Department Stores, The After Hours

The 1930's are a time of need and want as opposed to have, but it was still the decade in which American's begin their insatiable hunger for material goods. The mecca of purchasing power was of course, the department store.

Marshall Field Department store, Chicago, IL; 1938

The department store was success because it centralized shopping necessities in an urban setting. Original department stores include Kendalls in the UK, and Le Bon Marche in France. They used self service displays and shopping clerks to assist customers, and different department stores may have catered to certain ethnic groups or shoppers of a higher or lower economic class depending on the marketing intention.

Although this original Twilight Zone episode aired in 1960, it is a great example of a vintage department store in the feel and the way that it operates. The Twilight Zone itself also carries many of the same themes as 1930's radio shows in its eeriness and format.

Eleanor Berton