The Elmhurst History Museum is honoring Chicago’s bygone department stores and taking guests back in time to the era of iconic retailers like Marshall Field & Co., Carson Pirie Scott and more in new exhibit The Lost Chicagoland Department Stores. The exhibit is a collaboration with historian and author Leslie Goddard, who penned Remembering Marshall Field’s and Lost Chicago Department Stores.
Explore the evolution of the retail industry from the late 1800s through memorabilia, videos, artifacts, images and interactive elements. Fashion displays will be featured along with animatronic characters from holiday windows, a vintage hat try-on station and more.
“We are thrilled to share the history of Chicagoland department stores and to bring a bit of holiday magic to our visitors this year,” says Sarah Cox, Elmhurst History Museum Curator of Exhibits. “Everyone has their own story of visiting a department store, so we hope for the Lost Chicagoland Department Stores exhibit to prompt fond memories, such as dressing up for lunch in Marshall Field & Co.’s Walnut Room or picking out Christmas gifts from the Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs—but also to remind visitors of the importance of shopping small and shopping local when possible.” Oct. 6-Jan. 28., Elmhurst History Museum, 120 E. Park Ave., Elmhurst
Photography by: Photo courtesy of museum
