The Titanic by the Numbers-- Part 6: Macy's Co-Owner, Molly and Benjamin

Other notables on the Titanic:

Macy's co-owner Isidor Straus and his wife Ida.

Benjamin Guggenheim

Jack Thayer, 17, and heir to a Pennsylvania railroad fortune.

Amount Molly  Brown claimed for lost items:  $27,887

This included 14 hats, some 20 gowns, an opera cape, two Japanese kimonoes, jewelry and more.

--Cooter

A Chicago Christmas-- Part 7: The Marshall Field's Elf

In 1946, Marshall Field's introduced Uncle Mistletoe, a "black-browed, winged sprite, wearing a cape and top hat," to compete with Montgomery Ward's popular creation, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Uncle Mistletoe lived with his wife, Aunt Holly, in Cozy Cloud Cottage on the eighth floor of the iconic department store.

Uncle Mistletoe's popularity soared with the 1948 debut of his holiday television program, "The Adventures of Uncle Mistletoe."

Uncle Mistletoe occasionally appears in ornament form on "The Great Tree" in Marshall Field's' (well, now Macy's) Walnut Room.

--CootUnc

A Chicago Christmas-- Part 6: About Those Marshall Field's Windows

Founded in 1852 as a dry goods business, Marshall Field's introduced its cherished holiday windows in 1897 with an enthralling toy display, a concept dreamed up by the store's official visual display manager, Arthur Frasier.  (And, of course, that toy window in "A Christmas Story.")

During World War II, the Field's design team began theming the windws starting with Clement Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas," so that they would tell a story as visitors strolled down State Street, from window to window.

Today, Macy's (who bought Field's) continues the tradition of holiday windows at the State Street store.

And, of course, there are all the decorations in the store, the Walnut Room and the giant Christmas tree.

--CootWindow

A Chicago Christmas-- Part 2: About Rudolph the You-Know What

These are Christmas stories connected to Chicago.

Robert L. May wanted to be a novelist but worked as a catalog writer at Montgomery Ward in Chicago.  Staring out his office window at downtown Chicago on a foggy day, May experienced his own lightbulb moment.

"Suddenly I had it!  A nose!  A bright red nose that would shine through the fog like a spotlight."

May considered naming the tiny reindeer with the red nose "Rollo" or "Reginald" but eventually settled on "Rudolph."

The Chicago-based department store printed more than two million copies of May's book "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in 1939.

The ninth and youngest of Santa's reindeer flew straight into the hearts of children across America using his luminous red nose to light the way.

--CootDeer

A Short History of Sears & Roebuck-- Part 6: What's Gone, What Remains at the Homan Avenue Site

At the Homan Avenue complex, the Sears store and Merchandise Building where products were shipped, are gone. The athletic fields have been replaced by a parking
facility.  But the famous tower is still there, and, every spring, flowers bloom in the formal garden, just as they did when the company's 60-piece band gave concerts there.

The Administration Building, where orders were processed, and the Power House remain.  Their stolid look bears witness to an era when money-back guarantees carried more weight than designer labels.

The Printing Building's name is carved in the distinctive lettering architects then favored, marking it at the keystone of ears' golden years

Off its presses rolled the veritable bible of Americans who demanded honest value for whatever they could afford to spend.

In the Sears catalog, many a product was offered at ascending price levels in their relatively quality labeled:  "GOOD, BETTER, BEST."

Well, it sure was great to have Sears and all the other department stores when I was growing up and I sure will miss them when they're gone.

The Good Old Days?  --CootSears

A Short History of Sears & Roebuck-- Part 5: A Branch Into Retail Stores

A years after Roenwald retired as Sears' president (though staying on as chairman), the company set off in a new direction.  In 1925, it opened a retail store in the Homan Avenue complex that was so successful that it began opening stand alone stores all over.

Sears morphed into a retail chain of stores with a mail-order business on the side.  It 1993, it issued its last general merchandise catalog.  Eventually, s slow slide began that has now turned into a free fall.  This is due to people ordering everything off the internet now as well as the goals and aims of the current owners who seem to plan on picking the bones clean.

--DaCootBuck

Sears Was the Amazon.com of the 20th Century-- Part 2: Those Christmas Wish Books

Sears dubbed its 1933 Christmas catalog a "Wish Book" and extended the basic catalog to 700 pages.  President Roosevelt reportedly said he'd like to give every Soviet citizen a Sears catalog as it was an encyclopedia of the American Dream.

I can sure remember going through the Sears and Montgomery Ward's Christmas catalogs and salivating over the toys.  Especially any of the toy soldier sets, especially he Blue and the Gray, Alamo and Fort Apache ones.

Sears role today is fast fading.  Sales are plummeting, stores are closing and there is a serious doubt that it can continue.  Today's flourishing internet business (Amazon and others) is a 21st century update on sears' 20th century mail-order model.

On the West Side of Chicago at huge Homan Avenue complex, the end came on March 2, 1987, on the workers' lunch break when 1,800 employees were told that the distribution center was closing because the facility was "worn out."

They might as well pull the plug and let Lambert make his billions off the bones of the once-great Sears.

So Sad.  --Cooter