Founded: 1852 ~ Incorporated: 1901 ~ Sold: 2005Step into the gilded halls of Chicago’s most iconic department store, where elegance met eccentricity, and commerce was anything but conventional. The Marshall Field & Co. series peels back the velvet curtain on a retail empire that didn’t just sell goods—it sold identity, aspiration, and occasionally, radioactive science kits.
This isn’t just a history of shopping. It’s a chronicle of contradictions. You’ll meet Marshall Field Jr., whose mysterious death after a visit to the infamous Everleigh Club still stirs whispers of scandal and intrigue. You’ll savor the legacy of Mrs. Hering’s chicken pot pie, a humble dish that launched Field’s legendary food services and turned lunch counters into cultural landmarks.
But beneath the glamour, the series confronts the store’s Social Role Marketing Scheme, begun in 1892—a strategy that positioned Field’s as a moral compass for the city, even as it reinforced racial exclusion and class divides. It’s a story of branding as ideology, where the customer was always right… If they fit the mold.
And then there’s the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab Kit—yes, Field’s sold it. A toy so dangerous it came with real uranium and a Geiger counter, proving that even in the pursuit of science, retail had no chill.
Whether you’re drawn to the elegance, the absurdity, or the uncomfortable truths, this series invites you to explore Marshall Field & Co. as a mirror of Chicago itself: bold, beautiful, and brimming with stories that refuse to stay folded on the shelf.
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| THE HISTORY OF THE THREE MARSHALL FIELD CLOCKS |
