A Christmas Chicago Tradition At Macy's

[rgb123]

there was an article in the tribune about this yesterday, Macy's admits its not as upscale as Fields was, and the Macy's brands are different than the Fields brands.....not sure about where the clothing is manufactured, but the quality and design of the brands has declined.

Macy's motivated to matter -- chicagotribune.com

[mdz]

My shirts were from Nicaragua. Trusted the guy who sold them to me, didn't read the tag until after they fell apart. Live and learn.

[tcs1366]

I've only shopped at Fields a few times in my life, and never Macys. I've been downtown to "see the lights" a few times in my life and they are just stunning -- not just Fields/Macys, but the entire street. Something everyone should do at least once in there life.

as for the name change... when i think Marshall Fields, I think more of the family name and for what it meant to/in the city of chicago.

decades ago when my hubby was a corporate type pilot, he used to fly around Marshall III

When you'd hear, "Marshall Field" you'd think of the city of chicago, not necessarily the store. At least that is the way it was for me. So, again to me, the name change was the end of an era.... and it has nothing to do with the store, since i've never really shopped there.

just my 2 pennies worth

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by tcs1366

When you'd hear, "Marshall Field" you'd think of the city of chicago, not necessarily the store. At least that is the way it was for me. So, again to me, the name change was the end of an era.... and it has nothing to do with the store, since i've never really shopped there.

Excellent point, and something I dont think a lot of non-natives, or new residents understand. Those who dont understand the connection to the city lump it together with other dept stores...Wards, Carsons, etc. While Chicago hurts when its homegrown department stores close, we go through grieving periods and get over it. Mashall Fields was always different though. It wasnt just a store. It was an institution. Instead, it would be lumped in a group like this:

Marshall Fields
University of Chicago
Michigan Ave
Lakeshore Drive
Cubs, Hawks, Sox, Bears
The Sears Tower and Hancock
Grant Park
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Lyric Opera
Art Institute

THATS the difference. Marshall Fields was about lunch in the Walnut Room. It was about the unambiguous green bags. It was about Frango mints. It was about the clock. It was about the atriums. It was about the Tiffany ceiling. It was about the window displays at Christmas. It was about little green firetrucks with Marshall Fields calligraphy on the side.

Fields was woven into the fabric of this city, and vice versa. Moreso than Macys could ever understand. And yes, Chicagoans are stubborn. We will willingly self-destruct Macys purely because of the fact that they had the audacity to think they could tear it all away from us and that we wouldnt notice or care.

[rgb123]

for a lot of us, it was about the great merchandise, not just the state street store.....and Macy's arrogance that we would somehow not notice the difference. Fields was my "go to" place when I needed something, I KNEW I would find something there and feel good about my purchase. It was like a trusted friend.

Reading comments in the tribune...I know thousands of women (and some men agree.

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by rgb123

for a lot of us, it was about the great merchandise, not just the state street store.....and Macy's arrogance that we would somehow not notice the difference. Fields was my "go to" place when I needed something, I KNEW I would find something there and feel good about my purchase. It was like a trusted friend.

Reading comments in the tribune...I know thousands of women (and some men agree.

Definitely agree, but as I mentioned earlier the quality had started to drop before Macys, although they havent really helped the matter. The "cultural" value of Fields was pretty much what most people had left to hold onto.

[rgb123]

well, thats kind of a misperception, led by Macy's.....vendors and designers stayed on as long as the the Marshall Fields name remained....and left when Macy's showed up.

There was an absolute decline once Macy's showed up.

And the store was still quite profitable before Macy's....I think the unfortunate thing is, most retailers were not doing excellent after 911.....Marshall Fields needed a little time to rebound just like everything else.

But really, the most compelling reason for Macy's to take over was not because Fields was doing badly, its because they wanted to knock out the competition for Bloomingdales, which Macy's owns.

I hope we see the day someone tries to bring Fields back to its glory....

[HOWELL_STREET]

My one and only visit with the Fields Santa Claus would have been shortly after the war. So let's pick a year of around 1946 or 1947. Our trip to the Marshall Fields store in down town Chicago was an event along with my mother. She had left my younger sister with my maternal grandmother. And so the event was to by mine, alone, with Santa.

At that time, Santa Clause was set up in the Walnut Room and quite close to the base of the three or three or four story Christmas Tree.

In those years, the lines weren't that long... and so I dutifully waited my turn in line. But the kid in front of me wasn't as polite as I was trained to be. So when it was his turn, I heard him blurt out... "Hey Santa Claus, you smell funny." And when it was my turn, indeed, he did smell funny.

But I said nothing other than in a shy voice - - telling him what I wanted for Christmas.

After visiting with Santa, my mother took me to one of the floors above the Walnunt Room. For $1.00, my mother purchased a ticket so that I could get a present from Santa. For boys, there were one or the other of two presents. The older boys got a toy - mock airplane **** pit with an airplane 'steering wheel'. And for the younger boys, a cheap microsope made out of painted cardboard. Of course, I didn't want the microsope in favor of the airplane toy cockpit - - but even my mother's quiet complaints to the establishment didn't do any good. "Well, ma'am, we are out of the cockpits."

Years later, I finally realized why Santa Claus smelled so bad. You see, it had something to do with Santa's indigestion.... With a ... "Rudy, toot, toot... and a rummy tum tum... Santa Claus is ALREADY in town !"

Carter Glass
Wheaton, IL

[NYrules]

Ok Ok, we are all into Macy's bashing, however we are all missing the big picture here. Marshall Fields could no longer operate profitably so they had to sell their name over to Macy's who was one of the only other companies in the world that was interested in investing any money into Fields.

Its sad, but at the turn of the millenium we worked our way out of the department store era and into the Wal Mart and online shopping era. Marshall Fields could no longer operate profitabily just as many other stores couldn't like Woolworths and Mokey Wards, and there are other stores that went under as well. Heck K-Mart would have been another gonner due to Wal Mart had it not been for Sears bailing them out.

So, which is better I ask, a department store that is at least trying to make an attempt to stay affloat and appease everyone to the standards that were set back in the 1950s by Fields, or just have another giant vacant building on State St and another 100 or so people out of work? You decide.

[rgb123]

Fields was doing a lot better than Macy's is. Fields was not doing that bad.