Department Stores
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: 1890 - 2001
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1288, Series 7
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This series consists primarily of catalogs documenting goods and services offered as well as the history of the store. Some stores produced guidebooks to their respective cities.  For example, Our Trip Through Field's, 1933, chronicles the history of Marshall Field's as well celebrating the Century of Progress International Exposition held in Chicago in 1933.  Many of the catalogs or booklets produced by the stores were celebratory of an anniversary, event, or a city.  The Selfridge and Company booklet celebrates the decorations for the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937. Some of the materials are holiday-specific and there are many Christmas-related catalogs such as the Christmas Book, 1940, by John Wanamaker of Philadelphia. Watt & Shand of Lancaster, Pennsylvania produced a  Santa's Headquarters board game for children that was made of paper. Four players started at the North Pole and progressed through the board ending at Santa's Headquarter's at the store.  The materials are arranged alphabetically by the name of department store. 

Also included is Department Store: An Inventory of Primary Sources assembled by the National Museum of History and Technology, Smithsonian Institution, 1974.  The Museum was pursuing a retail department store exhibition project and undertook a survey of primary, secondary, and tertiary materials related to the American department store.  Rosario Joseph Tosiello wrote a report which included a summary, the names of the department stores contacted, department stores with materials, inventories of archival materials (when applicable), a bibliography, and photocopies of booklets and pamphlets. In addition to the inventory, there is correspondence between Jack Noble of Robinson's and Brooke Hindle, Director, National Museum of History and Technology.  The inventory was maintained by Charlie McGovern, curator and then given to William L. Bird, curator, in 2004.