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Michael J. Lisicky

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Wanamaker's: Meet Me at the Eagle (Landmarks) Kindle Edition

by Michael J. Lisicky (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.5 69 ratings

Part of: Landmarks (200 books)

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An “informative and entertaining” history of the famed Philadelphia department store, with photos included (Montgomery News).

Philadelphia was once the proud home of Wanamaker’s, a department store 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.

In this book, 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.

“A wonderfully affectionate look at the Market St. store whose name, for generations, was symbolic of Philly.”—Philadelphia Daily News

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Filled with photos of various locations from throughout Wanamaker's 150-year history, the book is a historical, cultural and business guide all rolled into an informative and entertaining package." --Nicolette Milholin Montgomery News

"You gotta love this new book! I rarely have my act together to but Christmas presents earlier than Dec. 1st, but I'm about to make an exception. It's a wonderfully affectionate look at the Market St. store whose name, for generations, was symbolic of Philly." --Ronnie Polaneczky, Philadelphia Daily News

"Most of us still remember Wanamaker's. The name is especially significant to Michael J. Lisicky who has written a tome that takes a nostalgic journey through the history of the store." --Courier-Post, Camden, NJ

"A wonderful retrospective on Wanamaker's. Profusely illustrated, with a full chapter on the Wanamaker Organ." --Friends of the Wanamaker Organ website

"A wonderful retrospective on Wanamaker's. Profusely illustrated, with a full chapter on the Wanamaker Organ." --Friends of the Wanamaker Organ website

About the Author

Michael J. Lisicky was born in Camden, New Jersey, and grew up shopping in John Wanamaker. He resides in Baltimore where he is an oboist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. In demand as a lecturer on department store history, Mr. Lisicky helps run an Ask the Expert column on the website http://www.departmentstorehistory.net. He is the author of the best-selling book Hutzler's: Where Baltimore Shops, which was also published by The History Press.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00XQK6JZG
Publisher ‏ : ‎ The History Press (November 12, 2018)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 12, 2018
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 17297 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 163 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #100,291 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #2 in History of Photography
- #2 in Travel Photography (Kindle Store)
- #3 in Pictorial Travel

Customer Reviews:
4.5 69 ratings

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Michael J. Lisicky

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Michael Lisicky has been credited as a nationally recognized department store "historian", "lecturer", "expert", "guru", "aficionado", "junkie", "maven", and "noted chronicler of departed East Coast department stores" by a number of major newspapers and periodicals. He is the author of several bestselling books including 'Hutzler's: Where Baltimore Shops', 'Wanamaker's: Meet Me at the Eagle', 'Gimbels Has It!', 'Filene's: Boston's Great Specialty Store', and 'Baltimore's Bygone Department Stores: Many Happy Returns' and 'Woodward & Lathrop: A Store Worthy of the Nation's Capital." Mr. Lisicky has given lecturers at such locations as the New York Public Library, the Boston Public Library, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the DC Public Library, the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh, the Milwaukee County Historical Society, and at the Baltimore Book Festival. He has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine, Investor's Business Daily, and on the 'CBS Sunday Morning' television program. Lisicky served as a panelist during New York Fashion Week, sponsored by Parsons School of Design. His book, "Baltimore Symphony Orchestra: A Century of Sound," is available on the website, www.bsomusic.org.

"If you're interested in department store history, buy his books." - Philadelphia Inquirer

"[Hutzler's] is beautifully written obviously by someone who has an affinity for department stores." - Baltimore Sun

"Retail fans can now take a walk down memory lane." - Boston Globe

"A Near and Dear Gift, Lisicky's book honors DC's once-glam, now defunct department store." - Washington Post

"Bamberger's stores are gone but their impact lives on (through Lisicky's book)." - Bergen Record

"An evocative book." - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"A passionate history of an iconic store." - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"To hear Mr. Lisicky talk, writing [Hutzler's] was simply his destiny." - Baltimore Jewish Times

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4.5 out of 5

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binkie

NOT a bitter retail queen

Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2011

Verified Purchase

LOVED the book, although the author should have considered entitling it "Meet me at the Iggle." (That's how we pronounce "eagle in Philly.") Seriously, the book was very informative and well written. I particularly liked the numerous photos the author supplied from his own collection. They brought back wonderful memories from the good old days of shopping in Center City, Philadelphia. I've recently made the pilgrimage to the Broadway location in New York and am looking forward to seeing the old site in Wilmington. Long Live Wanamaker's!

2 people found this helpful

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Cynthia K. Robertson

A nostalgic stroll down memory lane!

Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2010

Verified Purchase

Wanamaker's: Meet Me At The Eagle by Michael J. Lisicky was a nostalgic stroll down memory lane for me! I had the privilege to grow up in the Philadelphia suburbs when Center City was the place to be. Before the malls opened up, my parents always took us to shop at Wanamaker's, Strawbridge and Clothier, Lit Brothers and Gimbels. Even after the Cherry Hill and Moorestown Malls opened, the downtown stores still offered so much more. Wanamaker's was always our family favorite, and we especially enjoyed the Holiday Light Show at Christmas. When the Wanamaker family sold this family store, it was like a beloved relative had died. Lisicky brings back some of the Wanamaker magic in his interesting book.

Lisicky begins with founder, John Wanamaker. A religious man, he found a calling to begin a retail business. He and his brother-in-law opened Oak Hall--Wanamaker and Brown, in 1861. He eventually went solo after the death of Nathan Brown. Wanamaker "revolutionized retailing by offering money back if a customer was dissastified with his or her purchase." He was one of the first to establish set pricing (no haggling). He also introduced the first White Sale in 1878. But perhaps Wanamaker's most lasting monument to his retail vision was the store on Market and 13th Streets with 14 stories and 1,019,854 square feet of sales floor. Built of granite and marble, it was the "first store in the country to be lighted by electricity," it had its own post office and radio station, and used pneumatic tubes for communication. He also added escalators, an art gallery, a mail order system, and the first restaurant ever to appear in a department store, The Crystal Tea Room. The famous Wanamaker Organ has entertained customers for almost 100 years, and the Holiday Light Show and the now defunct Monorail in the toy department were loved by generations of children. But what really set Wanamaker's apart from almost every other store is that you could purchase almost everything there except for "food and fuel." I well remember their music department where you could buy grand pianos, assorted musical instruments and even sheet music. John Wanamaker's was not just a store, but a social event.

The author gives a short history of department stores in Philadelphia. He also discusses the events that led to the closing of all of Philadelphia's traditional stores including too much expansion, the flight to the suburbs, the coming of discount stores, and the failure of stores to attract minorities.

I have so many wonderful memories of downtown Wanamaker's and reading this book brought them flooding back. The pictures were especially interesting. Today, the downtown store is a Macy's, although it's only a shadow of what it once was with three floors of sales area. Still, Macy's has made an effort to keep up with the Wanamaker traditions of the Holiday Light Show and the Wanamaker Organ. The 100th anniversary of the downtown Wanamaker's building will take place in 2011 and I can only hope that it will continue to be open for many years to come.

9 people found this helpful

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William Edward

Remembering an Icon

Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2015

Verified Purchase

Very bittersweet, as Wanamaker's, in its glory, was a big part of my life in Philadelphia in the 1970s. I learned a lot, including information about other department stores and the suburban branches. I would have liked to know more about what the building looks like now, on the upper stories. Pholots of exisitng conditions would have been interesting. And very little was said about the areas above the shopping floors, including the gym and running track on the roof. But for a consise history of an important icon, it was well worth the read.

3 people found this helpful

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Sean Meek

Very Interesting

Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2018

Verified Purchase

Let's just say my mom kinda got me started on reading about department store history by introducing me to another
book profiling department stores across the globe. Anyway, this book was quite entertaining. Too bad we don't get to
learn about when New York or Pennsylvania first imposed a sales tax, but that's another story. I plan on buying as many
of the other books of local department store chains by this publisher as possible.

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Meredith Gray

and the Tea Room was a wonderful place to have tea and rest a bit while ...

Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is a well-documented and well-written book about a time when getting dressed up to go into "town" to shop was an event. I miss those days, I miss the customer service which is rare if not all together non-existent these days. It was a part of our history that I wish were still our "present". Wanamaker's was the most magical place at Christmas, and the Tea Room was a wonderful place to have tea and rest a bit while shopping. This is a part of our history that will never be ever again. Loved the book but it made me very sad, too.

3 people found this helpful

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Idriane W.

Great memory book

Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2022

Verified Purchase

Very interesting book about a great store

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Victorian Catmom

Play-by-play of Dept Store Competition

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2022

Verified Purchase

I expected this book to tell me a lot about what the store and customers were like. Descriptions, anecdotes, etc.
It is little more than a long history of which stores were succeeding and when throughout the last century.
There's a nice chapter on Christmas and an interesting sentence here-and-there, about celebrity appearances or how nice the restaurant was.
Other than that, it's just "Wanamakers opened one branch here and then Strawbridge opened one there and then Gimbels did this then Wanamakers did that, and their gross that year was x-million but Gimbel's gross was xx-million....and the store in this town was doing good but the store in another state was doing bad, so the they sold some of the stock to this corporation then another one bought them out..."
if that is interesting to you then you will love this book.
In the last and final chapter, on page 143, there's a quote that the store was special because "each floor had its own environment." Wow, would have loved to have heard some more about that. How about some detail about what exactly was in the store, besides telling us ladies' wear, mens' wear, home goods.
Might just have to spring for "Wanamaker's Temple," and hope it's a little more informative on the kind of details I'm interested in.

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