A Center City style fades away
Strawbridge and closure. The last of the old genteel giants fades into history today.
中心城区标志淡出 Strawbridge 关闭 传统的上流社会最后的巨人现今隐入历史
We said our formal goodbyes to Strawbridge & Clothier in 1996 when it was acquired by the May Department Stores Co.
当 Strawbridge & Clothier 在 1996 年被 the May Department Stores Co 收购，我们正式对 Strawbridge & Clothier 告别了。
We mourned again in 2005 when May was acquired by Federated Department Stores.
当 2005 年 May 被 Federated Department Stores 收购时,我们再次为此哀痛。
Technically, Strawbridge's hasn't been Strawbridge's for a decade. But as long as the brass nameplate remained on the store established in 1868 by the Quaker merchants Justus C. Strawbridge and Isaac H. Clothier, we could pretend nothing significant had happened.
严格地说，Strawbridge's 已数十年不属于 Strawbridge's，但既然由 Quaker 商人 Justus C. Strawbridge 和 Isaac H. Clothier 于 1868 年创立的商店上仍保留着这一铜的标牌， 我们只装作没有什么重大的事情发生。
But today the Eighth and Market Streets store is closing. The Lord & Taylor store (née John Wanamaker) across from City Hall was closed last week and will be refurbished before reopening as a Macy's in August.
但现在 the Eighth and Market Streets 商店即将关闭，遍布 City Hall 的 The Lord & Taylor 商店（née John Wanamaker）已于上 个星期关闭，并将于八月份作为 Macy's 开张之前被重新装修一新。
Federated has said it will keep the famed Wanamaker organ and the eagle that was the site of so many rendezvous. And spokeswoman Elina Kazan said the company would "make every effort" to preserve key landmarks from Strawbridge's center city store, among them the Dickens Christmas Village and the wild boar sculpture.
Federated 声称将保留著名的 Wanamaker 机构以及老鹰建筑，它们曾经是众多聚会所在地。女发言人 Elina Kazan 说公司将“尽 最大的努力”保留 Strawbridge's 中心城区商店的主要地标，其中包括 the Dickens Christmas Village 和野公猪雕像。
End of an era is an understatement.
《一个时代的结束》对此只是轻描淡写。
For nearly 50 years, Center City shopping was defined by the elegant retail palaces on Market and Chestnut Streets: not just Wanamakers and Strawbridge but Gimbel Bros., Lit Bros., and N. Snellenburg & Co. - mostly family-owned businesses that made employees and shoppers alike feel like part of the royal family.
在近 50 年的时间里，Center City 购物被位于 Market 和 Chestnut Streets 的优雅零售王宫定义为：除了 Wanamakers 和 Strawbridge，还有 Gimbel Bros.，Lit Bros.和 N. Snellenburg & Co.大部分家族式的商业，使雇员和购物者均感自身如同皇室家 族的一员。
Featuring marble floors and polished mahogany counters, wide aisles and gracious staircases, plush restrooms for the ladies and in-store fashion shows by Junior League debutantes, Philadelphia's grand department stores stood as beacons of style and set the tone for public decorum.
凸显的大理石地面，优雅的红褐色柜台，宽敞的侧廊和大方的楼梯，豪华的女士盥洗室和 Junior League debutantes 的内橱窗展 示，费城的大百货商店耸立如气派的灯标，铺设出公众端庄得体的基调。
Strawbridge & Clothier was "as distinctively Philadelphian as Carpenters' Hall or the Betsy Ross House," this newspaper noted on the store's 75th anniversary.
这家报纸在商店的 75 周年庆上指出，Strawbridge & Clothier 如同 Carpenters' Hall 或 the Betsy Ross House 一样具有鲜明的费 城特性。
The marriage of city and store was a nationwide phenomenon. For more than a hundred years, Marshall Field & Co. was synonymous with Chicago; Macy's and Bergdorf Goodman were central to New York; Rich's was the heart of Atlanta.
这一城市与商店的结合是一个全国性现象。一百多年来，Marshall Field & Co.和芝加哥具有等同意义，Macy's 和 Bergdorf Goodman 是纽约的中心，而 Rich's 则是亚特兰大（Atlanta）的心脏所在。
"The family-owned department stores had enormous impact in shaping civic identity," says Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University. "You could tell where you were by what store you were in.
“这一家族式的百货公司对塑造城市的个性特征产生了重大的影响， Syracuse 大学的大众文化教授 Robert Thompson 说， ” “只 要说出你所在的商店你就说明了你所在的地方。”
"These were gorgeous, architecturally important buildings, with window displays like Broadway stages," Thompson says.
“这些是煇煌的建筑学意义上的重要建筑，橱窗展示得如同百老汇的舞台。” Thompson 说。
Today, shopping is dominated by big-box stores owned by enormous corporate entities.
现今，购物被由实力强大的公司实体拥有的仓储式商店所主导。
"Going downtown was a significant part of childhood," Thompson says. "We've lost that experience and nothing will take the place of it."
“逛城区是孩童生活的重要组成部分”，Thompson 说，“我们已经丧失了这种经历，而且没有什么可以取代它。”
Live radio broadcasts
现场广播收音
They came on the Reading Railroad and on PTC; by subway and by bus, on the Shopper's Special and the Frankford El.
他们来到 Reading Railroad 和 PTC，坐地铁和汽车到 Shopper's Special 和 the Frankford El
Legions of shoppers embarked from City Hall to stroll from Wanamakers to Snellenburg's, Strawbridge & Clothier to Gimbels and Lits - stopping along the way at Blauner's, B.F. Dewees, and the Blum Store.
大批的购物者来自 City Hall，从 Wanamakers 到 Snellenburg's，从 Strawbridge & Clothier 到 Gimbels 和 Lits 闲逛，沿途经过 Blauner's, B.F. Dewees 和 the Blum Store。
Men in starched shirts, women with hats and gloves, children with their hair combed and shoes polished - they all came. In the 1920s, families went to Strawbridge's live radio broadcasts. In fact, each of the big stores had its own radio station: Gimbe ls' was WIP, Wanamakers' call letters were WOO, and Strawbridge's WFI, later merged with Lits' WLIT to become WFIL.
男士穿着浆过的衫衬，女人带着帽子和手套，小孩子梳着发髻皮鞋擦得铮亮，他们都汇聚到这里。在 20 世纪 20 年代，全家大小 去 Strawbridge's 的广播收音现场。 事实上， 每家大商店有其自己的广播站，Gimbels 是 WIP ， Wanamakers' call letters 是 WOO 和 Strawbridge's WFI，后来同 Lits' WLIT 合并成 WFIL。
On Saturdays, shoppers stayed for lunch - tea sandwiches in Wanamakers' Crystal Tea Room or Strawbridge's Corinthian Room; soup in the Jefferson Room at Lits or a hot dog and custard at the Wanafrost stand in Wanamaker's basement.
星期六， 购物者呆在 Wanamakers' Crystal Tea Room 或 Strawbridge's Corinthian 喝下午茶， 吃三明治，或在位于 Lits 的 Jefferson Room 喝点汤吃个热狗，在位于 Wanamaker's 地下室的 Wanafrost 享用着蛋奶沙司。
On Wednesday nights, they stayed late and on Sundays - when the stores were closed - they stayed home.
在星期三的晚上，他们迟迟不睡。在星期天，这些商店都关门了，他们就呆在家里。
Phyllis Corsi Sockwell, who lives in Drexel Hill, remembers shopping downtown in the 1950s as "a gentler time, when people were so much kinder to each other."
住在 Drexel Hill 的 Phyllis Corsi Sockwell，回忆起 20 世纪 50 年代在城区购物，描述说那是“一个更友善的时代，人们彼此之间 更和善。”
From Germantown to Upper Darby, from Strawberry Mansion to Swarthmore, people shared a common experience. Listening to the organ in Wanamakers was free, and anybody could window-shop.
从 Germantown 到 Upper Darby，从 Strawberry Mansion 到 Swarthmore，人们有个共同的感受，可以免费听着 Wanamakers 里的管风琴，任何人可以浏览橱窗。
"The idea of the department store was to be all things for all people," says Marty Rogoff, who teaches business and marketing at Philadelphia University.
“百货商店的存在对人们来说意味着一切。” Marty Rogoff 说，他在费城大学教商务和市场营销。
Yet each of the city's downtown stores had a distinct character.
仍然，每家城区的商店都各自有其鲜明的特点。
"Wanamakers was very regal and glamorous," says Helene Kates of Broomall. "My father used to say that the rich people shopped there."
“Wanamakers 是王室的，充满魅力的。” Broomall 的 Helene Kates 说，“我父亲过去常说有钱人在这那里购物。”
Lits and Gimbels were "more working class," she says. "They had less frills, and the kind of sales depicted on the Lucy show where ladies fought tooth and nail at the bargain tables and sales racks."
Lits 和 Gimbels 更有着劳动阶层的特性，她说，“它们少些装饰，属于那种 Lucy 节目中所描述的购物，女人们在廉价出售的柜 台和销售货架上疯狂斗争。”
And Strawbridge "was like The Philadelphia Story with Katharine Hepburn," says Stan Steinberg, now 77 and living in Dresher. "It had class."
而 Strawbridge“象 Katharine Hepburn 主演的费城故事（The Philadelphia Story）里的情形，” Stan Steinberg 说，现年 77 岁，住在 Dresher，“它有阶层。”
The department stores hired and trained staff as salespeople, not mere cashiers, and required them to dress in dark, solid, sophisticated colors.
百货商店雇佣和培训员工成为销售人员，而不仅仅是收银员，并要求他们着单、深的、有考究的颜色。
"Women wore high heels and they were never without stockings," says Mary Lawrence, now 79, who worked in Gimbels, Strawbridge and Dewees, a women's specialty shop.
“那时女人穿高跟鞋，而它们永远不会脱仓。” Mary Lawrence 说，现年 79 岁，在 Gimbels，Strawbridge 和 Dewees 一家女 士专用品店工作。
Anything purchased could be delivered - initially in horse-drawn wagons - because the customer was king.
只要购买的物品都会被递送到，最初是用四轮马车，因为顾客是上帝。
"If a customer wanted a straight pin wrapped and delivered, they would do that free of charge," says Rosalie Marta, now 63, who got her wedding trousseau at Wanamakers.
“如果客户要把一颗朴实无华的大头针打包递送，他们将免费做这一切。”Rosalie Marta 说，现年 63 岁，她在 Wanamakers 得 到她的结婚嫁妆。
Many women got their first charge accounts at Strawbridge, in the pre-plastic era when the cards were cardboard with a metal insert.
很多女性在 Strawbridge 得到她们的第一份付款账单，在先于信用卡时代，卡只是有张金属夹层的硬纸板。
The stores had clubs and modeling classes for teens and preteens who aspired to be young ladies.
商店有面向渴望成为年轻优雅女性的青少年的俱乐部和模特阶层。
Linda Small of Huntingdon Valley attended Strawbridge's Charm School in the 1950s.
Huntingdon Valley 出生的 Linda Small 在 20 世纪 50 年代参加了 Strawbridge's Charm School 。
"We were taught how to apply makeup, how to walk gracefully, and everything a young lady at that time needed to know," Small says.
“我们学习如何化妆，如何优雅地走路，及那个年代里一个年轻的优雅女性应该知道的一切。” Small 说。
In 1966, Elizabeth Hanson of South Philadelphia was crowned Miss Lit Teen. She was there the day the Supremes came to the store to kick off Liteen Week in the spring of 1967, between their performances at the Latin Casino.
在 1966 年， 费城南部的 Elizabeth Hanson 被 Miss Lit Teen 拥满。 1967 年春天的一天，the Supremes 来到商店踢除 Liteen Week， 她在那里，那是在她们的 Latin Casino 表演期间。
And Claire Rosenstein, who grew up in Oxford Circle, was in Strawbridge's Sub-Deb club.
生长在 Oxford Circle 的 Claire Rosenstein 在 Strawbridge's Sub-Deb 俱乐部。
"There were fashion shows and speakers from Seventeen magazine. They even took us on field trips."
“那里有时装展及来自 Seventeen 杂志的发言人，他们甚至带我们去郊游。”
"I feel so awful," says Rosenstein, who is now in her 60s. "With this store, so much a part of my culture is closing."
“我感到很沮丧。” Rosenstein 说，她现在已 60 多岁，“这个商店使我很大一部分文化即将结束。”
Culture of consumer desire
顾客需求文化
Merchants like John Wanamaker and Marshall Field set out to create a culture of consumer desire, using all the bells and whistles at their disposal - from marching bands and light shows to celebrity appearances - in order to pull customers into their stores and keep them there for hours at a time.
象 John Wanamaker 和 Marshall Field 这样的批发商，他们决心于建立一种顾客需求文化，用所有处理的铃和口哨，以阅队行进、 小展会和庆祝会的形式展出，从而吸引顾客户并使他们一次呆上几个小时。
"They created not just the desire for things but the concept of fashion - of not being out of date," William Leach wrote in Land of Desire.
“他们创造的不仅仅是对事物的需求，更有时尚的概念，即怎样才能不过时。” William Leach 在 Land of Desire 一书中写到。
More than that, the department stores became civic institutions. In Philadelphia, the Wanamakers, Strawbridges and other families of store owners demonstrated that they had a stake not only in the well-being of their employees, but also in the larger community.
更在甚者，百货商店已经成为城市机构，在费城，Wanamakers，Strawbridges 和其他拥有自己商店的家庭证实说，他们不仅在 富有的工薪阶层作投资，同时还包括更大的集体。
Marie Ziegler Dankelmann, who started working at Strawbridge in 1944, remembers a War Bond rally in the store that was led by Lucille Ball.
Marie Ziegler Dankelmann，1944 年开始在 Strawbridge 工作，回忆起那时商店的一个由 Lucille Ball 领导的 War Bond 集团。
A uniformed doorman helped shoppers in and out of taxicabs. And Stockton Strawbridge, his sons and nephews were akin to movie stars.
一个穿着制服的守门人员帮助购物人们不停来回于出租车，而 Stockton Strawbridge，他的儿子和侄子们却象电影明星一样。
Dale Kessler, who worked in women's fine shoes in the 1960s, remembers the Strawbridge men in their three-piece suits.
Dale Kessler，1960 年在女士精品鞋店工作，回忆起当时穿三件套的 Strawbridge 男士。
"Oh, how I loved Strawbridge's then! The Strawbridges themselves - father and sons - would walk the aisles there every so often, and to me they were like royalty."
“噢，我那时多么喜欢 Strawbridge's 一家人啊！Strawbridges 家族的人们—儿子、父亲—经常走那里的过道，在我眼里，他们 就象贵族一样。
But the Strawbridge family was "never condescending," she recalled. "They were always warm in their approach."
但是 Strawbridge 家族从不“屈尊俯就”，她回忆说，“他们总是平易近人。”
In many ways, the store functioned like a small, civic-minded town. As early as 1880, Strawbridge workers formed a Relief Association to help each other through tough times. In 1882, the employee chorus performed at Willow Grove Park. In 1884, an Employee Savings Fund Association began. By 1907, Strawbridge & Clothier had an orchestra, and in 1910 the company established an athletic field in West Philadelphia for its baseball teams.
在很多方面，商店运行起来象个小型的，城市化的小镇。在 1880 年早些时候，Strawbridge 工人们组成了一个 Relief Association 来帮助大家共渡难关。1882 年， 在 Willow Grove Park 组建了一个工人合唱团。1884 年， 一项 Employee Savings Fund Association 开始运转。到 1907 年，Strawbridge & Clothier 有了一个乐队，并于 1910 年，公司在 West Philadelphia 为他们的 棒球队建成了一个运动场。
That same year, when Strawbridge hired 14-year-olds as "cash boys" to run purchases from counters to cashiers to wrapping desks, the store supported a Noonday Club - a half-hour of instruction in grammar, arithmetic, history and English literature for the boys.
同年， Strawbridge 雇佣了 14 岁的男孩作为 当 “收银男孩” 以开展从采购到收银到桌面打包的营销， 商店支助成立了一个 Noonday Club，那是为男孩们设计的半小时的语法、算术、历史和英国文学教程。
Daniel D'Orazio, who worked at Strawbridge in 1959 when he was fresh out of college, got help when he needed it.
Daniel D'Orazio，1959 年刚大学毕业到 Strawbridge 工作，得到了在他需要时的帮助。
"My father suffered a severe illness and was hospitalized soon after my hiring. He was comatose and hemorrhaging profusely, and needed many blood transfusions. We had no medical insurance and were responsible for not only the hos pital bill but also the blood transfusions, which totaled $1,200."
“我父亲遭受了一场重病，在我参加工作后不久住院了，他昏迷不省人事，大量失血，需要很多血液注射。我们没有医疗保险， 必须负担住院费用和血液输注费，总计 1200 美元。”
Even though D'Orazio was new on the job, the employee blood bank paid for the transfusions.
尽管 D'Orazio 是新来的员工，公司的血液基金库还是为他提供了输液费。
"I was always grateful to Strawbridge's for their generosity and thoughtfulness in my time of need."
“我一直为 Strawbridge's 公司在我需要的时候表现出来的友善和关爱表示感谢。”
'Homogenization'
‘均质处理’
During the reign of the downtown department stores, buyers sailed to Europe and Asia several times a year to select and order Parisian dresses, English raincoats and Chinese silks especially for their shoppers in Philadelphia.
在城区百货盛行的时候，采购者每年几次坐船到欧亚地区去为他们费城的客户挑选和定购巴黎的服装，英国的雨衣，中国的丝绸。
Now, you can be in a mall in Seattle and find the same clothing you'd find in a mall in St. Louis.
现在，你能在 Seattle 的一个商城里找到你会在 St. Louis 的商城里找到的一样的衣服。
Retail industry expert Rick Segel laments what he calls the "homogenization of America."
零售工业专家 Rick Segel 为被他称之为“美国均质化”的这一现象而悲悯。
"It is too bad," he says, "that we've lost the individual identity that was possible before the department stores all merged."
“这太可惜了，”他说，“我们丧失了百货商店合并前的个性特征。”
But some elements of the past are worth walking away from.
但是过去的有些做法应该被取缔。
Female employees, for example, were paid less than their male counterparts.
例如，女性职员工资比男性职员的相应工资低。
Irma Green remembers getting paid $65 a week at Gimbels in the late 1950s, "while the men were paid $85 for the same job."
Irma Green 回忆自己在 20 世纪 50 年代在 Gimbels 获得的工资是每星期 65 美元， “而男性同样的工作得到是每星期 85 美元。”
And judging prospective saleswomen by their looks was company policy.
公司还有一项政策就是从外表判断未来的女销售员。
Strawbridge hired only "shapely blondes" as elevator operators, according to Family Business, a history of Strawbridge & Clothier by Alfred Lief.
据 Alfred Lief 编写的有关 Strawbridge 和 Clothier 历史的 Family Business 一书说， 只雇佣“体形良好的金发女子”作为电梯 操纵员。
"When they applied for the position they were measured against outlines drawn on a personnel office wall."
“当他们应聘职位时，他们根据公司职员办公室画出的轮廓来测量。”
And although the stores may have had a leveling effect in bringing together people from different income levels, racial discrimination was insidious.
尽管商店可能在引进不同收入阶层的人时具有同一的标准，但人种歧视仍然是潜在的。
"Shoes and hats were the problem in the 1920s," says Grant Z. Freeman Sr., 97 now and retired.
“在 20 世纪 20 年代，鞋子和帽子是个大问题。” 修女 Grant Z. Freeman Sr 说，现年 97 岁，已退休。
"Only some places let you try them on. Others would discourage it... You'd say what size you thought you needed and take the shoes home."
“只有一些地方让你试穿，别的地方则劝止。。。你要说出你认为需要的码数然后抱着鞋子回家。”
"Some things were just accepted then," Freeman says.
“有些事情那时只是被接受着。” Freeman 说。
Our children and our children's children will never know what they missed, says Rogoff, of Philadelphia University.
我们的孩子，孩子的孩子将不会知道他们到底失去了什么，费城大学的 Rogoff 说。
By the late 1960s, shoppers sought intimacy in boutiques, shunning the larger department stores. And by the late 1970s, when the first big-box stores came on the scene, the department stores couldn't compete with the range of products they offered.
到 20 世纪 60 年代，购物者纷纷寻求精品店，而回避大的百货商店。到 20 世纪 70 年代，当第一家仓储式商店问世，百货商店不 能同它们陈列的一系列产品竞争。
Now, the name Strawbridge's means nothing to Rogoff's students. "They don't have the emotional connection their moms and dads had."
现在，Strawbridge's 的名字对 Rogoff's 的学生不意味着任何东西，“他们同其再没有他们父亲母亲所感受到的情感维系。”
And they've never experienced the level of customer service their parents now mourn. As a result, they have no problem shopping at the more anonymous big-box stores and using self-serve checkout registers.
同样，他们无法体验到他们父母所惋惜的客户服务水平。结果，他们当仁不让地在更多不知名的仓储式商店购物，使用自助付款 登记簿。