rose. Vol. 3: 1920-1929. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 113-117. Gale U.S. History In Context. Web. 17 Oct. 2012.
Filene, Edward A. "Business as the Agent of Social Progress." World War I and the Jazz Age. Woodbridge, CT: Primary Source Media, 1999. American Journey. Gale U.S. History In Context. Web. 14 Dec. 2012.
Wannamaker, John and George Talbot. "Installment Buying." American Decades Primary Sources. Ed. Cynthia Rose. Vol. 3: 1920-1929. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 87-92. Gale U.S. History In Context. Web. 17 Oct. 2012.
Secondary:
Hendrickson, Robert. The Grand Emporiums: The Illustrated History of America’s Great Department Stores. New York: Stein and Day, 1979. Print.
Lisicky, Michael J. Filene’s: Boston’s Great Specialty Store. Charleston: Arcadia Pub., 2012. Print.
Steevens, George. “The First Department Store.” Eyewitness to America: 500 Years of American History in the Eyes of Those Who Saw it Happen, Ed. David Colbert. New York: Vintage Books, 1998. 353-355.
Wendt, Lloyd and Herman Kogan. Give the Lady What She Wants! : The Story of Marshall Field & Company. South Bend: And Books, 1979. Print.
Economists Predict New Months to Come Every 30 days for 2014
1/14/14
In a dramatic twist last month, the nation's top experts predicted that new months would be introduced beginning after December 31st 2013. Consumers waited with bated breath as the clock struck twelve on that fateful night, and the new and updated month was released with surprising immediacy. This month was to be called "January," and would contain new and updated features for all of its users and for the new year. Abbreviated as "1.14," this new month has been received well in the past two weeks, with critics raving about its newest "Polar Vortex" app, as well as its function which allows users a little more sunlight each day until version 3.14.
"I thought they had run out of ideas," says local consumer Iman Ydjot about the company releasing these new months, a shadowy organization that rarely reveals itself to the general public and instead releases all of its new product for free in a kind of honor-system philosophy. Somehow, despite the fact that contributions are likely very low, this company has managed to stay afloat, and has released a new month approximately every 30 days for many, many millenia.
As the first month of this new year which the company promises to be one of their best yet, January is slated to contain exactly 31 days of new, exclusive content. After version 1.14 is done, the company has promised to release version 2.14 immediately, which should be filled with even more great content. While some critics claim that 1.14 is basically simply a revamped version of last year's, others cannot get enough. All the same though, many are wondering whether or not these new iterations of past months are showing the steady decline in innovation that seems to be present in all of the newest "updates." Only time, and the passing of 1.14 into 2.14, will tell.
In a dramatic twist last month, the nation's top experts predicted that new months would be introduced beginning after December 31st 2013. Consumers waited with bated breath as the clock struck twelve on that fateful night, and the new and updated month was released with surprising immediacy. This month was to be called "January," and would contain new and updated features for all of its users and for the new year. Abbreviated as "1.14," this new month has been received well in the past two weeks, with critics raving about its newest "Polar Vortex" app, as well as its function which allows users a little more sunlight each day until version 3.14.
"I thought they had run out of ideas," says local consumer Iman Ydjot about the company releasing these new months, a shadowy organization that rarely reveals itself to the general public and instead releases all of its new product for free in a kind of honor-system philosophy. Somehow, despite the fact that contributions are likely very low, this company has managed to stay afloat, and has released a new month approximately every 30 days for many, many millenia.
As the first month of this new year which the company promises to be one of their best yet, January is slated to contain exactly 31 days of new, exclusive content. After version 1.14 is done, the company has promised to release version 2.14 immediately, which should be filled with even more great content. While some critics claim that 1.14 is basically simply a revamped version of last year's, others cannot get enough. All the same though, many are wondering whether or not these new iterations of past months are showing the steady decline in innovation that seems to be present in all of the newest "updates." Only time, and the passing of 1.14 into 2.14, will tell.
CR News Inc. Now Owns the Twitter
For the entirety of its existence, the massive social networking site Twitter has been operating on its own, attracting millions upon millions of users but never making a profit. That all changed on November 7th, when Twitter, following in the footsteps of internet giant Facebook, debuted on the New York Stock Exchange, and for the first time allowed members of the public to buy a share in the company. People flocked to wall street to get a piece of the rising companies stock, and we are delighted to inform you that CR News Inc. bought 1 share of Twitter for about $45, which as we understand it, means that we now own Twitter.
According to a very reliable source, there can only be one shareholder for each company on Wall Street, and since I did in fact succeed in buying a share (on behalf of CRNI of course), I assume that that means that I am now the ruler of the Twitters. I have not heard from the Twitter people yet but I'm sure they will contact me soon with a key to the Twitter offices and a note of congratulations inviting me to the coronation ceremony. It will probably be brought by a small blue canary to my window. This would explain why they're late.
Being the sole owners of such a massive and far-reaching internet company is a huge responsibility, but we at CR News are no strangers to challenges. In fact, just this morning at the office the printer jammed and after a solid thirty minutes trying to un-jam it, we succeeded in calling someone to come and fix it, so we can assure you, your tweets are in very safe hands.
As a matter of fact, thanks to our leadership, Twitters stock rose 73% on the first day, which I am told is, in fact, a good thing. Since then, however, the stock has been consistently declining, which is not our fault. This is clear to anyone who is as experienced with the stock market as we are, as it is a well-known and well-documented phenomenon that all new stocks fall for a while after they debut, only to rise exponentially after a couple weeks. This because the stock people like to make the graphs look like smiley faces.
According to a very reliable source, there can only be one shareholder for each company on Wall Street, and since I did in fact succeed in buying a share (on behalf of CRNI of course), I assume that that means that I am now the ruler of the Twitters. I have not heard from the Twitter people yet but I'm sure they will contact me soon with a key to the Twitter offices and a note of congratulations inviting me to the coronation ceremony. It will probably be brought by a small blue canary to my window. This would explain why they're late.
Being the sole owners of such a massive and far-reaching internet company is a huge responsibility, but we at CR News are no strangers to challenges. In fact, just this morning at the office the printer jammed and after a solid thirty minutes trying to un-jam it, we succeeded in calling someone to come and fix it, so we can assure you, your tweets are in very safe hands.
As a matter of fact, thanks to our leadership, Twitters stock rose 73% on the first day, which I am told is, in fact, a good thing. Since then, however, the stock has been consistently declining, which is not our fault. This is clear to anyone who is as experienced with the stock market as we are, as it is a well-known and well-documented phenomenon that all new stocks fall for a while after they debut, only to rise exponentially after a couple weeks. This because the stock people like to make the graphs look like smiley faces.
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