Landmarks

Name: Wanamaker's
Brand: Michael J. Lisicky
SKU: 9781596290082
Price: 21.99 USD
Availability: InStock

The Landmarks American history books series offers readers accessible, well-illustrated histories of USA landmarks and historic sites. Learn the secret history of the Chicken Ranch, Texas’s iconic brothel. Let loose at Detroit’s Rock’n’Roll palace, shop the hallowed shelves of Kaufmann’s, then relax at the Sandy Hook Highland beach resort. From the rise of Idlewild to the fall of Younkers, these Landmark books will bring iconic locations to your backyard. [View all Landmarks books]

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Wanamaker's

9781596290082

$21.99

Philadelphia was once the proud home of Wanamaker's, a department store of many firsts founded by the retail giant John Wanamaker in 1861.

Its name was synonymous with service, and Philadelphians still fondly remember the massive bronze eagle in the Grand Court, concerts from the world's largest pipe organ and the spectacular Christmas festivities. Philadelphia native Michael J. Lisicky takes a nostalgic journey through the history of the store, from its beginnings as a haberdashery to its growth into New York and Delaware and the final poignant closing of its doors. Lisicky brilliantly combines interviews with store insiders, forgotten recipes and memories from local celebrities such as Trudy Haynes and Sally Starr to bring readers back to the soft glow of the marble atrium and the quiet elegance of the Crystal Tea Room that was Wanamaker's

Sears in Chicago

9781467139946

$21.99

From watch catalog to international retail empire, revisit Sears's Windy City history with author Val Rendel and remember how good the “Good Life” once was.

In 1887, Richard W. Sears started a Chicago mail-order house that quickly outpaced its competitors, including Montgomery Ward. For millions of rural Americans over the next hundred years, Chicago was the place where dreams came from. Here, the “World’s Largest Store” opened its first retail buildings, debuted its WLS radio station and transformed the global marketplace from the Great Works headquarters complex. Today, Sears has faded from the city of its birth, but many marks of the once-great business remain, from repurposed iconic department store buildings to the Sears kit homes still scattered across the suburbs. The 110-story skyscraper that dominates the skyline will forever be known to locals as the Sears Tower. Sears greatest legacy, however, was the role it played in shaping the lives of generations of Chicagoans.