Kitchen

[Desert Lily]

Macy's is selling Frango mint chocolates in tins with Marshall Field's depicted. They had 2 different Marhall Field's tins, but there was only 1 that I saw today.

I was reminded of going to Marshall Field's Walnut Room, Linden Room, Old Orchard, and Water Tower Place. That was during US department stores' golden years. I googled and saw vintage holiday department store window displays, too. But, times change.

[Calcgirl]

Those were the days my friend. The streets of Chicago were all decorated and they played christmas music !  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year .

[deeva]

I still miss shopping at Marshall Field's. They had gorgeous window displays at Christmas. 

[Yahooey]

I live in NYC - home of Macy's - the biggest department store

but doesnt hold a candle in architectural beauty as Marshall Field's

I was visiting Chicago and went in to take a peek

oh my, the open spaciousness - I never bought anything but always went in to admire its beauty whenever i was nearby

[Mom2Dogs]

When I was a kid, at Christmas we would go to the 'city'..about an hour from our house.  We were not rich - 5 kids - but mom and dad gave us each a few dollars, I am thinking $5.00 - $10.00 to spend during the holiday at the store.

The window displays were just beautiful.

[PhilaLady1]

"Meet me at the Eagle" may be familiar to some.  

John Wanamaker purchased the eagle for his Philadelphia historic department store at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. 

[kaydee50]

@Desert Lily   We still occasionally go to the Walnut Room for lunch.  Good food, good prices.  Haven't been to Water Tower in at least a year.  Many stores there have closed and the new ones are of no interest.

Yes, definitely times have changed.  I'm just hoping Macy's outlasts me!!!

[msgb]

The Macy's at Old Orchard is nothing like the Marshall Field's. 

I too remember going to the Walnut Room and having lunch or breakfast as the case was one time with a morning radio show broadcasting.

Must say that the frangos are still good.

[drizzellla]

ABOUT THE GRAND COURT ORGAN

Built for the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, the Wanamaker Organ was designed by renowned organ architect George Ashdown Audsley, author of The Art of Organ-Building. The driving force behind the project was Murray M. Harris, a superb organ builder hailed as “The Father of Organ Building in the American West.” Harris was also a shrewd investor and promoter. Living in a land with abundant mineral resources and superb lumber from pristine, old-growth forests, Harris was able to invest the finest in materials in his organs, and he brought a group headed by master craftsman William Boone.

During construction of the organ costs skyrocketed and certain financial manipulations by Harris came to light, causing the company to be taken over by its chief investor, a Colorado mining mogul named Eben Smith. Harris was ousted and the Murray M. Harris company was rechristened The Los Angeles Art Organ Company. But the organ’s soaring $105,000 price tag ,

1904 St. Louis World’s Fair — Festival Hall

and the refusal of the Kansas City Convention Hall authorities to accept the organ they had commissioned following the Fair, would ultimately lead to the company’s demise.

The investment, however, paid huge musical dividends. The heroic instrument that resulted had five manuals, more than 10,000 pipes, and it won the Grand Prize and five other medals at the Fair, where was played by Alexandre Guilmant and virtually every other notable organist of the day. 

In 1909, Philadelphia merchant-prince John Wanamaker bought the instrument for his new Philadelphia emporium. Thirteen freight cars were required to ship the entire organ from St. Louis, and installation took two years. The Grand Organ was first heard in the Store’s seven-story atrium on June 22, 1911, at the exact moment when England’s King George V was crowned at Westminster Abbey. Later that year, it was prominently featured when President William Howard Taft dedicated the Store.

Despite its immense size, the tone was judged inadequate to fill the huge court. Wanamaker’s opened a private pipe-organ factory in the Store attic, employing up to 40 full-time employees to enlarge the instrument. William Boone Fleming, the original factory supervisor, was hired to direct the work.

The smallest pipe is a quarter-inch in length. More than 8,000 pipes were added to the Organ between 1911 and 1917, and from 1924 to 1930 an additional 10,000 pipes were installed, bringing the total number of pipes today to 28,750.

[drizzellla]

@PhilaLady1   Boy, John Wanamaker did alot of shopping at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.