Service and Style

"Service and Style -How the American Department Store Fashioned the Middle Class" by Jan Whitaker. Call No. 381.141, ISBN: 0312-32635-1

All those summers of spending time in the library, and ultimately my first job--shelving the non-fiction books at $2/hour. No wait, let's go way back, a grandmother who was a 3rd grade teacher who taught her first granddaughter to read by age 5 via "The New Streets and Roads" and "More Streets and Roads" readers, and a dad who was a high school English and History teacher (and let's not even go there where my husband was also a history major) - anyways! suffice to say we are all readers (and proud of it!) our visits to the library ultimately zone into the new non-fiction books.

Being a baby-boomerender baby, I can still remember some of these department stores. The author makes reference to many of the local stores - a handy index in the back so you can find mention of your store - some good, some not so good. Of course, fabric departments were a major part of the department store history. Even when I first moved to Houston, Foley's downtown still had a fabric department, and I spent my lunch hours and breaks and secretarial salary there. You'll also learn the marketing of "linon" and rayon "crepe." Lots of other tidbits (I'm ready for Jeopardy now!), author Frank Baum/Wizard of Oz, previously was a crockery salesman and became known for his window displays and in 1898 organized the National Association of Window Trimmers.

If you like fashion and shopping, you'll enjoy this book, too!