Pipe Organ in a Department Store

The John Wanamaker store was one of two Philadelphia family-owned department stores. This was their finest location. It was quite ornate with a pipe organ, a bronze statue of an eagle, and marble used quite freely.

In early 1995, the company could no longer maintain its business and sold to May Department Stores, which turned several of their locations into Hecht's Department Stores but this one became a Lord & Taylor. Later, May Department Stores fell to Federated Department Stores and this became a Macy's.

If you'd ever seen the terrible movie Mannequin, you might remember the interior of the old, traditional store as this one, while the other, more modern store was filmed at Boscov's.