Philadelphia historian Tom Keels and Lawrence M. Arrigale return to Ambler Library with a presentation on their book, Philadelphia's Golden Age of Retail.
Keels and Arrigale bring Philadelphia's heyday as a mercantile mecca back to life with presentations on the city's dear departed department stores -- Wanamaker's, Strawbridge & Clothier, Gimbels, Lits, and Snellenburg's -- as well as its specialty shops, like the Blum Store, Nan Duskin, Jacob Reed's Sons, J.E. Caldwell's, Bailey Banks & Biddle, and many others.
Their presentations illustrate how our city's retailing titans revolutionized American marketing, developed "retailtainment" as a concept a century before it became a buzzword, helped generations of Philadelphians celebrate holidays and other special occasions.
