Department Store Advertising And Consumerism

Today almost everywhere we turn we are overwhelmed with ads over television and radio, in film theatres, on billboards and our computers, and magazines and store fronts. We simply cannot escape the messages put out by individuals and businesses trying to get us to buy their products and services. In the era before the department store madness, the situation was the same. When shoppers walked to a shopping area in a city the streets would be flooded with shops signs, hired walkers wearing advertising boards, and hawkers. “Advertisers had to convince consumers that their products were more than desirable-they were necessary. The process of selling merchandise, advertising innovations reshaped culture” (Pg 64). Yet advertising is a relatively

With improvements to machinery and increased productivity of workers, more goods could be produced and therefore purchased by consumers. The process of rapid industrialism brought about a heightened standard of living for many Americans, creating for the first time a distinct middle class. The ability to purchase goods and increase income left some Americans behind while it propelled others forward. These heightened states of living would include the ability to purchase more goods, purchase homes, and live in more desirable locations within cities. This is large forcing factor in the ability of the advertisement and department store

Sweeping the nation with their power with names like, Armour, Westinghouse, Pillsbury, Rockefeller, and Carnegie became known and wanted, as much for the renown of the industrialists as for the goods they created. These are industry names people will remember today, and decades to come, a brand for the future (Pg 62). And with these lavish store, came the wow factor. These tycoon industries did everything in their power to make their stores, a clean, beautiful, stress-free place to not only shop but spend time. “1920’s department stores such as Macy’s maintained pet shops, restaurants, rooftop gardens, and art exhibits. They hired musicians, put out seasonal entertainments, and hosted community activities” (Pg 66). Stores introduced an enormous range of amenities to draw in potential customers and make it easier for them to linger; and of course, largely to compete with other stores. The key to the department store, besides the large variety of goods, was display and entice. Products were laid out in perfection, deliberately designed to tempt the the consumer’s appetite. The result was a dream world of luxury. Materialism was the lure. “When Gimbel’s opened its new store in 1927, it contained no less than twenty seven escalators. The point was to awe-and therefor attract-shoppers. Wanamaker’s organ, like Marshall Field’s clock and Macy’s windows, became