Part 534: Thomas G. Moses and Marshall Field
Early-twentieth century scenic artists painted for a variety of venues, such as retail stores. What first brought Thomas G. Moses and Will Hamilton together to form Moses & Hamilton was the creation of Christmas decorations for a large New York department store. In 1905, Moses was still painting store displays.
Moses wrote “[I did] a lot of work for Marshall Field and Company, retail store-full decorations.”
The story of Marshall Field is quite interesting, especially in light of the BBC series about a once Marshal Field employee – Selfridge. In 1856, Marshall Field (1834-1906) moved to Chicago and worked at the dry goods firm of Cooley, Wadsworth & Company. In 1860, the company’s bookkeeper Levi Z. Leiter (1834-1904), Field and John V. Farewell, Sr. (1825-1908) established Cooley, Farwell & Company. In 1864, the company was renamed Farwell, Field & Company.
The founder of P. Palmer & Co., a very successful dry goods store, was in very poor health and looking for a solution for his business. At the beginning of January 1865, Field and Leiter entered into partnership with Potter Palmer and his brother Milton Palmer, forming Field, Palmer, Leiter & Company. In 1867, the store was renamed Field, Leiter & Company, or “Field & Leiter.”
When news broke of the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, the store’s employees at Field & Leiter worked tirelessly to remove much of the merchandise before fire overcame the structure. Six months later, Field & Leiter reopened in an unburned building at Madison and Market Streets. Two years later, during October 1873, Field & Leiter returned to State Street at Washington, and opened a new five-story store at their old location. They now leased space from the Singer Sewing Machine Company. This store was expanded in 1876, only to be destroyed by fire again in November 1877. The Singer Company built a new, and even larger, six-story building on the ruins of their old 1873 store. Field, Leiter & Company bought the structure and reclaimed their traditional location at the northeast corner of State and Washington by April 1879. By 1881, Field bought out the junior partners of the firm and renamed the company Marshall Field & Co. The firm was divided into a wholesale store and a retail store. In 1887, Harry Gordon Selfridge (1858-1947) was appointed to lead the retail store as it evolved into a modern department store.
In 1892, the structures between the 1879 building on State Street and Wabash Avenue to the east were demolished; the architectural firm of D. H. Burnham & Co. was hired to design a new building in anticipation of the impending World Columbian Exposition. The Burnham associate, Charles B. Atwood, supervised the construction of the nine-story “Annex” at the northwest corner of Wabash and Washington Streets, that opened near the end of the World Fair. In 1897, the old 1879 store was rebuilt and had two additional floors added, while the first of Marshall Field’s iconic landmark Great Clocks was installed at the corner of State and Washington Streets.
In 1901, Marshall Field & Company was incorporated. Selfridge spurred on Marshall Field to raze the three buildings north of it, as well as the Cetral Music Hall at the southeast corner of State and Randolph Streets. The twelve-story building fronting State Street opened in 1902, and included a grand new entrance. A third new building was also under construction on Wabash Avenue, eventually to open in 1906. This was the project that Moses was working on. However, midway through the construction, Selfridge resigned and bought a rival store in 1904– Schlesinger & Mayer. However, he sold it only three months later to Otto Young, who leased it to Carson, Pirie Scott and Co. firm. After a brief retirement, Selfridge went on to open Selfridge’s of London.
On January 16, 1906, Marshal Field died in New York from pneumonia, a mere six weeks after the death of his son. A widower since 1896, Field, at the age of 70, had married fifty-year old Delia Spencer Caton. Caton was a widow and his neighbor for years. The couple had only been married four months at the time of his death.
On the day of Field’s funeral 900 stores and business offices in Chicago were closed. The artist, Luther D. Bradley, drew a tribute to Marshall Field after his death with the saying “There is an honest way to wealth.” It was published on January 19, 1906, in the Chicago Tribune.
To be continued…
