Certificates
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Bird, William L.
setName: label: See more items in
content: William L. Bird Holidays on Display Collection
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1976
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1288, Series 5
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This series consists of certificates for the Macy Credit Corporation.  Also known as a debenture, it is a document that either creates a debt or acknowledges it, and it is a debt without collateral. The certificates were issued to individuals and companies and the samples in the collection are in dollar amounts for one thousand dollars, five thousand dollars, ten thousand dollars, and twenty-five thousand dollars. The Macy Credit Corporation was a wholly owned subsidiary of R.H. Macy & Company, the well-known department store chain based in New York City. For over a century, Macy's held to a tradition of selling to customers on a cash-only basis. Unlike other retailers, there were no installment sales or credit extended to customers. In fact, the company had a well-advertised motto, "No One Is in Debt to Macy's."  The certificates are arranged numerically.