Those Old Stores

V

Velvetsage

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I stumbled across a site run by Jan Whitaker. She has pictures from old department stores. I am very sad that so many of our younger people may never have the chance to see what the places were like. It's odd. I can recall so many details about the buildings in Washington DC. Woodward And Lothrop's, Lord and Taylor. Modern Malls just don't have the same feeling.

The large columns, and staircases.Fancy Ladie's rooms. Elevators with attendants. Tea rooms, amazing Cosmetics, and hat sections. Christmas windows.
Toy areas with magic, and puppet shows. Beautiful lighting. I am going to hunt down some books after Christmas, and indulge my passion for the old classy days. And, of course, I like dime stores too. Running across Ms Whitker's site brought back so many memories. I find that I understand the meaning of the word "Nostalgia" more as I age. It's almost that I feel obligated to hang onto some of it, if only in images.
 
I love old department stores too.

Some of my fondest memories were shopping at the grand old Hudson's Bay Company downtown here with my grandma! Going to the cafeteria and riding the elevator were such fun times!
 
Meier and Frank had a tea room on their tenth floor, adjoined by a ladies' room the size and style of the Petit Tritanon....all pier mirrors, Aubusson rugs, gilded Louis furniture....the business end was high Deco, black marble walls with green and gold veining, jade green sinks and commodes.

One wall of the store was a bank of bronze elevators, each with its attendant, and managed by an elevator starter with castanets. The sales 'girls'--some in their 80s, I swear--wore LBDs and a string of pearls.

There were 2 or 3 restaurants, a grocery/delicatessen, a pet shop with parrots and fish, an antiques department, an auditorium, a full floor or fabrics and notions--including Pendleton, a HUGE millinery department replete with 20s caned dressing tables with triple mirrors where you sat to try the hats, a 'French Salon' that featured current Paris fashion, a whole department devoted to gloves.

FRIDAY SURPRISE! The weekly sale where stuff was heaped on tables in every department, and a $39 item might be marked down to 39 cents. MAYHEM.

If you decided to purchase anything...from a lipstick to a bedroom set...it would be delivered free of charge to your home in an M&F delivery van, since you'd undoubtedly come downtown via trolley, or later, bus.

And you were of course dressed to the nines.

If over 12--in girdle, nylons, bullet bra, slip, and 1. if a teenager, a cashmere sweaterset over a acetate peter pan collar shirt, Pendleton reversible skirt, circle pin, flats or 2. if over 20, a good wool dress or suit, gloves, hat, bag, wristwatch, daytime costume/real jewelry, mascara and lipstick, CHANEL #5, and heels. 3 if over 40, add fur neckpiece, white powder and heavily rouged cheeks, TABU, an ironbound foundation garment, and sensible heels.

In Portland, add an umbrella or raincoat 10 months of the year.

And galoshes...those sound as archaic as chopins!!!

Meier and Frank has been gobbled up by Macy's, and just reopened their downtown store, converting many floors into a boutique hotel. All the others...Lipman's, Bedell's, Olds and King, Charles F. Berg, Nicholas Ungar....are long gone.



Downtown Portland never became the bombed-out warzone that other cities did (a fate reserved for the black part of town across the river)...Meier and Frank, Nordstrom, and a few big property owners invested major bucks and kept it viable. A man named Sam Naito bought up Skid Row in the 60s, renamed it Old Town and rented to hip and happening businesses.
 
Lei, I love that photo of the corset department at the Broadway Department store in L.A.! And I certainly didn't realize that some department stores would have an entire department dedicated to whitewear, but of course it makes perfect sense.

Maryalice, wow, thanks for that great description of M&F in days of yore. I was so sad to see the Georgian Room (the tenth-floor tearoom) go. I ate there for old time's sake during the last month it was open. Potted ferns, big swags of green draperies, sunken floor in the middle.

I remember my mom telling me that when she'd shop for gloves at the old department stores, they'd have a stool at the counter and a special little pad for you to rest your elbow on while the saleswoman carefully worked the glove onto your hand and assessed the fit.

I grew up in Oakland, California, and my favorite department-store memories center around the big Christmas outing to the stores in San Francisco: Mom, Grandma, my sister and I, all of us dressed up, would go over to see all the decorations. All the stores around Union Square were just fabulous, but the Emporium was the queen of them all, with its huge dome.

At Christmas an enormous tree was set up in the center of the ground floor, and it reached through that open space almost to the dome -- and it rotated! We'd go up to the higher floors and stand at the railings to look down at the dazzling display.

An early 20th-century photo postcard is up on eBay right now that shows the beautiful interior. It makes it very easy to imagine that space taken up by a giant rotating Christmas tree. It's auction # 370127644322. And here's a black and white photo that shows the tip of the tree visible through one of the arched windows on the top floor.

I also remember that as late as the 60s, Hink's in Berkeley, at the point of sale at the counter, the clerk would put your handwritten receipt with (your mom's) "charge-a-plate" impression into a cylinder that would get sucked up by pneumatic tubes and sent to the office ...

MC
 
On my side of the Bay was the fantastic I. Magnin building on Broadway, with its Art Deco facade of green marble. But I was much more familiar with Capwell's, a block away. These are from my postcard collection of old Bay Area scenes. Capwell's when it first opened:

capwells1.jpg


The rooftop garden:

capwells2.jpg


And imagine being able to drop the kids off in the playroom while you shopped:

capwells3.jpg


OK, I've *got* to get back to work. (Obviously I need to start a blog ... )

MC
 
Jan Whitaker's book, Service and Style.

Thanks, Lizzie! I just put it on reserve at the library.

Enjoyed seeing your then-and-now shots of the Bon Marche.

My picture isn't very good, as a tree was squarely in my way. I'll redo it this winter.

*nudge nudge*

MC
 
Denholms, Filenes, Jordan Marsh...They were pure magic during the holiday season. I remember walking from store to on Thursday nights when the down town stayed open late. The air was frigid but the christmas displays and lights kept you out just a bit longer. Each department store tried to out do the others. So many pretty lights and wonderful toys or gift selections.

Every department had an air of exclusivity and even the most mundane products were presented as if they were treasure to be had. MaryAlice you are so right, crystal and marble, gilt and brass at every turn.

Even if your funds were meager there was SOMETHING you could afford. A box of hankies for dad or a pretty head scarf for mom. No matter how modest the purchase your sales clerk wrapped it like it was mink or diamonds. Each shopping bag or package a delicious promise.

sigh.....

Melody
 
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