{"product_id":"wanamakers-temple-9781479835935","title":"Wanamakers Temple","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHow a pioneering merchant blended religion and business to create a unique American shopping experienceOn Christmas Eve, 1911, John Wanamaker stood in the middle of his elaborately decorated department store building in Philadelphia as shoppers milled around him picking up last minute Christmas presents. On that night, as for years to come, the store was filled with the sound of Christmas carols sung by thousands of shoppers, accompanied by the store's Great Organ. Wanamaker recalled that moment in his diary, I said to myself that I was in a temple, a sentiment quite possibly shared by the thousands who thronged the store that night.   Remembered for his store's extravagant holiday decorations and displays, Wanamaker built one of the largest retailing businesses in the world and helped to define the American retail shopping experience. From the freedom to browse without purchase and the institution of one price for all customers to generous return policies, he helped to implement retai\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The John Wanamaker Department Store was one of America's first great temples of consumption. Nicole C. Kirk argues that [it] was more than a successful business enterprise, it was also a successful ministry. John Wanamaker was as committed to evangelicalism and the social gospel as he was to selling silks and satins.\" -- Marc Levinson * The Wall Street Journal *\u003cbr\u003e\"[A] trenchant...study of John Wanamaker and Wanamakers department stores through the lens of evangelical Protestantism at the turn of the 20th century....Kirk persuasively shows that Wanamakers Christian faith and business acumen informed one another within his own life and work.\" * Publishers Weekly *\u003cbr\u003e\"But there's more to this story than simply the evolution of retail: from small shops to department stores to online retailers that mirror the selection of retail palaces without the physical space. Nicole C. Kirk's new book \u003ci\u003eWanamaker's Temple\u003c\/i\u003e delves into how John Wanamaker's religious and political beliefs shaped his retail empire, which at its peak included 16 stores around the mid-Atlantic region.\" * Smithsonian.com *\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003cp\u003e\"In the history of American religion, the intricate relationship between belief and commerce merits the closest attention. Nicole Kirk provides a richly researched and well organized study of one of the high priests of Protestant wealth. And she makes a wonderful contribution to the understanding of religious material culture and the aesthetics of commodity culture as an integral part of the rise of consumerism and the role that Protestantism has played in it.\u003c\/p\u003e \" -- David Morgan,Duke University\u003cbr\u003e\"Adds a new chapter to a growing literature on the Protestant contours of American business, ably joining scholarship that has roundly challenged any lingering presumptions of declensionist secular separation between Christianity and capitalism in American history.\" * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *","brand":"New York University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49409072693591,"sku":"9781479835935","price":66.6,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781479835935.jpg?v=1730505338","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/wanamakers-temple-9781479835935","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}