Originally published on December 29, 2018 (Episode 91)
Introduction
On Christmas Eve, 1911, John Wanamaker stood in the middle of his elaborately decorated department store building in Philadelphia as shoppers milled around him picking up last minute Christmas presents. On that night, as for years to come, the store was filled with the sound of Christmas carols sung by thousands of shoppers, accompanied by the store’s Great Organ. Wanamaker recalled that moment in his diary, “I said to myself that I was in a temple,” a sentiment quite possibly shared by the thousands who thronged the store that night.
This is a conversation about a Philadelphian and his store, told by guest Nicole C. Kirk in Wanamaker’s Temple: The Business of Religion in an Iconic Department Store (NYU Press, 2018). Which might sound rather boring. But it’s really a conversation about nineteenth century stores, shopping, consumerism, Christianity, the social gospel, the prosperity gospel, social responsibility, art, beauty, Temple University, Dwight Moody, John Ruskin, Horace Bushnell, Christmas decorations, organs, eagles, World’s Fairs, and the curiously innovative mind of Philadelphia’s John Wanamaker.
About the Guest
Dr. Nicole C. Kirk is the first Rev. Dr. J. Frank and Alice Schulman Chair of Unitarian Universalist History at Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago.
For Further Investigation
Nicole C. Kirk, Wanamaker’s Temple: The Business of Religion in an Iconic Department Store (NYU Press, 2018)
John Wanamaker collection, Historical Society of Pennsylvania (which clocks in at 193.2 linear feet)
Listen & Discuss
How did Wanamaker merge religion and consumer culture?
What does the history of department stores tell us about American society?
If you’ve ever lingered in front of a department store holiday display, or which there was one left to linger in front of in your town, share this episode.
