Transformations in a Culture of Consumption: Women and Department Stores, 1890-1925

Author(s): William R. Leach

Source: The Journal of American History, Vol. 71, No. 2 (Sep., 1984), pp. 319-342
Published by: Organization of American Historians
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Transformations
in a Culture
ofConsumption:Womenand
Department
Stores,1890-1925

WilliamR. Leach

"We dream,we work,we wake!" declaredArtemasWard,one of America's

firstgreatadvertising geniuses,in 1892. "The worldseemsreal onlywhenit
answersto our individualtouch.Yet, beyondour touch,beyondour waking,
beyondour working,and almostin the land ofdreams,lie thingsbeyondour
presentthought,greater,wider,stronger, thanthosewe now lay hold on. To
each a worldopens; to everyonepossibilitiesare present."' Wardcaptured
herewhatI wishto developat muchgreaterlengthin thisessayon theculture
of consumptionand women.Americaat the close of the nineteenthcentury
and at the beginningof the next was, indeed,a land of "possibilities"and
"dreams" thatfloweredwithinthe heartof a new cultureand thathad the
powerto changeolderpatternsthathad hithertodistinguished thebehaviorof
manywomen.
As recenthistoricalstudyofwomenhas so consistently shown,nineteenth-
centurymiddle-classAmericansviewed women as dependent,emotional,
deeplyreligious,and sexuallypure beings who were supposedto tend the
domesticfiresand to bear and rearchildren.Men, on the otherhand, were
thoughtofas stalwartcitizen-producers, familyproviders, rationalpeoplewho
foundpersonalfulfillment in public life and in the individualownershipof
property. The publiclifewas male,andindividualisma male legacythatonlya
fewwomendaredclaim as theirown. By 1915 thatolderparadigmhad been
deeplyweakenedbythetransformation ofwork.Men now receivedwagesand
salariesin factories
orin ever-expanding corporateandbureaucratic structures,
whilemanywomenhad enteredtheworkforce,some findingjobs in thenew
consumer,service-oriented industries.2
Alongsidethose changesin workemergeda vast cultureof consumption.
Forgedby merchantsin the companyof enthusiasticpoliticians,reformers,
WilliamR. Leach is a fellowat the New YorkInstituteforthe Humanities,New YorkUni-
versity.
I ArtemasWard,"StrayShots,"Fame,1 (Dec. 1892),323.
2 Alice Kessler-Harris,
Out to Work:A Historyof Wage-Eaming Womenin the UnitedStates
(NewYork,1982),75-217;Nick Salvatore,EugeneV. Debs: CitizenandSocialist(Urbana,1982),
23-177.
The Journalof American History Vol. 71 No. 2 September 1984 319
320 The Journalof American History

educators,and artists,thiscapitalistculturewas so powerfulas nearlyto dwarf

all alternativecultures. Advertisinggave it shape; a new abundance of
commoditiesestablishedits foundation.The cultureof consumptionwas an
urbanand secularone ofcolorand spectacle,ofsensuouspleasureand dreams.
It subverted,butneveroverturned, theoldermentalityofrepression, practical
utilitarianism,scarcity,and self-denial.It slowly encompassedserviceand
comfortas desirable goals, interminglingcompetitionand cooperation,
blurring thelinesbetweenworkandleisure.3
The cultureofconsumptionhad a transformative on women.Manyof
effect
themimaginatively reconceivedthemselvesas womenwithinthatdenseand
volatilesituation.Such an imaginativereconception,the principalsubjectof
thisessay,developedout ofa capitalistculturethathad bothstrongmanipu-
latingand strongutopian currents,and it was freelychosen by individual
womenwho interpreted thatculturein theirown ways. The focushereis on
theemancipating impactofconsumercultureon two kindsofwomen-work-
ingwomenwho had powerwithinconsumerinstitutionsand mostlymiddle-
class womenwho shoppedand spentmuch timein such institutions.This is
not to deny that much could be said about the more grimcomponentsof
consumerexperience:grossmaterialindulgence;thedominanceofmenin the
manufacture of fantasyand in managerialhierarchies;unfairwage scales for
womenand theexploitationofwomenin consumerindustries;thereification
ofwomenas objectsofdesirein advertising; andthemiserymanypoorwomen
musthavefeltas theypassedthewindowsofcityretailstores,whichrevealed
to them an unobtainableworldof luxury.These aspects of consumerlife,
amongothers,must be consideredif we are to have a fullydialectical,his-
toricalassessmentofconsumption.
However,at theriskoflosingsucha dialecticalperspective, thisessaydeals
largelywiththosepatternsofconsumerlifethatimplieda new freedomfrom
self-denialand fromrepression,a liberationthat promisedto expand the
provinceofrewarding workandofindividualexpressionforwomen.Too often
leftisthistoriansof consumersocietyhave interpreted the modernquest for
individual autonomyas manipulated,based on the consumerdesire for
commoditiesand determinedby the needs of managerialelites. Although
those criticsare partlycorrect,theyhave tendedto exaggeratethe extentto
3 David M. Potter,People of Plenty:Economic Abundanceand the AmericanCharacter
(Chicago, 1954), 78-195; JoyceAppleby,"The Social Origins of AmericanRevolutionary
Ideology,"Journalof AmericanHistory,64 (March 1978), 935-58; Daniel J. Boorstin,The
Americans: The Democratic Experience (New York, 1973), 97-225; Ann Douglas, The
Feminizationof American Culture (New York, 1977), 3-13, 200-256; Karen Halttunen,
ConfidenceMen and PaintedWomen:A StudyofMiddle-ClassCulturein America,1830-1870
(NewHaven, 1982),1-91, 191-210;AltinaL. Waller,ReverendBeecherand Mrs. Tilton:Sex and
Class in VictorianAmerica (Amherst,Mass., 1982), 1-53, 64-81; JohnHigham, "The
ReorientationofAmericanCulturein the 1890s," in JohnHigham,Writing AmericanHistory:
Essayson ModernScholarship(Bloomington, Ind., 1970), 73-102; JohnF. Kasson,Amusingthe
Million:ConeyIslandat theTum oftheCentury(NewYork,1978);T. J.Jackson Lears,No Place
of Grace:Antimodernism and the TransformationofAmericanCulture,1880-1920(New York,
1981),4-47; WarrenI. Susman,"'Personality'andtheMakingofTwentieth-Century Culture,"in
New Directionsin AmericanIntellectualHistory,ed. JohnHighamand Paul Conkin(Baltimore,
1979),212-26.
Womenand DepartmentStores 321

which the mass of women (and men) are manipulatableand passive. As a

result,they cannot account forthe way early consumercapitalism-even
thoughthat capitalismoftenmiserablyfailedto live up to its promises-
secured the loyaltiesof otherwiseintelligent,resourceful,and thoughtful
women. The explanationlies in the opportunitiesand in the imaginative
culturethatarosefromearlyconsumercapitalism.It can be seriouslyargued
that over time that culture,as well as the work providedby consumer
institutionsthat have proletarianizedmuch female labor and that have
establishedeven clearer class distinctionsamong women, has ceased to
generatethe same enthusiasmit once did.4It wouldbe mistaken,however,to
conclude,on the basis of thatshift,thatsuch enthusiasmneverexistedand
that the justificationforit was not compelling.To make such a judgment
would be to forfeitthe chance to understandhow consumercapitalism
appealedso well to thelongingsanddesiresofmanyindividualwomen.
The essayis dividedintotwo equal parts.The firstpartlaysout in detailthe
distinguishing elementsof the cultureof consumptionand uses the depart-
mentstoreas themaininstitutional focus.The secondpartdescribeshow the
behaviorofwomenwas affected and transformed by the cultureofconsump-
tionin generalandbythedepartment storein particular.
Bythe 1890ssuch consumerbusinessesas restaurants, hotels,theaters,and
drygoodshouses had been convertedintofestivalenvironments severedfrom
theirformer identities.Like thearchitectsofanygreatculturalventure,many
merchants placedmuchstockin thepowersoftheimaginationto inventa new
institutionalworld."Imaginationurgeson," wroteH. GordonSelfridge, the
Americanfounderof the Londondepartment storeSelfridge'sin 1909, in his
lyricalbook The Romance of Commerce. "It is the yeast of progress.It
picturesthedesirable." Consumerculture,as it tookshapeand everwidened
likean enchantedcircleuntilit touchedeverynookandcrannyofcitylife,was
above all an imaginative,improvisational, even surrealculture,freelymixing
oftencontradictory elementsinto fascinatingand originalpatternsthattook
somewhatdifferent formsin cities fromNew York to San Francisco.Such
improvisationalrichness acted as a check against the standardizingand
homogenizing thrustofmoderncapitalistindustryso longas themajorcities
and theregionssurrounding themretainedcontrolovertheirown productive
resources.5
4 StuartEwen and ElizabethEwen, Channels of Desire: Mass Images and the Shapingof
AmericanCulture(New York, 1982), 1-77; BarryBluestone,PatriciaHanna, SarahKuhn,and
Laura Moore, The Retail Revolution:MarketTransformation, Investment,and Laborin the
ModernDepartment Store(Boston,1981),98-151.
5 Hugh Dalziel Duncan, Cultureand Democracy: The Strugglefor Form in Societyand
Architecture in Chicagoand theMidwestduringtheLifeand TimesofLouisH. Sullivan(Totowa,
N.J.,1965),113-52;LewisA. Erenberg, Steppin'Out:New YorkNightlifeand theTransformation
ofAmericanCulture,1890-1930(Westport, Conn.,1981),113-230;ElizabethKendall,WhereShe
Danced (New York, 1979), 4-68; H. GordonSelfridge,The Romanceof Commerce(London,
1918),16; JaneJacobs,Citiesand theWealthofNations:PrinciplesofEconomicLife(NewYork,
1984),54-113,227-30;WarrenSusman,"The CultureofAbundance,"typescript, Sept.15, 1983,
pp. 1-35 (in Leach's possession);WilliamR. Taylor,"Towardthe Launchingof a Commercial
Culture: New York City, 1860-1939," typescript, March 16, 1984, pp. 19-22 (in Leach's
possession).
322 The Journalof American History

Departmentstorespicturedthe desirableas did no othercontemporary

institution.Launchedas earlyas the 1870s by the demandsof the market,
made possiblebymass concentrations ofcapitaland peopleand bytheexpan-
sion of the transportation system,departmentstoreshad appearedin thou-
sands of cities by the 1890s and had growninto the palatial giantsof urban
retail.Theyhad littlein commonwiththedrabdrygoodshousesoftheearlier
period, which had been operatedby pious Protestantmerchants.In the
languageof W. F. Hotchkin,an advertising managerat JohnWanamaker's,
storedecorators"transfigured" and "transposed"the storesas well as the
goodsinto "pictures"to impressthe customers.Behavinglike revolutionary
actors,the storesoccupied urban space in both physicaland psychological
ways. They soughtto weakenresistanceon thepartofpeopleunaccustomed
to thisformofbuying;theyattemptedto controlmarketsformerly dominated
bysmallerretailestablishments; and theycompetedsuccessfully withpopular
streetculture,which struggledto consumemuch of the same urbanspace.
Bolsteredbytheirown passions,storemerchantslaboredto justifytheirright
to existandto commandlargemarkets;andtheydidit,partly,through festive,
celebratory methods.6
The storesconductedstreetfairsand carnivalsin the springand the fall,
reritualizing thepassageoftime.LongbeforeR. H. Macy sponsoreditsfamous
Thanksgiving Day affair,firstorganizedin 1924 by its immigrantemployees,
department storeshad had similarfloraland floatparades.The storesknitthe
days between Thanksgivingand Easter more closely together. They
resurrected olderholidaysand dreamedup new ones, such as Ladies' Day and
the Fete d'Automne."Everydaymust be a special day." By 1900 seasonal,
festive,and exoticthemes- "central,"or "single," "'ideas" aroundwhichthe
details of store life were orchestrated-hadbecome part of the everyday
presentation ofcommodities.Storesweredecoratedto look like Frenchsalons,
rose and apple-blossomfestivals,"the streetsof Paris," Egyptiantemples,
semitropicalrefugesin the middleofwinter,Japanesegardens,the "October
woods." The Thousand and One Nights servedas a nearlyinexhaustible
source forfancifuldisplayideas. In May 1913 the huge rotundaof Wana-
maker'sNew Yorkstorewas voluptuouslydeckedout like a visionfromthat
collectionoftales. Althoughinterestin thatOrientaltext,and in ones similar
to it, ran deep in the streamofnineteenth-century urbanculturallife,it did
not take such widespreadinstitutional expressionuntilthistime.Fascination
withit was a markofnew desirespervasivelytakingshapewithintheculture
ofconsumption, whichmanyAmericansprojectedintofarawaylands.7
6 Dry Goods Economist, as a whole
Jan.5, 1901,p. 7. No book thatdiscussesthesestrategies
exists,althoughthe followingare useful:WilliamLeach, True Love and PerfectUnion: The
FeministReformofSex and Society(New York,1980),213-60; HarryE. Ressequie,"Alexander
TurneyStewart'sMarblePalace: The Cradle of the DepartmentStore,"New-YorkHistorical
SocietyQuarterly,48 (April1964),131-62;andSusanBensonPorter,"Palace ofConsumption and
MachineforSelling:The AmericanDepartmentStore,1880-1940,"RadicalHistoryReview,21
(Fall1979),199-221.
7L. Frank Baum, The Art of Decorating Dry Goods Windows (Chicago, 1900), 165-66; Dry
Goods Economist,March20, 1897,p. 97; ibid., Oct. 6, 1900,p. 20; ibid.,May 24, 1902,p. 73;
Womenand DepartmentStores 323

Departmentstoreswereamongthefirstmoderninstitutions to disseminate
the new technolgiesofcolor,glass,and light.The adoptionofthosetechnol-
ogies for display furtherenhanced the festiveatmosphereof the stores,
decisivelysettingoffthe world of consumptionfromthat of production.
Throughoutthe 1890s and beyond,merchantshelped make a new glass
environment, usingcurvedor straightglass doorsand shelves,glass counters
and containers,and,by 1905,forty-one differentkindsofglassshowcases.In a
majordeparture,the social implicationsof which have yet to be examined,
glass mediated between people and goods in a new way; it permitted
everything to be seen and at thesame timerenderedit inaccessible.Mirrorsof
all kindsappearedto createthe "illusion" of space and abundance,to "con-
ceal" defectsin storearchitecture, and to make each article"show to advan-
tage."8 Some mirrorsmultiplied images, whether of customers or of
commodities,to infinity.
Fromthe 1870sobserversoftheAmericancommercialscenerecognizedthe
radical culturalsignificanceof the use of color in display,thatits adoption
wouldact as a "handmaidento luxury,"as "an aid to comfort.""The effects
ofcolor," wrotejournalistGail Hamiltonin 1873, "bringan exquisiteenjoy-
mentwhichscarcelyanything else equals." Displaymanagerslearnedthenew
colortheoryandexploitedcolor,oftenin themostadroitways.Theydecorated
withpuffedarchwaysofcoloredsilk; theyhunggarlandsofflowers,draperies
of coloredplush, cages of coloredbirds.The biggeststoresdesignedrooms,
individualdisplays,theentirestorearounda singlecolorscheme.Greenin all
itstintsandshadesprevailedfrombasementtoroofat WilliamFilene'sSonsin
Bostonin 1901. In 1907 greenwas everywhere in Greenhut's,one ofthe last
greatstoresto servedowntownManhattantrade:carpets,side walls, stool
seats, and desk blottersworedifferent shadesofgreen;windowbackgrounds
weregreenvelvet,and the storeattendantsdressedin green;thereweregreen
stationery,greenstockboxesand wrappingpaper,greenstring,evengreenink
andgreenribbonforthegreenstoretypewriters. Perhapsmostimportant ofall,
customerssaw in the departmentstore, as in no other institution,the
spectrumofnew colorsmanufactured fromchemicaldyes.Theyviewed "fast
colors," colors in all combinations,colors that melted into one another,
inspiredby Loie Fuller, the Americandancer who performedin flowing
draperiesundercoloredlights.Fullerusheredinto existencenew prismatic
blendsof tintsin gauzes, artificialflowers,plumes,and ribbons.After1893
peoplecouldobservein thestorescolorsthatno one had everseenbefore.9
ibid.,July8, 1905,p. 79; W. H. Barley,"Powerof StoreDecoration,"StoreLife,1 (Oct. 1904),
7-8; Dolf Sternberger, Panoramaof theNineteenthCentury,trans.JoachimNeugroshel(New
York,1977),38-52.
8 DryGoodsEconomist, Sept.24, 1898,p. 9; ibid.,April14, 1900,p. 14; ibid.,Jan.21, 1905,p.
55; WarrenC. Scoville,Revolutionin Glassmaking:Entrepreneurship and TechnologicalChange
in theAmericanIndustry,1880-1920 (Cambridge, Mass., 1948), 78-83, 103-04, 253-59; Freda
Diamond,TheStoryofGlass (NewYork,1953),79-128.
9 Gail Hamilton,"A New Art,"Harper'sBazaar,Oct. 18, 1873,p. 658; DryGoodsEconomist,
March25, 1893,p. 16; ibid.,June29, 1893,p. 21; ibid.,March24, 1894,p. 83; ibid.,Jan.4, 1896,
p. 7; ibid.,March27, 1897,pp. 39-41; ibid.,April6, 1901,p. 51; ibid.,Feb. 2, 1904,p. 58; ibid.,
Sept. 21, 1907, p. 36; ibid., April3, 1920, pp. 103-07; K. Venkataramen, The Chemistryof
324 The Journalof American History

Artificialand naturallightingtransfiguredthe storesinto "refinedConey

Islands." Retailersmovedswiftlyfromgas and blindingarc lightto prismatic
light,whichefficiently focuseddaylightinto the stores,and to electriclight
from tungsten filaments in globed containers. After 1905 specially
constructed,concealed lamps erased shadows and evenly diffuseda soft
radiancethroughout interiors.Combinedwiththe technologiesof color and
glass, the effectof light could be stunning.Some stores had fountains
illuminatedbycoloredlightand had electricaltowersthatprojected"varying
hues." In 1902 MarshallField in Chicago erectedits magnificent opalescent
glass dome,designedbythe Louis C. TiffanyStudiosand illuminatedbyfour
"golden globes of light" suspended beneath, the largest single piece of
iridescentglass mosaic in the world.By the early1920s decoratorsadopted
spotlighting andcoloredscreensto transform interiorsintobeautifulspaces.'0
Exteriordisplaywas no less ingeniousorspectacularin itsminglingofcolor,
glass, and light.The storesfloodlighted theirexteriorsor outlinedthem in
light.Theyreliedon posterart,electricalsigns,and illuminatedand painted
billboards-all new kindsofadvertising blanketingthe cityscapeby 1915 and
producingsuch sightsas the "Blazing Trail" or the "Great WhiteWay." In
1913 GimbelBrothersofMilwaukeeput up the biggestelectricalsignin the
world. Hoisted to the top of a fourteen-story building in the heart of
Milwaukee and spelledout by 2,500 lamps, the word "GIMBELS" could be
read thirtymiles away. Those clearly focused signs, commercialguides
throughthespectacleofAmericanabundance,broughtgreatcolorand lightto
thecitysteets.Outdooradvertisers lovedtheidea thattheyhad thewholesky
as a background(and who else in thatera had such rightsto the sky?).Such
advertising,as retailers themselves liked to claim, was created to
communicateonly"agreeablesensations,"to makepeoplesmileand to forget
theirworries(and,of course,to buy); like otherformsof advertising, it was
supposedto "commandinvoluntary attention."It invitedprojectioninto a
new worldoffantasyand personaltransformation. As one observersaid ofthe
poster art of JulesCheret,the Frenchmanwho had a decisive impact on
Americandrygoodsposterdesign:"We sighforthingsthatneverhave been,
never can be and never would have been suggestedexcept forthe [poster
artist].""il
Synthetic Dyes (2 vols.,New York,1952),I, 1-4; David Paterson,The ScienceofColourMixing:
A Manual Intendedforthe Use ofDyers,Calico Printers, and ColourChemists(London,1900),
85-111; FaberBirren,Color and Human Response:Aspectsof Lightand Color Bearingon the
ReactionofLivingThingsand theWelfare ofHumanBeings(NewYork,1978),60-107.
10PhiladelphiaRetailLedger,Jan.17, 1923,p. 3; M. Luckiesh,Lightand Colorin Advertising
and Merchandising (New York,1923), 146-70,207-17; DryGoodsEconomist,Dec. 23, 1893,p.
38; ibid.,Oct. 26, 1912,p. 16; ibid.,Aug.30, 1919,p. 99; "ThroughEnglishEyes," StoreLife,1
(Oct. 1904),8.
1 "PosterArtin France,"Poster,1 (1896), 55; "Postersin America,"PosterandArtCollector,
1 (July1898),64-65; "Gimbel's Will Have theBiggestElectricSignin theWorld,"Signsofthe
Times: The Journal ofAdvertising Devotedto theInterestoftheAdvertiser,theAgencyand the
Purveyor ofPublicity,20 (Jan.1913),28; DryGoodsEconomist,Aug. 17, 1907,p. 263; ibid.,April
27, 1912, p. 95; "Schack's New WonderSpot and Floodlights,"Merchants'Recordand Show
Window,59 (Sept. 1926), 58; "Advertising Art," AdvertisingWorld:The Retail Merchants'
MagazineofAdvertising, 3 (May15, 1898),1-2; HerbertCecil Duce, PosterAdvertising(Chicago,
1912),126.
Womenand DepartmentStores 325

That desireto show thingsoff,to publicizeor to advertisewhateverAmer-

ican capitalismyielded,markeda criticalmomentin the formation of a new
cultureofconsumption.The conceptofshow invadedthe domainofculture,
whetherin the shape of a theatricalshow,a babyshow,a show girl,a show-
place, or a showroom.Perhapsinadvertently, the desireto show thingsoff
helpedto loosen theresistanceto personalsexual displayand performance in
public that had hithertodistinguishedAmericansocial behaviorAs Elbert
Hubbard,one ofthe greatpioneersin retailadvertising, declared,"lifeis too
shortforyouto hideyourself awaymantledin yourownmodesty. "'12
The departmentstoreshow window,emergingas major instrumentof
a
advertising, addedto thisdevelopment.Throughits windowsthedepartment
storeexercisedits mostmagicaland immediateexternalappealto women,as
well as to themen who stoppedto peerintothem.Plate-glasswindows,along
withthe windowsofotherconsumerand businessinstitutions, dramatically
alteredtheappearanceofcitystreets.Technologicalinventionand advertising
needs made storewindows,only erraticallyand unsystematically developed
fordisplayin the nineteenthcentury,centralto the success of department
storebusinessin the earlytwentiethcentury.Withthe adventof the cheap
manufacture of plate glass in this countryin the mid-1890s,show windows
becamemuchstronger, larger,andperfectly clear.By 1915greatbanksofstore
windowsextendednot only along the streetsbut beneaththemas well, at
subwaystopsin manymajorcities.13
After1915 manyofthelargeststoresweretransforming theirwindowsinto
littlestagesets, whereinsinglecommoditiesmightbe presentedin the best
possible light. "You must offeran easily realizedview of somethingin my
Lady's Mind," one retaileradvised his peers, "and she injectedwith that
invigorant, is goingto buy it, wants it, will have it." By lookinginto and
activelyinterpreting thosewindows,womenmighthave been stirred,not by
an "invigorant"to buy, but by some other stimulus,by some longing,
perhaps,forsomethingfarbeyondwhatanycommodityin thewindowmight
satisfy.Many stores went out of theirway to make theirwindows into
"people's picturegalleries,"displayingthe best in art. BeforeWorldWar I
people could see classical and Renaissanceart, art nouveau, cubism, and
futurism; and bythelate 1920s,artdeco. The windowsas a wholewereoften
moreimportantthan the goods withinthem: theycommunicatedfestivity,
vitality,beauty,and fantasy,revealingthe signatureof individualstoresand
theinnerpossibilitiesofstorelife.14
Departmentstoresseemed as if theywere not storesat all but theatrical
havens,imaginativemediumsthatdependedon theexistenceofcommodities
12 MiltonFuessle, 'ElbertHubbard,MasterofAdvertisingand Retailing,"AdvertisingWorld,
1915),142.
20 (Aug.-Sept.
13 LeonardS. Marcus, The AmericanStore Window(New York, 1978), 13-20; BarryJames
Wood,Show Windows:75 Yearsof theArtofDisplay (New York,1982), 1-18; Pittsburgh Plate
Glass,Glass:History,Manufacture,andIts Universal 1923),33-40.
Application(Pittsburgh,
14 Marcus,AmericanStore Window,23, 54, 56-57; RobertGrierCooke, "Show Window
Displays: The People's PictureGalleries,"AmericanMagazine of Fine Arts,2 (April1921),
115-17;DryGoodsEconomist,Nov. 12, 1898,p. 31.
326 The Journalof American History

and thattranscendedthemat the same time.As one storedecorator,Jerome

Koerber,declared,the point was to "eliminatethe store." Storemerchants
destroyedthe olderrealityassociatedwith retail sellingand createda new
realitythatvoraciouslyincorporated everymythand fantasy,everycustom
and traditionto enticepeople to shop and to keep themin the stores.The
department storeborrowedfromothermass consumerandpublicinstitutions,
as theydid fromit. By 1920 the department storewas a zoo (Bloomingdale's
and Wanamaker'sin New Yorkhad enormouspet stores),a botanicalgarden
(floralshops,miniatureconservatories, roofgardens),a restaurant(someofthe
major storeshad lavish restaurantsbiggerthan any otherin theircities), a
barbershop, a butchershop, a museum (giftand art shops, art exhibits),a
a postoffice,a beautyparlor.'5
world'sfair,a library,
As earlyas the 1890s, when merchantsstartedto build theirown audi-
toriums,departmentstores literallybecame theaters,puttingon plays,
musicals,concerts,and,in someinstances,spectacularextravaganzas. In 1904
RichardStraussconductedthe worldpremierperformance ofhis Symphonia
Domestica in the big rotundaof Wanamaker'sNew York store. Display
managersused theatricalstrategies insideandoutsidethestores.Windowsnot
onlywereconceivedas stagesetsbutalso oftendepictedscenesfromthelatest
theatricalproductions.By 1900 customersdidnot see thebleakerareasin the
stores,thecountingandbookkeeping rooms,themanufacturing floorsifthere
wereany. "The sellingdepartments," said one observerin 1902, "is thestage
uponwhichtheplayis enacted."6 Signsofhardworkwereplacedoutofsight.
The low wagesandmixedfeelingsofsalesclerkswerehiddenbehindcourteous
smilesandfashionableclothesoruniforms.
Had theybeen alive to witnessit, the merchantsof the 1840s would have
blinked at such a transformation. What, they would have asked, is an
auditoriumdoingin a retailstore?a restaurant? a roofgarden?a beautyparlor?
Whatis a beautyparlorin thefirstplace?
Immersedin those theatrical,surrealsettings,commoditiesthemselves
acquirednew life,new meanings.By 1900 theAmericaneconomywas based
on commodityexchangemarkets,cut offfromtraditionalformsofbarterand
giftexchange. This economy produceda plethoraof goods that in turn
createdwhatthepoetand essayistLewis Hydedescribesas an "excitementof
possibility."Unlike traditionalgifts(moderngiftsbegin as commodities),
which cannot be sold on the market,which circulateonly in tightlyknit
communities,and which bind individualsto and withinthe group,com-
moditiescirculatefreelyand have no bindingpower.That liberatingcharacter
ofcommodities,accordingto Hyde,generatesan excitementthatgiftsdo not
contain."The excitementofcommodities,"he writes,"is the excitementof
15 Neil Harris,"Museums,Merchandising, forInfluence,"in
and PopularTaste: The Struggle
MaterialCultureand the Studyof AmericanLife,ed. Ian M. G. Quimby(New York, 1978),
140-74; "StoreDecoration,"Merchants'Recordand Show Window,2 (April1912), 54; "The
UniqueGiftShop,"Pet Dealer,2 (Sept.1927),20; "The WanamakerPetShop,"Pet Shop,1 (July
1926),3.
16 Dry Goods Economist,Aug. 23, 1902, p. 21; GroverWhalen,Mr. New York: The Auto-

biography ofGroverWhalen(NewYork,1955),20.
Womenand DepartmentStores 327

possibility,offloatingawayfromtheparticularto tastetherangeofavailable
life." In a way unsurpassedby any other institutionof the time, the
department storehoused a vast rangeof excitingcommodities.Whatwomen
formerly made at home and in private-foods,clothing,soap, cosmetics,and
so on-was now arrayedbeforethemin public,made availablebyrevolutions
in transportation and communicationsto anyonewho could afford to buy it.
Fromthe early1890s the storesshowedan unprecedented quantityofgoods,
fromcoffeeand exoticfruitsto linen and wovenrugsfromfar-off places. The
storesmarketedout-of-season flowersandin theirownpetshopssoldanything
fromrarebirdsto marmosetmonkeys.17 Forthe firsttime,womenofnearly
any economic bracketcould choose froma spectrumof mass-produced,
increasinglystreamlinedeverydaywear and sportswear.By purchasing
imitationjewels, artificialsilk and furs,cheap perfume-all new on the
market-womencould partakeofboththeluxuryand thetheatricalbehavior
oftherich.
Departmentstores,however,did not simply "sell" commodities:they
intervenedwith advertisingskills to amplifythe excitementof possibility
inherentin the commodityform.They attemptedto endow the goods with
transformative messagesand associationsthatthe goods did not objectively
possess. As Marshall Field's advertisingput it in 1912, "throughthe
development ofideas thisstorebecomesa vastrepository ofpossibilitiesto the
individualcustomer.''8 To buya shawlin a "Japanesegarden, " therefore, was
to appropriatenot only the shawl but the exoticisminjectedinto it by its
setting.
Fashionintensified the excitementofcommodities."Fashion," observeda
retailerin 1908, "impartsto merchandisea value overand above its intrinsic
worth"and "imbues withspecial desirability goods whichotherwisewould
excite only languidinterest."The compellingpowerof thatvalue restson
what Rene Girardhas describedin anothercontext as the "model" of
"desire." This modelhas attributesthatpeopleseek to emulateand thatthey
hope will set them apartfromotherpeople, heighteningtheirdesirability.
Fashion intervenesbetween the commodityand the consumerto erect a
structureof "triangulardesire" and is especiallypotentin a fluentsociety
whereclass lines are unclear.Relentlesslyshifting,
fashioncauses anxietyin
thosewho obeyits laws; thusbecause themodelofdesireis alwaysembraced
bymanypeopleat thesame time,it at once loses its appeal,to be castawayfor
a newermodel,and thena newerone.'9 Fashionhas anotherdimension:it is
playfuland secular.Like themerchantswho constantlychangestoreinteriors
and exteriors,fashiondesignersexult in the imaginativereconstruction of
reality,the mixingofdiscordantelements,the exploitationofall stylesfrom
17 Lewis Hyde, The Gift:Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property(New York, 1983), 67-68;
"WanamakerPetShop,"3-5.
18 AdvertisingWorld,16 (March 1912), 11.
19 Dry Goods Economist, Aug. 15, 1908, p. 3; Rene Girard,Deceit, Desire, and the Novel: Self
and Otherin Literary trans.YvonneFreccero(Baltimore,
Structure, 1965),1-52. RendGirarddoes
notdealwithfashion;I haveappliedhisarguments
to thesubject.
328 The Journalof American History

traditionalto modern.Fashiondwellson customonlyas it enhancesthevalue

ofthegoods.
The Americandepartment storedidmorethananyotherinstitution to bring
fashionto multitudesofpeople.Fromthe 1870sit tiedtheglamourofParis,of
aristocracyandnobility,and latertheauraofthetheaterand themoviescreen
to the goods on display. In the early 1900s Americanmerchantstook a
revolutionary stepbyinstallingtheexclusiveand intimateParisfashionshow
in thedepartment store,a mass consumerinstitution.EhrichBrothersofNew
Yorkgetsthe creditforconductingthefirstshow in 1903,soon aftereclipsed
by Wanamaker'simpressiveshows and the "promenadedes toilettes" at
Gimbels. Exhibitingclothesdesignedby Europeansand laterby Americans,
and accompaniedbytherequisiterampsand stagesandbythefirstlive female
models,adultand juvenile,fashionshowswereimmediately popularin stores
everywhere in the country.After1915 therewerestyleshows and children's
fashionshows; unitedfashionand styleshows organizedby severalstoresat
once; fashionmovies;and,finally,thegreatfashionpageantsofthelate 1910s
and early 1920s, spectacular,multimediaaffairswith orchestras,models,
special effects,and theatricalperformancesand withthousandsof people in
attendance.The firstpageant,heldin St. Louis in thesummerof 1917,closed
with "Revels ofDionysius," a fullychoreographed dancenumber.Two years
latera pageantentitled"The GardenofEnchantment"was mountedaround
"AladdinandtheWonderful Lamp." 20
Limitedin thenineteenth centuryto a smallsectionofthepopulationliving
in relativelysmall cities,fashionswelled to huge proportions
by the 1920s.
The engineoffashionexistednow in thousandsofcitiesat theheartofevery-
day life, churningup desire for commoditiesthat carriedwith them the
promiseofpersonaltransformation.2'
A relatedfeatureofconsumerlifewas its sensuallysuggestiveandremissive
side. Departmentstoresdid little to preventor to controlthe looseningof
sensualboundries;indeed,theypromotedit, evenin thefaceofmuchopposi-
tion frompurityand reformgroups. "Certain organizationsof women,"
declaredtheeditorsoftheDryGoods Economist,themain tradevoice forthe
stores,"are claiming[that]the stores... areruiningtheyouthofthelandby
display of corsetsand garments"and "that the 'scandalous hussies [wax
figures]'shouldnot be permittedto displaytheirwaxen charmsso publicly.
Whatsortofmindsdo thesevenerablewomenpossess?Do theysupposethat
theyouthofourland are equallyadvancedin pruriencewiththemselves?"By
theturnofthe century,storewindowsshowedeverything frombedroomsets
20 "ShowingGowns on LivingModels," Merchants'Recordand Show Window,25 (Nov.

1909),39; "LivingModels,"ibid.,22 (May1908),45; DryGoodsEconomist,Oct. 10, 1903,p. 14;

ibid.,Aug.19, 1911,p. 49; ibid.,April12, 1913,p. 55; ibid.,Oct. 3,1914,pp. 45-46;ibid.,Oct. 10,
1914,p. 34; ibid.,April1, 1916,pp. 73-75;ibid.,March3, 1917,p. 15;ibid.,Aug.25, 1917,pp. 77,
95; ibid., July12, 1919, p. 24; ibid., Aug. 27, 1921, pp. 16-17; "CooperativeShow Window
Advertising," Signsof the Times, 16 (June1912), 28; Lillian Drain, "Many Artistsin Fashion
ShowPosterContest,"Poster,3 (Oct. 1912),23-24; AlbertMorenson,"FashionShowPostersin
Los Angeles,"ibid. (April1913), 43-44; "How New StylesAre Shown by Means of Moving
Pictures,"Department Store,1 (April1914),14.
21 Lois W. Banner,AmericanBeauty(NewYork,1983),17-85,175-225.
Womenand DepartmentStores 329

to teacups,fromlingerieto eveninggownsthatclearlyoutlinedthebodywith
"slits up one side to leave stillless to the imagination."Withthe openingof
theirliquorand winedepartments in thelate 1890s,thebigstoresopposedall
efforts by temperancegroupsto restrictsales. Storeadvertising, moreover,
soughtto trigger buyingon impulse,by feelingand not by rationalthought,
and to openpeoplefurther to sensualsuggestion.By creatingartificial, festive
environments and by saturatinggoods and storeswith meaning,merchants
conjuredup whatcan onlybe calleda potentially uncontrollable circumstance
of longingand desire.The outcomemust have been to widen the terrainin
whichmanyformsofdesireweregivenexpression. 22
Departmentstorescontributed to theformation ofan image-producing cul-
turethat further weakenedsensual controls.By theirverynature,colorful
images,whetherin theformofwindows,illustrations, posters,or billboards,
appealeddirectly to the visual sense and had thepower to stirtheimagaination
in a less mediatedway than did whiteand black copyor illustration.Retail
advertisers werequick to graspthatfactand by 1910 wereregularly replacing
what RobertOgden, Wanamaker'spioneeringadvertisingmanager,called
"cold print" with "hot pictures." Endowedwith color, those images pos-
sessedcarnivalesqueproperties, sensualconcreteness, plasticity,andzest.23
Servicewas anotherremarkablefeatureofthestoresand ofotherconsumer
institutions.From the moment that the dry goods houses began rapidly
developingin the 1870s in a climateofintenserivalry,servicewas grafted to
storepractice.Consumptionand serviceevolved together.Ladies' parlors,
restaurants and lunchcounters,thepracticeofgivingfreegiftsand souvenirs
such as flowersand ice cream,freecheckingservices-all had reachedthe
commonplaceby the 1890s. As earlyas 1895 manystoreswereoffering free
child-carefacilities-smallnurseriesand, later,elaborateplaygrounds staffed
bytrainedpersonnel-thatgave customersthechanceto wanderaboutand to
shopalone. Orchestrasand smallbandsthatplayedforthecustomersbecame
so popularthatpeople "expectedto do theirshoppingto theaccompaniment of
music." Siegel-Coopereven stationedan all-womenorchestrain its grocery
department. By 1910 people could attendfreeartexhibitions,lectures,plays,
and "extravaganzas"organizedforthemin storetheatersand recitalhalls. In
1903 Siegel-Cooper,famousforits "spectacularextravaganzas,"producedin
22 DryGoodsEconomist, Nov. 17, 1900,p. 14;ibid.,Nov. 30, 1901,p. 71; ibid.,May2, 1903,p.
68; ibid.,July4, 1908,p. 4; "Mobs ViewDirectoire,"DryGoodsReporter, 1 (Aug.15, 1908),12;
"CostumeandMorality,"ibid.,2 (July17, 1909),12. Practically anyissueoftheDryGoodsEcon-
omistafter1895showsphotographs ofunderwear orlingeriewindows,butsee thephotograph ofa
boudoirwindowwithtwowomendressedin underwear in DryGoodsEconomist,Oct. 19, 1901,
p. 55.
23 "AdvertisingArt," AdvertisingWorld,3 (May 15, 1898), 1-2; Jean-ChristopheAgnew, "The
ConsumingVisionofHenryJames, " in The CultureofConsumption: CriticalEssaysin American
History,1880-1980,ed. RichardWightmanFox and T. J.JacksonLears (New York,1983), 65-
100; Neil Harris,"Iconographyand IntellectualHistory:The Half-ToneEffect,"in New Direc-
tionsin AmericanIntellectualHistory,ed. Highamand Conkin,196-211;EstelleJussim,Visual
Communicationand the GraphicArts:Photographic Technologiesin theNineteenthCentury
(New York,1974), 69-144; PeterC. Marzio, The DemocraticArt:Picturesfora 19th-Century
America:Chromolithography, 1840-1900(Boston,1979),1-27.
330 The Journalof American History

itsfifth-floor
auditoriuma six-week-long "CarnivalofNations," climaxingin
August with "Oriental Week" and highlightedby an exotic show called
"Phantasma,The EnchantedBower." That show,embellishedby "thrilling"
light-and-coloreffects,delivereda "glimpseoftheOrient-a turkishharem,a
paradeofturkishdancinggirls,a 'genie' of the lamp" and "Cleopatraof the
Nile." A yearlaterthe storestagedits "Amazma" show,whichconsistedof
"incandescent illusions," "weird transformations,"and "startlingand
beautifulelectricaldisplays." 24
The bigstoreshadbranchpubliclibrariesand tinyhospitalsto careforailing
shoppers.Store"hostesses" guidedand entertained the "guests" who might
otherwisehavebeenbefuddled orlost. Fromthelate 1890smerchants beganto
extendchargeprivilegesto moreand morewomen.By 1902 chargeaccounts
had achievedfulland widespreadlegitimacy;in thatyeareverystorein New
Yorkbutone hadfallenin linewiththecreditranks.25
OvertimemanyAmericanshad cometo considerthedepartment storeas an
"eleemosynaryinstitutionmaintainedforthe purposeof servingthe public
withoutregardforprofit. " Visitorsto theUnitedStateswereastonishedbythe
extentof the service.As an EnglishadvertisingmanagerfromHarrodsin
London declaredin 1919, "I do not know whetherstoreshave createdand
fosteredthedemandforservice,orwhetherit has developedbecausetherewas
a desire for service which departmentstores recognizedand met; but it
certainlycauses a tremendousamount of overhead expense, and it is a
questionifithas notbeencarriedtoofar.' 26
Servicefit,yetdidnotfit,theAmericanscene. On theone hand,merchants,
bydispensingservicesorgiftsand byproclaiming thatall customerswouldbe
cared for in the stores and that no comfortwould not be forthcoming,
challenged both the atomism of the commoditymarket and the older
republican-individualist contentionthat people must be self-reliantand
independent.On the other hand, service appeared to fulfillthe utopian
Americanpromisethat the happinessand well-beingof everyonecould be
providedfor.The emphasiswas on individualhappiness,althoughit was to be
satisfiedwithininstitutional settings.Servicecould be describedas a peculiar
Americanvariantof neosocialism (I do not think "corporatepaternalism"
quite capturesthe meaninghere),existingin tensionwiththe imperativesof
commodityselling.Manymerchantsviewedthe storesas public,notprivate,
24 Siegel-Cooperadvertisement, in BellaLandauer,comp.,retailadvertisement scrapbook,n.p.,
Bella LandauerCollectionofAdvertising Art(New-YorkHistoricalSociety,New YorkCity);Dry
GoodsEconomist,March16, 1895,p. 32; ibid.,June13, 1896,p. 10; ibid.,Aug.22, 1896,p. 16;
ibid.,March27, 1897,pp. 39-41;ibid.,July16, 1898,p. 79; ibid.,Nov. 17, 1900,p. 15;ibid.,April
21, 1906,p. 87; ibid., Sept. 28, 1907,p. 95; Siegel-CooperCompanyofNew York:A Bird'sEye
ViewofNew York(NewYork,1898),134-35; "New York'sNew Store,"StoreLife,1 (May1904),
25-27; "ThroughEnglishEyes," 8; Leach,TrueLoveandPerfectUnion,234-35.
25 DryGoodsEconomist, April26, 1902,p. 18;ibid.,Feb. 28, 1903,p. 68; ibid.,Jan.16, 1904,p.
21; ibid.,Aug.22, 1908,p. 9; "A BranchoftheNew YorkPublicLibrary to Be OpenedShortlyin
theBig Store,"Thoughtand Work,1 (Jan.15, 1905),6. The termguestswas commonlyused by
merchants todescribetheircustomers.Barley,"PowerofStoreDecoration,"7-8.
26 DryGoodsEconomist, Oct. 28, 1916,p. 55; ibid.,Aug.30, 1919,p. 49.
Womenand DepartmentStores 331

institutionsand wereso enthusiasticaboutservicethattheircommitment to

it threatenedto overturnthe systemofprofitthatgave birthto it in thefirst
place. Of the establishedmerchants,JohnWanamakerapproacheda utopian
perspective.In 1897he seriouslyproposedthathis storewas nota "capitalist"
or "Wanamakerstore"servingmercenary motives:it was a "people's store."
Most merchants,however,triedto resolvethe tensionbetweenserviceand
profitin behalfofprofit.Attheriskoflosingcustomers,theypassedon service
expensesto consumersin theformofhigherprices;theycut back on services
or introducedself-service;theylevied chargesforsuch thingsas alterations
and deliveries.Nevertheless,thetroublingfactremainedthatcustomerscould
enjoymanyoftheserviceswithoutevermakinga purchase.27
The combinedelementsof consumerlife-fantasyexteriorsand interiors,
commodityexcitements, fashion,service-createda dynamicchemistry capa-
ble of influencing,even changing,individualidentitiesand genderbehavior.
White middle-classwomen were the firstto experiencethat world at the
closest range,the firstto feel its transformative power. The impact was
complex.
On theone hand,such consumerbusinessesas department storesdeepened
and reinforced genderdistinctions;storedecorators,by consciouslycrafting
interiorspaces and schemes, forcefullyinstitutionalizedstereotypesand
imagesthatmay have been incompletelyrealizedonlyin the mindsofmost
menand women.Thus thecolorin thestores,thefashionand thetheater,the
indulgenceand theimpulsebecameevermoreassociatedin themindsofboth
sexes withfemininity. Those conditionswouldgo unchangedeven as depart-
mentstoresopenedtheirdoorsto men in a big way in the early1920s. Over
timemenhad separatestreetand elevatorentrancesand separatedepartments,
or "stores," dressedin dark and "rugged" colors. Everything was done to
create distinctgenderspaces formen and women, even as (or especially
because) the exigenciesof the capitalistmarketpulled them more closely
together thaneverbeforein thepublicdomain.The motivewas notto prevent
sexual interactionin public (which mighthave been the case in another
culture)butto givemenpsychological peace ofmind.28
On the otherhand, at the same time thatconsumerlifereinforced sexual
differences,it also challengedthem. The most obvious changeforwomen
came in the area of work,althoughto a limiteddegree.In thatnew context,
the oldersexual divisionoflabor,whichconnectedwomenwiththe produc-
tion ofhouseholdcommodities,functionedin behalfoffemaleindependence
outsidethe home. In the periodafter1890, manywomenacrossthe country
workedas editorsand copywriters forfashionand advertising periodicals,as
posterand billboardadvertisersin advertisingagencies,as dressdesignersand
illustrators,and as directorsor owners of cosmetic firms.Althoughmen
indisputablyfilledthe highestmanagerialranks,women workedat nearly
everyotherlevel ofthedepartment storehierarchy.By 1912MaryH. Tolman,
27 Ibid.,Aug.7, 1897,p. 67; ibid.,Jan.20, 1917,pp. 7-13,29; ibid.,May 19, 1917,pp. 7, 13, 17;
ibid.,March16, 1918,pp. 7-11,33.
28 Ibid.,April3, 1920,pp. 235-37.
332 The Journalof American History

an analystofthe stores,could say that"heremorethananywhereelse, equal

pay and equal opportunities have been offeredto those who show results-
whethertheyare men or women." Here,moreover,as AchsahGardner,style
coordinatorat MarshallField in the 1920s,proclaimed,"a greatmanygirls
who aren'tmarried,and a lot ofthosechoosingnot to be married,are having
lives of theirown thatare moreexcitingand stimulatingthananythingthey
dreamed couldeverhappentothem. " 29
Middle-classwomenfoundjobs as storedoctors,as assistantmerchandising
managers,as professionalshoppers,and as travelingmodels. In manystores
theypredominated as advertising
managersand as educationalsocial-welfare
directors. A numberofwomentraveledtheworldas sales representatives, a job
so unusual,so new, thatit inspiredEdna Ferberto fictionalizethe experience
of such a woman, the firstdepictionin Americanliterature,accordingto
Ferber,of the life of an "Americanbusiness woman." Above all, women
workedas buyers,oftengainingsuch status afteryearsof hard toil in the
stores.Femalebuyers,commonlylabeledthe "primadonnas" or "queens" of
retailing,commandedtheirown budgets,acted as individualmerchantsin
theirown departments, receivedexcellentsalaries,and went everywhere in
the countryand abroadto discovermarketsand styles.By 1916 almostone-
thirdof departmentstorebuyerswere women; by 1924, over one-third,a
surprising figuregiventhe centralimportanceof the department storeto the
Americaneconomy.30
At one significantlevel,then,consumerlifeprovideda minorityofwomen
withindependencewhereonce theyhad beenconstrained bydependence.The
possibilityforgendertransformation, however,existed on a multitudeof
29 Emily Kimbrough, ThroughCharley'sDoor (New York, 1952), 178; Mary H. Tolman,
PositionsofResponsibility in Department Storesand OtherRetailSellingOrganizations: A Study
ofOpportunities forWomen(New York,1921),37; "BusinessNotes," Poster,3 (Nov. 1912),9;
EdmundArrowsmith, "Womenin thePosterAdvertising Field,"ibid. (Dec. 1912), 19-21; "She
Putsthe 'Flash' in Flashers,"SignsoftheTimes,20 (Oct. 1, 1913),38; "'We AreSeven,'Saythe
Olivie Sisters,Hair Specialists,"IndependentWoman,7 (Sept.1927), 18-19,47; Rose Gotthold,
"One Woman'sSuccess," BusinessWoman'sMagazine,1 (Nov. 1914),38-39; "BusinessHelps,
Money-Making PlansfortheAmbitiousGirl,"ibid., 63-65; CatharineOglesby,FashionCareers
AmericanStyle(NewYork,1930),35-266.
30 LouiseRobinson Blaisdell,"FromCash Girlto Buyer, " BusinessWoman's Magazine,2 (April
1915),50-52; Mae De Mon Sutton,I Reminisce- (FortLauderdale,1942),29-39, 59-67; Estelle
Hamburger, It's a Woman'sBusiness(NewYork,1939),106-08,114-15,174-75,192-93,228-29;
Woman'sJournal, Aug.5, 1916,p. 251; "Places in theSun," Independent Woman,1 (Oct. 1920),
7; ElizabethHale Lally, "The Big DepartmentStore: The AdvertisingManager'sJob, " in
Advertising CareersforWomen,ed. BlancheClair and DorothyDignam (New York,1939),35;
Merle Higley,Womenin Advertising in New YorkAgencies(New York, 1924), 1-18; Beulah
ElfrethKennard,The EducationalDirectorin the Retail Store (New York, 1918), 1-12; Edna
Ferber,Emma McChesneyand Co. (New York, 1915); Edna Ferber,A PeculiarTreasure(New
York,1939), 172-73. The figureson buyersarefromSheldon'sRetailTradein theUnitedStates
{NewYork,1916,1924).This directory furnished theretailbusinesswitha listofall buyersin the
countryand is stillpublishedtoday.The 1916percentage is basedon a sampleof3,592buyersin
majorcitiesin New York,Illinois,Pennsylvania, California,
Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the
Deep South,1,315ofwhomwerewomen;the1924figure of7,922,whichcoversmorecitiesin the
country, includes3,040women.Ibid.,1-289.The figures do notreflectthetotalnumberofbuyers
inbothyears.
Womenand DepartmentStores 333

planes,touchingbothwomenwhoworkedandthosemiddle-classwomenwho
shoppedand spentmuchoftheirtimein thestores.
As earlyas the 1840s and 1850s,especiallyin the urbancenters,shopping
had become a woman's job, reflecting the genderdifferentiation
ofrolesthat
resultedfromtheseparationofworkplaceandhomeandthatwas supported by
theriseofwage and salariedmale labor.An indexofthecontrolmanymiddle-
class women had overthe familybudget,shoppinggave thema measureof
economicpowertheylackedbynot working.Afterthe Civil Warthenumber
ofshoppingwomenincreased.In thelate 1860sAlexanderTurneyStewart,the
firstgreatdepartment storeprince,pioneeredin institutionalizing
shoppingas
a femaleactivity.It was one of his dreamsto see "two acres of ladies all
shoppingat one time." By the 1880s the New YorkTimes could report"the
awfulprevalenceof the vice of shoppingamong women," an addiction,it
warned,"everybit as bad as male drinking or smoking."As retailinstitutions
and districtsexpanded,shoppingbecamepossibleformoreand morewomen.
By 1915 women were doing between 80 and 85 percentof the consumer
purchasing in theUnitedStates.31
In the earlyperiod shoppingwas only a minorincidentin the roundof
domesticchoresperformed bymostmiddle-classwomen.Moreover,as many
diariesof such womenindicate,it neversupersededsuch publicactivitiesas
churchgoing and charityormoralreform work.Forexample,thediaryofMary
LesterHarris,wifeof a New York Citydrygoodsmerchant,nevermentions
shopping;rather,Harrisis concernedwithherfamilyand, particularly, with
religion."This is thelast dayoftheyear,"she writestypicallyin 1848, "and
what have I done forChrist?"By 1880 Christianreformworkincreasingly
competedwithshoppingfortheattentionofcitywomen.SophieC. Hall, wife
of an Episcopalianminister,beginsher diarywith religiousreflectionsand
describesin subsequentpagesherprayermeetingsand missionarywork.But
Hall also shops, often much longer than she wishes. "Got to Macy's
Emporium,"she writesin January 1879. "I saw so manybeautifulthingsthat
we foundit a tryingmatterto getout." 32
Bytheturnofthecentury,shoppinghad developedintoan almostfull-time
secular and public business. It was also an adventureburstingwith new
meanings.In thatnew contextshoppingposed manydangersformiddle-class
womenwho weredependenton male incomes.Througha multitudeofdisplay
devices,merchants"encouraged"womento "indulgetheirown desires,"to
buy withoutmuch thoughtor reflection.33 Such encouragement mighthave
releasedunsettlingimpulses,leadingsome women to shoplifting. Still other
women,who enjoyedthebenefitsofthenew liberalcreditpolicies,mighthave
31 "Women Controlthe FamilyPurse," Advertising World,33 (July1928), 44-45; D. J.K.,
"Shoppingat Stewart's,"Hearthand Home, 1 (Jan.9, 1869), 43; JoelBenton,"The Woman
Buyer,"Fame,7 (Oct. 1898),403; New YorkTimes,June13, 1881,p. 13.
32 MaryLesterHarris Diary,Dec. 30, 1848,HarrisCollection(Manuscripts
Division,New-York
Historical Society,New York City); Sophie C. Hall Diary, Monday morning,Jan. 1879
(Manuscripts Division,New YorkPublicLibrary).
33 DryGoodsEconomist, Sept.15, 1894,p. 25.
334 The Journal
ofAmerican
History

boughtcompulsively;theymighthave confusedthepossessionofgoodswith
the fulfillmentoftheirlongingforhappiness.The outcomein bothinstances
mighthave been greatpsychologicaldisorientation and intensemaritaland
familyconflict.
Throughoutthatperiodan increasingnumberof courtcases pittedwives,
who boughtwell beyondtheirmeans, againsthusbands,who refusedto pay
theirwives' debts. Some judgesruledin favorof the husbands;theyargued
thatthe common-lawconceptof "necessaries,"whichrequiredhusbandsto
payfortheirwives' bed,board,clothing,and so forth,didnotcoverthecostof
furcoats and jewelryor of any othersuperfluouscommodity.Otherjudges,
who expandedthe meaningof necessariesand thus elicited the thanksof
merchants,backed the wives. Those cases as a whole illustratethe strain
placed on marriageby the spread of creditand fashionand by the new
abundanceofcommodities.Suchnew realitiesthreatened therelativelystable
equilibriumbetweenthesexesthatmarkednineteenth-century sociallife.34
All womenwerepotentially vulnerableto theperilsofshopping,butmost,it
is probablysafeto say, suffered
verylittlefromthem.As the diariesofmany
metropolitan womenoftheupper-middle class indicate,manyofthosewomen
werenot so muchdisoriented by consumerlifeas fascinatedwithit and with
the new opportunities forescape and pleasure.MarjorieReynolds,a young
New Yorkwoman,writeson February18, 1908: "Gorgeousday, 5thAve. a
dream.To Wanamaker'salone forerrand."Andon April2, 1909: "To Papa's
office.Lunchedwith him at the Down Town Club withglee.... Thence
uptown again. I love the whirl of these streets!Marianne down from
Litchfield-metherat Altman'sandhad someconfab." Mrs. GeorgeRichards,
an affluentwomanfromupstateNew Jersey, wentshoppingeverysecondor
thirdday.A fewofherdiaryentriesareas follows:
January 12,1903.MotherandI to townon 10.57.Altman's, Arnold's.
Lunchedwith
Kate Mitchellat the Woman'sClub, 9 E 46. Called thenon Mrs. Hornblower,
Wanamaker's, homeon5.15.
January 17, 1903.Wentto townon theErie,at 9.46. Stern's,Mirrian's,Aitken's,
Vautin's,Johnson andFaulkner, Macy's.Lunch168.M. andI to Marquand Pictures.
Homeon4.55.
February 26,1903.To townat 12:30.O'Neill's,Altman's.Lunchattearoomson20th
st.... Stern's,
McCreery's....home4.55.
March2, 1903.To townon 9:30.... toLax,Macy,Altman's, O'Neill's,Simpsonand
Arnold's, Homeon 5:15
lookingfora greysuit.Arnold's$25. Shoesat Alexander's.
withGeorge.
The Richardsdiaryis remarkable forseveralreasons.Itreflectsthecharacterof
in
time an upper-middle-class woman'slife:flexible,fluent,unlikemale work
rhythms, althoughdeterminedat its outerlimitsby male time. The diaryis
it has virtuallynothingin it but shoppingdates and
utterlyunintrospective;
excursions,recordsof departuresto and fromManhattanor Newark,ritual
data ofgreatimportanceto thiswoman.The diaryshowshow muchRichards
34 Ibid.,July12, 1902, p. 62; ibid.,Oct. 24, 1903, p. 49; ibid.,July5, 1905, p. 61.
Womenand DepartmentStores 335

didnot like beingcoopedup at home. She spentmuchofhertimein public

shopping.35
Even more interestingare the personal writingsof Mary Antin and
MargueriteDelavarreDuBois. Antin,a Jewishimmigrantwho came to the
"PromisedLand" in 1898,lived mostof heryouthin the Chelsea districtof
Boston. Every Saturdaynight she and her girlfriends would "march up
Broadway,and [take]possessionofall we saw ... ordesired,"stayingout "till
all hours." They pressedtheir "noses and fingerson plate glass windows
ablaze withelectriclightsand alluringwithdisplay."Theyinspected"tonsof
cheap candy,to finda fewpennies'worthof the most enduringkind." Such
experiences,Antinsaid, planted"treasures[in] my brain," which she later
drew on as an adult. What were those treasuresbut the contentof a new
identity,a new kind of person who would regardthe futureas one of
"shining," unfolding possibility.Blockingout theinequitiesandmiseriesthat
burdenedthe immigrant communityfromwhichshe came, Antincompared
her life to a "fairy story," observing how she moved from one
"transformation" to another."I have reached," she declaredas an adult,
"what was the second transformation of my life,as trulyas my comingto
Americawas the firstgreattransformation." Partofthatfirsttransformation
tookplace in a "dazzlinglybeautifulpalace calleda 'department store,"' when
she and hersister"exchangedourhatefulhomemadeEuropeancostumes. . .
forreal Americanmachine-madegarments,and issued forthglorified in each
other'seyes."36
A Manhattan teenager,DuBois lived with her workingmother in a
reasonablycomfortable midtownapartment.On clear, brightdays in 1907
when she was not learningFrench,sewing,or attendingart classes, DuBois
lovedto go walkingon Broadway,boundedon everyturnbyconsumerinstitu-
tions.Forher,nearlyeverydayin New Yorkwas "swell elegant,""peachy,"
"scrumptuous, " and "glorious," especiallythosedaysthatfreedherto go into
the streets."I may as well take up residenceon Broadway,"she said in her
diary,so oftendid she go abroad.Characteristically,she wrote:"Up earlyand
wentdownto Myra's.We wentdowntownand shoppedand walkedup Broad-
way to Macy's-had more funthan a 'barrelof monkeys."' DuBois's diary
reportsphone calls, outingswith the camera,subwayjourneysto the new
theatersand soda fountains,visitsto the Knickerbocker and Waldorf-Astoria
hotels,and, above all, shoppingjauntsto such storesas Macy's, B. Altman,
and JamesMcCreery.She met herfriendsat the storesand ate withthemin
the storerestaurants.She traveledthe elevatorsand escalatorsto see the
abundanceof goods, and she witnessedthe entertainment suppliedby the
storesto womenwhohad theleisureto enjoythem.37
35 Marjorie
ReynoldsDiary,Feb. 18, 1903,April2, 1909,ReynoldsFamilyPapers(Manuscripts
Division,New-YorkHistoricalSociety);Mrs. GeorgeRichardsDiary,Jan.12, Jan.17, Feb. 26,
March2, 1903,RichardsFamilyPapers,ibid.
36 MaryAntin,ThePromisedLand(Boston,1912),187,261-62,321.
37 Marguerite
DelavarreDuBois Diary,Feb. 2, Feb. 8, March 1, March8, March27, April28,
May 10, May 29, Nov. 13, Dec. 11, Dec. 28, 1907 (ManuscriptsDivision, New York Public
Library).
336 The JournalofAmericanHistory

These diariesandautobiographical accountsshowhowfarthesecularization

of thoughtand behaviorhad proceededin the lives of manywomen,whose
daily activityseems to have been barelytouchedby religiousreflectionor
worksof charity.Such accountsand diariesalso displayhow much middle-
class womenhad come to occupyand to move comfortably withinthepublic
domain.Theirnew freedomwas madepossiblebytheemergenceofa quintes-
sentiallyfeminineworldconstructedaroundthe commodityformthat had
cometo dominatetheurbansceneby 1915.F. LaurentGodinez,one ofthefirst
important on citystreetlighting,
authorities clearlyhintedat thatrelationship
when he wrotein 1914, "The Americancityis in a state of evolution,due
largelyto woman'sinfluence,and thereis a rapidlyspreadingsentimentto the
effectthat our cities . . . must be something more than bare shelters for
enormousaggregations ofhumanity.... Theymustbe placesto live in ... and
must afford facilitiesforrecreationand the attainmentof an artisticideal."
Once consideredonly privatebeings with identitiescircumscribedby the
limitsof the domesticfrontier, women had now entereda public space no
longerprincipallymasculinein character.Moreover,by 1920 manywomen,
workingin fashionand consumerindustries, had acquiredthepowerto shape
in some degreethepubliccultureof consumption.An utterlydifferent social
contexthad appeared,farremovedfromthe earlycapitalistone JohnMack
Farragher describesin Womenand Men on the OverlandTrail,wheremen
controlledthe public life and where women's culturewas tetheredto the
hearth.38A publiclifein culturaltensionin whichthelivesofwomenandmen
interfusedand competedforinfluencehad emerged.
The cultureand institutionsofconsumptiondidmuchmore,however,than
make the lives ofwomenmoresecularand public. As the women'spersonal
statementsalso reveal,theydrewwomen deeplyinto a new individualism
foundedon commodityconsumption, noton theproductionofgoodsoron the
individualownershipofproperty. Fosteringthe idea thatwomenoughtto be
treatedas individualswithspecial interestsand withdesiresforcomfortand
pleasure,consumerservicemusthave inducedmanywomen to believe that
theyoughtto be served,not to serveothers.In the mindsof at least some
women,thatconvictionhad considerableimplicationsforthe sexualrelation,
suggesting thatmenoughtto entertainand to servewomen,nottheotherway
around.The idea was to take its most extremeexpressionin an articleby
journalistHelen Lawrenson,writtenfor Esquire Magazine in the 1930s.
Lawrensonarguedthatthe "new modernman" oughtto imitatethe "gigolo,"
because gigolosunderstandthe "feminineyearningto get away fromhome"
and "offer"women "the wholeworldas a playground.""Serviceforladies is
his watchword";andhis motto,"The customeris alwaysright.'J39
38 F. LaurentGodinez,Display WindowLighting and theCityBeautiful:Facts,and New Ideas
forProgressive Womenand Men on the
Merchants(New York,1914), 19; JohnMack Farragher,
OverlandTrail(NewHaven,1979),110-43.
39Helen Lawrenson,"Wanted:A New ModernMan," EsquireMagazine,40 (Jan.1939),35,
127-29.
Women and Department Stores 337

The inventive, surreal, multicolored,and image-saturatedtexture of

consumerlife,theexcitementofpossibilityinherentin thecommodityform,
the aura of fashion,the appeals of desire and fulfillment-allstimulated
women to imaginea morevariedrangeof individualexpressionand experi-
ence. Anupsurgeoflonging,a diffuse desireforsomethingbetteror,perhaps,a
quest focusedon a concretechange,was a hallmarkofthe consumerculture.
In FlorencePeck,a younglibrarianfromBostonwho knewconsumerlifevery
well, the longingassumedits diffuseform."Have you everhad the desire,"
she musedin her1903diary,"the awfullongingforsomething,someone that
you could not have-away down in your heart-that dreadfullongingfor
something,some one." DuBois, on the otherhand,had a bettergripon her
dreams.AftervisitingtheWhiteLinePierin New York,to watchthedeparture
of the magnificentluxuryliner Oceanic, she exclaimed, "Oh! Gee how I
longedto stayon board-Justthinkwhatoodlesand oodlesoffunwe'd have
Witha heavyheartI leftthatship.Oh! to be in Rome!London!and the Ocean
justseemstocallme!" 40
The thoughtand behaviorof AmericanfeministsbeforeWorldWar I also
displayedthe imprintofthe cultureofconsumption.Feministideology,once
partlybased on the individualistdemandthatwomenbe givenindependence
throughproductivework, now began to absorb the newer individualist
demand for greatersensual gratification and experience.That process is
discernibleas earlyas thelate 1880s,whensuchleadersofthewomen'srights
movementas Lucy Stone,MaryLivermore,JuliaWardHowe, and Charlotte
Perkins Gilman joined the ranks of Nationalism,an indigenoussocialist
movementfoundedbyEdwardBellamy,whichputthedepartment storeat the
core of its vision. Althoughmost of the women of thatmovementdid not
discardolder commitmentsto productivelabor or to the beliefin rational,
well-balancedbehavior,some ofthemdid beginto rejectinheritednotionsof
thrift,temperance,and self-denial.NationalistJaneCroly,a noted fashion
columnistand a women's rightsleader,declaredthat all men and women
ought to have "warmth,luxury,and the softnessof blended colors, the
freedomfromthe rude influencesof life environedby materialbeautyand
comfort"and "therightto participatein whateverlifehas to bestow.''41
Manywomenwho headedthewomanmovementin thelate nineteenthand
the earlytwentiethcenturiesfeltunease and unrestin the face of the new
culture.They struggledover its moral and social implications,the way it
turnedaway fromestablishedtraditionsand settledformsand threatenedto
uprootwomenfromtraditionalfamilialsettings,makingthemvulnerableto
exploitationin a new and anonymouscommunalforum.In the midstof the
departmentstore revolutionin retailing,many women, from different
40 FlorencePeck Diary, April 12, 1903 (ManuscriptsDivision, New York Public Library);
DuBois Diary,July3, 1907.
41 MariJoBuhle,WomenandAmerican Socialism,1870-1920(Urbana,1981),75-90, 246-85;
JennieJune[JaneCroly],"The New PointofView," Nationalist,1 (Oct. 1889),195-97;William
Leach, "LookingForwardTogether:Feministsand EdwardBellamy,"democracy,1 (Jan.1982),
120-34.
338 The JournalofAmericanHistory

perspectiveswithinthe woman movement,were fighting to erase prostitu-

tion, to eliminatethe peddlingof false images of women in the media, to
protectwomen and childrenfromthe dangersof city life, and to legislate
againstintemperance.42 At the same time,suffragistsand social reformers, as
well as the "new feminists"of the earlytwentiethcentury,could hardly
escape the impactof the cultureof consumption,not a surprising factgiven
the magnitudeof the changesthen takingplace. Oftencompetingwith the
olderfaithin balance, symmetry, rationalcontrol,and loyaltyto productive
work,thisculturewas feltbydifferent womenin different ways.Nevertheless,
we can see the power of the new experiencebreakingin on the political
practiceand socialbehaviorofmanyfeministandsuffragist women.
The mainstreamsuffrage publications,such as the WomanVoter,invited
department storesto advertisein theirpages.The Woman'sJournalemployed
advertising agents.Ebulliently,suffragistsemulatedadvertising strategiesand
purveyedthe "artofpublicity."Theydevisedsuffrage billboardsand posters,
calendarsandmoviesand conductedgreatparadesandpageants,whichechoed
those arrangedby departmentstores and which "transformed"even the
streetsof Bostoninto "carnivalsof color,sound,and animation."A purple,
violet,andgoldcolorschemeunifiedtheWashington paradeof 1913. "Yellow
rallies" were held in New York with marcherswearingyellow capes and
carrying"yellowballs oflightin the shape oflanterns."In May 1914 twelve
littlegirlsdressedas butterflies,
symbolizing thesuffragestates,led decorated
floats and bedecked automobiles in a handsome parade down the main
thoroughfare of Louisville,Kentucky.Behindthe girlstrotteda little boy,
consignedto the garbof a "graymoth,representing Kentuckyjust readyto
emergefromitscocoon. "'43
Like liberal and leftistpolitical activistsin other countries,American
feministsreliedon an aestheticpoliticsof mass spectaclethatimitatedthe
practicesforged bytheurbanmerchantclass. Suffragists used advertising space
in the streetcars,where they tacked up "vivid yellow, black, and white
placards." Withthewillingconsentofdepartment stores,theydecoratedstore
windowsin the "colorsoftheSuffrage Party."Storeseverywhere volunteered
their windows and their interiorsfor suffrageadvertising.In June 1916
Chicago's Carson,PirieScottinstalleda wax figureofa suffragist in one ofits
windows,a heraldofthecomingconventionoftheWoman'sPartyin thatcity.
Ataboutthesame time,Wanamaker'sset a precedentbypermitting all female
employeesto marchin suffrage paradesduringworkinghours.In 1912 suffra-
42 LindaGordon,Woman'sBody,Woman'sRight: A SocialHistoryofBirthControlin America
(NewYork,1976),236-40; David Nasaw, "ChildrenoftheStreet,"typescript, Sept.26, 1982,pp.
1-24 (inLeach'spossession).
43 Woman'sJournal, May 16, 1914,p. 154;ibid,May2, 1914,p. 139;ibid.,May30, 1914,p. 174;
ibid.,Oct. 10, 1914,p. 273; ibid.,May 15, 1915,p. 10;ibid.,May 29, 1915,p. 12; WomanVoter,4
(Jan.1913), 2; "The Washington Paradeand Pageant,"ibid. (March1913), 10-11; AdalineW.
Sterling,"YellowRallies,"ibid.,6 (Sept.1915),22; "WhyWeMarch:A Symposim,"ibid.,3 (May
1912), 3-5.
Women and Department Stores 339

gistschose Macy's in New York as the headquartersforsuffragette supplies,

includingmarchinggowns,bonnets,andhatpins.44
Women'srightsleaderspublishedmagazinesthatreflected the clearmerger
offeminism,markedby a secular,internationalist perspective,withthe cos-
mopolitan,heterogeneouscultureof consumption.The magazineMadame,
printedin Indianapolisas theofficialorganoftheNationalCouncilofWomen,
appearedin 1903. Nearlya cousinofHarper'sBazaar,Madame mixedarticles
on jewelry,cosmetics,food,theater,and department storeswithdescriptions
ofwoman's advancementin publiclife.Also in 1903theshort-lived American
BusinessWoman'sMagazine,thefirstofitskindin America,was publishedin
Denver, Colorado. It was followedin 1915 by a hardierversion,Business
Woman'sMagazine,a Manhattanperiodicalthatwas kindredto the official
bulletinof the National Federationof Business and ProfessionalWomen's
Clubs, theIndependentWoman,in printfouryearslater.Ardentdefenders of
women'srightto havefamiliesandprofessional careersat thesame time,both
Business Woman'sMagazine and the IndependentWomangenerouslymade
space forarticleson department stores,and bothwould have agreedwiththe
DepartmentStore,a fleetingand expensiveretailjournalofthetime,thatthe
department storeconstituted"the firsttrueexpressionofthecrestingwave of
feminism,"wherewomen"ruled" and wererecognizedas "salesgirls,depart-
mentheads, and buyers."The two magazinespromoteda liberal,individual-
istic feminism,and both described the business woman as the "new
feminist," who soughtto releaseherselffromall fetters
andto enjoylifeto the
fullest."The businesswomanit is who extractsfromlifeits best flowerand
romance.The moderngirlwantsto come into contactwiththelive forcesof
thebusyold worldwhichis movingeveryday." 45
Many of the newer feminists,who also workedfor suffrage, had some
connectionwiththe commercialworld,and stillotherswereattractedto the
urbancenters,so revitalizedby the "palaces of consumption."The novelist
and feministEdna Ferber,whose fatherowned a retail store, adored the
consumerlife,althoughshe could be extremelycriticalofit as well. In 1916
Elsa Maxwell and Alva Belmont,thepresidentoftheCongressionalUnionfor
Woman Suffrage, wrotea fund-raising suffrage
operetta,"Melinda and Her
Sisters,"an innovationperhapsneverrepeated.Maxwell, a feministall her
life, acquired fame as a columnistand partygiver. The socialist-feminist
CrystalEastmanworkedfora while as directorofthe sales department ofthe
Maxwell AutomobileCompany,which engagedfiftywomen on the same
44 F. F. Purdy,"Notes forNew York,"Merchants' Recordand Show Window,31 (Dec. 1912),
40; Suffragist,June3, 1916,p. 11; Woman'sJournal, Jan.10, 1914,p. 10; ibid.,April24, 1915,p.
128; FrankTrommler,"Working-Class Cultureand ModernMass CulturebeforeWorldWarI,"
New GermanCritique,29 (Spring-Summer 1983),57-70.
45 "The Feminist andAll Feminism,"BusinessWoman'sMagazine,1 (Oct. 1914),31-34; "An
Appreciation of theDepartmentStore,"DepartmentStore,1 (April1914),67; EdmundRussell,
"Realismand Jewels,"Madame,2 (Sept.1904), 173-74; StellaStuart,"The Quest forBeauty,"
ibid., 4 (June1904), 27-7;ElizabethBuckham,"Chicago's NotedSocial Settlement,"ibid. (July
1905),289; "Madame'sFashionDepartment," ibid.,3 (Oct. 1904),20-22.
340 The Journalof American History

termsas its male employeesto sell its cars. And, as the Woman'sJournal
contended,all femaledepartment storeadvertisers weresuffragists.46
Of thatyoungergenerationofwomen,RhetaChilde Dorrand Inez Haynes
Irwinexemplified mostvividlyin theirbehaviorand beliefstheshapingpower
of the cultureof consumption.Dorr was a militantfeministleader in the
1910s,editoroftheSuffragist, theofficialorganoftheCongressionalUnionfor
Woman Suffrage, precursorof the NationalWoman's Party.A socialistfora
shortwhile, she laterdenouncedBolshevism,in 1917, and campaignedfor
WarrenG. Harding,in 1920. Dorr claimed her rightto independence,her
freedomto leave herfamilyand home at anytimeforplaces unknown.As a
childshe had said, "WhenI growup ifI don'tlike myfamilyI won'tlive with
'em. IfI don't like the townI live in I'll move away. I'm nevergoingto have
anything I don'twant,and I'm nevergoingto do anything I don'tlike,not so
longas I live." In 1890,againstherfamily'sopposition,she wentto New York
Cityto become an artist.Her exposureto the consumerlifeofthe citymust
have completedher "transformation" into one of the new feminists,who
increasinglytried to integrate an older interest in woman's public
advancementwith a new, passionateconcernforpersonalenrichmentand
sensualexpression.Dorrwas an important consumeractivistwhojoinedother
reformers in demandingbettertreatment ofsaleswomenin department stores;
at the same timeshe was pleasedto reportthatwomen,having"risen" in the
stores, "keep on rising. One-fourthof the departmentstore buyers and
managers in the sixteen biggest stores on [Chicago's] State [Street]are
women." Moreover,she coulddescribeStateStreet,themajorretailthorough-
farein Chicago,as a "pavilionwherepeopleoughtto dancein theopenair.'"47
Bornin 1873,Irwincame froma genteel,New Englandmiddle-classfamily,
which, significantly, made its living managinghotels in Boston, perhaps
Irwin'sfirstcontactwithmodernconsumerlife.In theearly1900sshe moved
to GreenwichVillage,wrotearticlesfortheradicalperiodicaltheMasses, and
joinedtheNationalAdvisoryCouncil oftheNationalWoman'sParty.Irwin's
famerestslargelyon herimportant history,The Storyof the Woman'sParty,
but she also wrotemanyjournalisticpieces and novelsthatshowedhernearly
uncriticalapproachto the cultureofconsumption.Like manyofhercontem-
poraries,Irwinseemedto lose touchwithitsgrimmer side,its class character,
the way it dependedon disciplineand exploitation,and, above all, theway it
seemedto threatenfragmentation and disorientation. She was so fascinatedby
the tendencytowardplay and leisurein this culturethatshe confusedwork
withplay. Forexample,afterspendinga yearin California,she wrotein 1916
46 Woman'sJournal, Feb. 26, 1916, p. 6; Ferber,Peculiar
Aug. 5, 1916, p. 251; Suffragist,
Treasure,6, 27, 187-88,217; EdnaFerber,"One oftheOld Girls,"AmericanMagazine,72 (Sept.
1911),552-58;EdnaFerber,"May MeysfromCuba," ibid.,705-11.
47 RhetaChildeDorr,A WomanofFifty (New York,1924),6-7, 9-14, 39; EdwardT. Jamesand
JanetWilsonJames,eds., NotableAmericanWomen,1607-1950:A BiographicalDictionary(3
vols., Cambridge,Mass., 1971), I, 503-04; William Hard and Rheta Dorr, "The Woman's
Invasion,"Everybody's Magazine,20 (Jan.1909),81-85; "ChristmasfrombehindtheCounter,"
Independent, Dec. 5, 1907,pp. 1340-47.
Women and Department Stores 341

thatCalifornians"make everytask a game and a play and a lark-a joy and

delight. 1 148

Irwin was convinced that women could achieve true humanityand

modernity onlybylivingin thecosmopolitancitywithitswealthofconsumer
institutions.Hernovel The LadyofKingdomsdepictsthe emerging liberation
ofherfemalecharactersas theyabandonwhatshe describesas theprovincial
and sexually "starved" life of a small countrytown for the "seething"
pleasuresof "metropolitan experience."Her mainheroine,SouthwardDrake,
epitomizesthenew feministoftheday. She has moneyand a drivingneedfor
independence.Restless and athletic,slenderand beautiful,she yearnsfor
unknownand vitalexperience.As thenovelbeginsSouthwardis livingin her
grandparents' mansion in rural Connecticut,where she has fashionedfor
herselfa fantastic"garret"highup in thehouse,well beyondthereachofher
family.SouthwardconsumesthenovelsofJulesVerneand theearlyfairytales
of H. G. Wells in this secluded place, which has all the trappingsof a
cosmopolitandream.The decormixes Occidentalwith Orientalmotifs;the
walls are coveredwithcolorfulcrepe,turningtheroomintoa rajah'squarters.
"It makesme thinkoftheArabianNights,"observesone ofherfewvisitors.
Here Southwarddons Chinese clothes taken from the familytrunk: a
"tomato-colouredprince's coat" and "a high Chinese head-dress"with
feathersand flowers,"manycolouredsilk pompons,"and "streamersofsilk
withmirrors.
trimmed 1149
Towardthemiddleofthenovel, Southwardhas foundheremancipationin
New York, surfeitedwith skyscrapers, theaters,restaurants, dinnerparties,
and departmentstores,all of which are describedin the book. She has
encounteredintellectualand sexual freedom.She has discoveredand realized
her true self. But, then, all Irwin's major female charactersin the novel
experiencetheirtrue selves in the city,are transformed by the "seething
qualityofits social life," its "gorgeousrestaurant nightlife." Even themost
dour,Dickensianwomanin the novel,Mrs. Crowell,motherof Southward's
bestfriend,Hester,undergoesa dramaticconversion.Trappedin a "littledead
countryvillage," Mrs. Crowell seems buriedunder the weightof puritan
repressionandfearandofoutmodedfamilyconventions;but,in San Francisco,
whereshehas gonewithheremancipateddaughterat theendofthenovel,she
lives througha greatchange. Together,the Crowells "[wander]about the
streetsof the shoppingdistricts,gazing into the windows that offerthe
strangerunlimitedentertainment." At night,beforegoinghome, theypass
"throughthe department-store area, staringinto the big lightedwindows
wheregroupsof wax figures[display]the latestfashioncapricefromParis."
They enterthe gloriesof Chinatown,startledby the "vegetableshops,meat
48 BarbaraSichermanand Carol Hurd Green,eds., NotableAmericanWomen:The Modern

Period:A BiographicalDictionary(Cambridge,Mass., 1980), 368-70; Inez HaynesIrwin,The

Storyofthe Woman'sParty(New York,1921);Inez HaynesIrwin,The Californiacs(New York,
1916),54-55,60.
49 InezHaynesIrwin,TheLadyofKingdoms (NewYork,1917),24, 99-103,472,475.
342 The JournalofAmericanHistory

shops, fishshops, crowdedwith familiarwares in strangeshapes; the side

streetspaperedforintervalswithscarletposters. . . theconstantprocessionof
menin all possiblevariationsofOrientaland Occidentalwear." 50
Afterfeelingthe accumulatedpowerof a seriesof such experiences,Mrs.
Crowellsaysto herdaughter,"I feel. . . as thoughI'd diedand come to lifein
anotherworld." As Irwinwrites:"It was as though,havingcastall theassocia-
tionsofherpastlifeoverboard, she weretrying to fillout theshapeofhersoul
witha new cargo,a cargowhichshouldmake up in degreeof its colourand
strangenessforall thelostgreynessesand familiarities. " Mrs. Crowellcomes
to acceptthe liberationofherdaughterand beginsto chartherown. She has
forfeited"greyness"forcolor,takingpartin a majorritualoftransformation in
a cultureofconsumption. 51
Irwindepictedjourneysoftransformation in herfictionthatotherAmerican
women took in real life. In those early,nearlyeuphoricdays of consumer
capitalism,texturedso muchbythedepartment store,manywomenthought
theyhad discovereda more exciting,more appealinglife,freedomremade
within a consumer matrix. Their participationin consumer experience
challengedand subvertedthat complexof qualities traditionally known as
feminine-dependence,passivity, religious piety, domestic inwardness,
sexual purity,and maternalnurture.Mass consumerculturepresentedto
women a new definitionof genderthat carvedout a space forindividual
expressionsimilarto men's and thatstoodin tensionwiththeolderdefinition
passed on to themby theirmothersand grandmothers. This tension,clearly
establishedin thattransformativemomentin history,wouldtakemanyforms
but would remain a fixedand fundamentalpart of female experiencefor
decadesto come.
50Ibid., 213-45, 468-72, 475.
51 Ibid.,471-72.