Fun Fact #518 Not My Department

 Fun Fact #518

Not my Department

In 1874, the first ever copyrighted Advertisement was published, and after it gained a reputation for being truthful about its boasts, Wanamaker’s would become an overnight success. 

At the time, buying was handled through Haggling where prices were determined at the time of purchase causing prices to vary. Presbyterian, John Wanamaker however had a different approach as he considered that if everyone was equal before God, then they should be equal before Price as well: Inventing the Price tag. This consistency allowed goods to be left on marked shelves and for people to know how much they needed to pay, allowing them to leave in a timely fashion. The other invention this led to was the creation of the Money-Back-Garuntee as now that prices were consistent he could easily pay the exact price to reclaim unwanted goods, rather than take customers at their word. 

Soon Business would boom, leading to whole sections of Wanamaker’s to be devoted to different types of Goods run by a dedicated employee –Thus Inventing the Department Store. Leveraging this success Wanamaker then became president of the YMCA and decided to build a new YMCA location in Rockford Illinois in 1889 where he would move after the birth of his daughter Carrie Ashton Johnson.

It was here at the YMCA that a Rockford resident Andrew Ashton would learn of the Department store Format after sharing a meal with Wanamaker. In 1904 “Aston’s Department Store” would become Rockford’s First Skyscraper, specializing in Dry goods (types of clothing and textiles) and attracting even more business to The Forrest City. 

Image of Ashton’s Department Store

Image of the Rockford’s first YMCA –now used for YMCA office space.