The Wanamaker organ has been a part of a treasured holiday tradition in Philly for over 100 years – a historian explains its glorious past and unsure future

After Macy's announced its plans to shut in November 2023 approx. 150 locations within the United States, Some Philadelphians were nervous — not a lot concerning the fate of the Center City department store, but about a neighborhood treasure housed inside.

What would occur to the 120 12 months old? Wanamaker organ and annual Christmas light show?

As Philadelphia Historian and Historic PreservationI recognize the panic as a well-known response to the economic changes which have characterised town for 75 years. As town government has struggled to develop an economic anchor for the downtown area, town's historic and cultural features have attracted more enthusiastic visitors than the retail businesses trying to capitalize on them.

Concern over the Wanamaker Organ reflects the continuing challenge of preserving urban landmarks that remain tied to a consumer economy.

“Largest organ in the world”

The visionary retailer John Wanamaker unveiled the organ to Philadelphians in 1911. Forty years after he opened his first clothing store, he installed the organ as a showpiece within the seven-story Grand Court of his recent business palace so as to add music and culture to the shopping experience.

A deep dive into the Philadelphia Inquirer archives shows how Philadelphians viewed the organ as a defining feature of town's historic character.

From the start, the Wanamaker organ was touted in promoting as “the largest organ in the world.” Wanamaker had brought it from St. Louiswhere it debuted on 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition. News articles tracked the growing variety of pipes, stops and circuits as Wanamaker and his son, Organ lover Rodman Wanamakerexpanded the scale and sound of the huge instrument. Increasingly elaborate decorations, including floral arrangements, Spring and artworks also transformed the organ right into a visual spectacle.

The organ distinguished Wanamaker's from town's other well-known malls. In the Nineteen Twenties, the shop hosted evening concert events with internationally renowned organists, attracting over 10,000 spectators.

In 1922, a radio station within the Wanamaker store organized the primary successful broadcast of an organ concert.

“Christmas isn’t Christmas without a day at Wanamaker’s!”

Although the annual Christmas light show only began within the Nineteen Fifties, Wanamaker has included Christmas carols within the organ repertoire from the start.

In 1917, for instance, advertisements within the Philadelphia Inquirer announced that the Wanamaker organist would play Christmas carols until the brand new 12 months. A full-page newspaper commercial announcing the opening of the 1938 Christmas season included an outline of the organ, a Madonna painting above the organ gallery, and bells hanging above.

A 1949 holiday ad proclaimed, “Christmas isn't Christmas without a day at Wanamaker's!” It lured visitors with a “memorable Christmas” with Christmas music played on the “famous” Wanamaker organ, lit with candles and was surrounded by tableaus.

A 1953 article concerning the organ's history stated, “Philadelphia residents best remember how the organ's music is interwoven with the memories of countless Christmas seasons.”

Four years later, Wanamaker's attempted to capitalize on this popularity by marketing an LP of Christmas songs played on the Wanamaker organ.

A changing retail landscape

In the Nineteen Fifties, nevertheless Downtown retail was in trouble. Wanamaker's flagship store was positioned in the center of what many consumers viewed as a city in decline. Loss of producing jobs, depopulation, political corruption, deteriorating urban infrastructure, and perceptions of crime threatened the economic health of the inner city.

Many buyers preferred recent ones suburban shopping centers and indoor malls. Wanamaker's has taken care of those buyers Opening of regional branches. Still, they’d difficulty competing with recent retailers. New York stores comparable to Bloomingdale's and Lord & Taylor offered high-quality fashion and attracted shoppers from wealthy suburbs. At the opposite end of the market, recent discount retailers like Clover and Caldor captured deal-seeking shoppers.

The Wanamaker Organ became the benchmark for a way the shop navigated this urban and retail transformation. In 1966, Wanamaker's long-time organist and music director Mary Vogt retired. Classical organ music was outdated, so Wanamaker hired 20-year-old music student Keith Chapman to complement the usual repertoire with popular music and host musical groups for performances with organ accompaniment.

The following 12 months, recent company president Edwin K. Hoffman ordered a management shakeup that eliminated morning organ playing on the opening. Within a 12 months, the Wanamaker family had fired him. The Wanamaker's organist reportedly celebrated with an impromptu performance of “Happy Days Are Here Again.”

During this time, the Christmas program was portrayed in newspaper advertisements as a comforting bastion of Philadelphia tradition. His “familiar Christmas carols” were a part of the “time-tested formula and well-known traditions” that remained in the shop because the world around him modified.

New owner

In 1974, Wanamaker's was one among the few remaining family-owned malls within the United States. Since the corporate kept quiet about its business results, observers could only make assumptions about its financial situation. In 1974, the Inquirer estimated in an editorial that 100,000 people passed through the constructing every day. However, it was unclear what number of stopped to purchase something.

The health of the flagship store and town were closely linked at a time of deepening economic downturn. According to an Inquirer article from that 12 months, in 1974 Wanamaker's employed 3,500 people at its Center City store and carried a tax burden of $20 million.

The company had also invested within the Market East Urban Renewal Project Development of real estate, trade and transportation within the neighborhood. Still, low office occupancy, shoplifting and the like declining influence of corporate leaders in urban affairs suggested that Wanamaker's was removed from successful.

In 1978 the family founded Wanamaker sold its stores to Carter Hawley Hale Stores from Los Angeles. Several news articles from the time show how Philadelphians registered the brand new ownership as a possible lack of local character and tradition.

Carter Hawley Hale was the primary in an extended line of shops to face this Rumors that they’d remove the organ or final ideas. Carter Hawley Hale faced public backlash in 1982 when management reduced every day appearances from three to 2. In 1986, the shop owners demonstrated their commitment to preserving the shop's historic character by making a self-guided walking tour of the constructing.

When Federated Department Stores purchased Wanamaker's in 1995, it immediately assured the general public that the acquisition agreement included a preservation clause for the Wanamaker organ. Newspaper archives show that managers of the next stores – Hecht's, Lord & Taylor and Macy's – made similar guarantees.

Monument protection

When economic uncertainty threatened the fate of the Wanamaker Organ, residents campaigned for its preservation.

Shortly after the Wanamaker family sold their businesses, the National Park Service renamed the constructing National Historic Landmark in 1978. The organ received particular attention defining historical feature. In 1991, local enthusiasts founded the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ non-profit organization to boost money for a comprehensive restoration of the organ and its continued preservation as a public cultural asset.

In 2018, the Philadelphia Historical Commission recognized the organ's importance included it within the furnishings of the Grand Courtone among only five interior spaces protected by regulations of the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. This implies that recent owners of the constructing must obtain permission from the Historical Commission to change or demolish the organ.

The Wanamaker Building went bankrupt in 2023 after office tenants on upper floors never returned amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Reports suggest so that potential buyers aim to convert the vacant office space into residential properties. It's unclear if they are going to retain a retail tenant after this Macy's lease expires in 2027.

Today, the Wanamaker organ and Christmas light show are a part of a pastiche of retail history that the The city advertises itself as attracting masses of holidaymakers to the old Wanamaker constructing. As the constructing's retail space has shrunk from 12 floors to 3, store visitors have uttered a well-known refrain: Without the organ and the Christmas light display, they’d don’t have any reason to go to the shop.