Funky Friday: The Huge Organ

For 100 years the "Boys" in Philadelphia have been able to say, "meet me at the Eagle and I will show you the huge organ"and this was a perfectly acceptable plan. Now in New York the Eagle would be a particular leather bar and the organ would inevitably be smaller than described. But in Philly the Eagle is a huge cast bronze statue. The huge Organ, is not a euphemism for a male body part, it is a very large organ built for a world's fair, bought by Wanamaker's Department Store in Philadelphia and installed in the grand  courtyard of the store about 100 years ago. I have seen the organ, it is HUGE.  

Wanamaker's was bought by Macy's and the store has slowly closed, one floor and department at a time shrinking, and recently it was announced that the store will close this spring.  

The demise of department stores has been long ongoing, painful, and slow. Death by a thousand cuts.  I have fond memories in the middle 1960's of the massive JL Hudson's department store on Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit.  The first time I was there, I bought my first pocket size transistor radio. Up on about the 12th floor was a department that sold radios, televisions, and cameras.  I saw the radio in the case, insisted that I had to see it, then surprised the daylights out of my father when I peeled off the cash to buy it. As I recall it was about $20, I was about 10 years old, my father was surprised I had that kind of cash and no one knew about it. Being quiet about having two-nickels to rub together started early for me.  Slowly department stores did away with departments.  Hudson's closed electronics and cameras in the early 1970s, along with hats, gloves, mens formal wear. There was a time when you could go into a store like Hudson's or Wanamakers and buy anything you can buy today on Amazon. The departments and selection have steadily declined over the past 60 years, now you have a choice of 20 shades of blue and grey trousers. 70% of the floor space in a typical department store in the US is ladies clothing.  The stores have closed one cut at a time, at the same time alternatives have expanded. Hudson's is also a victim of merger with Macy's is closing three of the few remaining stores this year. 

So what about the Eagle and Huge Organ in Philly?  Those items are protected by the historical society, they can't be changed or moved without approval.  Negotiations with the building owner are centered on continuing public access to these treasures. It would be a great building to convert to a hotel or apartments, with the central courtyard remaining open to the public. 

The grand Hudson's store on Woodward Avenue, it was imploded about 40 years ago. The video of the implosion brings tears to my eyes.