Equipment & Supplies
- Blackboard Chalk Overhead projector (optional) Four transparencies (optional)
Procedures
Day One
Part 1: John Wanamaker and his "New Type of Store"
1. Introduction: Begin class by asking students what they look for when they go shopping? Students may respond with:
· Low Prices
· Quality / Name-brand goods
· Getting what they want quickly and easily
· Items in style or popular to buy
2. After listening to these statements, explain to the students that during the late 19th Century many people wanted the same things. However, shopping for them was much different.
3. Inform students that the class is going to learn about John Wanamaker, a man who led the transition from the marketplace shopping of the 19th Century to the department store shopping we would come to know in the 20th Century.
4. Distribute Student Handout 1-John Wanamaker and his "New Kind of Store" and the corresponding Student Worksheet 1-John Wanamaker Questions. Inform students that they are to read the Student Handout 1-John Wanamaker and his [FIX ME ’–"“”]New Kind of Store" and use the information to answer the questions on the Student Worksheet 1- Wanamaker Questions.
5. When students have completed Student Worksheet 1, disseminate Student Worksheet 2-History in Photos and ask students to complete this worksheet as well. This worksheet asks students to compare two images of different types of stores: a dry goods store and Wanamaker's Grand Depot (department store). Give students sufficient time, perhaps 15 minutes, to finish the worksheet.
6. After students finish both worksheets, return to Student Worksheet 1-Wanamaker Questions and review the answers with the students, taking time to discuss them in greater detail or to answer any questions students may have.
Optional: You may also like to describe in greater detail Question 3 (What were two key components of Wanamaker's success in advertising?)
You can bring up added information on Wanamaker's advertising such as:
· How he was first to advertise on an entire page of the city newspaper
· He wrote his own ads using language that common people understood. He also sometimes used clever poetry in his ads.
· He installed clocks around the city with the stores logo of "W and B" on them.
· He bought ad space on top of every page in the annual city directory (which was like an early phone book).
· He created thirteen large billboards, each over 100 ft long, placing them on rooftops around the city.
Optional: When students get to Question 5 (What could be some of the potential drawbacks of haggling?) you could go into greater detail about what haggling is, as some students may not completely understand it.
· Define the term "haggle." The answer should express the debating back and forth between the buyer and seller over the price of an item until both agree to a price.
· Explain that part of the haggling concept during the 19th Century meant sellers were constantly pushing and pressuring buyers to make a purchase. Also add that most stores back then did not have price tags on goods. This left merchants to come up with whatever price, no matter how outrageous, they wanted for their goods.
· Provide an example of "haggling" in class with a student volunteer. Offer the student an item (Example: a pencil) for a price, say one dollar. Suggest that the student offer a lower price (Ex. fifty cents). Then demand a price higher then the one the student offered, but lower than the original price (seventy-five cents). If the student accepts this, then say "You have a deal" and tell them they would have gotten the product; if they refuse, then keep negotiating a price with them until they eventually agree to buy the item at the suggested price. Once the student accepts the item, inform them that, in fact, the pencil only cost ten cents to make and will not be refunded if you break it.
Optional: You may also want to discuss Question 6 (What do you think were the benefits of the "one price" system and the "money back guarantee" to consumers in Wanamaker's time?) in greater detail.
A "one-price" system required set prices for all goods in the store. It ended the frustration and wasted time of haggling. It also kept clerks from harassing customers to make a sale.
A "money back guarantee" on all goods returned within ten days made consumers confident that their goods were not shoddy, like most merchants sold. This guarantee created consumer trust in Wanamaker and his store.
Part 2: Shop Girls, Life Behind the Counter in an 1880s Department Store
7. Transition now by asking students to raise their hands if they work in a store. For those who have their hands raised, do they find their job difficult? Have them explain their response. Tell students that in 1876, when John Wanamaker opened the Grand Depot, many of those who got jobs in department stores were young women known as "shop girls," and they had a rough job.
8. Explain that women in the Victorian Era were viewed as the "gentle sex" and expected to live and act modestly, resisting the charms of men seeking to take advantage of their "innocent and fragile nature." Department stores might expose women to be taken advantage of by "mashers" or men lurking around the store up to no good. Despite these beliefs on how women were expected to live, lower-class women had to bring in extra money for survival which led them to seek work in department stores.
9. Distribute Student Handout 2-"Counter Trials: The Shop-Girl Speaks" and Student Worksheet 3- "Counter Trials: The Shop-Girl Speaks". Explain to students that they will read and analyze Students Handout 3-Counter Trials: The Shop-Girl Speaks", an actual article written by a girl working in a New York City department store in 1890. Students will then use this article to answer the questions on Student Worksheet 3- "Counter Trials: The Shop-Girl Speaks."
10. Once students have completed the worksheets, distribute Student Handout 3-Working at Wanamaker's. If lacking time, you can review the main points of the handout while the students skim them. Otherwise, have students read this over and discuss how John Wanamaker considered all of his employees as part of a "family" and took precautions to treat them as human beings.
Wanamaker said: "I will not have people called [FIX ME ’–"“”]shop girls", I will not have people called [FIX ME ’–"“”]help." We are men and women living our lives, doing our share, doing it with dignity." (Ershkowitz, 122).
He provided a variety of benefits to workers, such as:
· Job security for all of his employees, ensuring that they would keep their jobs, despite hard times at the store.
· Mutual aid society where workers invested 20 cents a month in exchange for treatment if they fell ill.
· A retirement plan that paid long term employees half their salary when they could no longer work.
· Shorter hours. (He pioneered shorter work hours, cutting work days from twelve hours to ten hours a day.)
· Two weeks summer vacation
· Days off on Sundays and on religious holidays (Wanamaker would close the store.)
· Free education. Wanamaker's greatest benefit to his workers was his offering of free education for them. Classes at night taught business skills which helped workers receive promotions and provided courses for those who did not finish high school.
11. End class by passing out Student Handout 4-A Letter to Wanamaker. This handout has students imagine that they either work at or are shopping at Wanamaker's department store during the 19th Century. Assign this for homework, due tomorrow. Use Rubric 1: A Letter to Wanamaker to grade them.
Day Two
Money Well Spent: Advertising Wanamaker's Department Store
1. Introduction: Begin class by writing on the board a series of quotes attributed to John Wanamaker concerning advertising and asking students what they think he meant by them.
Quote 1: "You want to get the people in to see what you have to sell, and you must advertise to do that."
Quote 2: "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half."
Quote 3: "Any seeming deception in a statement is costly, not only in the expense of the advertising but in the detrimental effect produced upon the customer, who believes she has been misled."
While students are thinking about the question, collect Student Handout 4-A Letter to Wanamaker which was for homework from yesterday.
Response to Quote 1: This quote is pretty straight-forward. Students should respond that Wanamaker is referring to the necessity of advertising to make people walk through his store door, so that once they are inside, they would buy things.
Response to Quote 2: This quote is a bit more tongue-in-cheek. It speaks to the difficulty of defining your target audience, producing effective advertising, and understanding what works and what doesn't.
Response to Quote 3: This quote from Wanamaker shows the importance he places on honesty in advertising. He believes in honesty not only from moral standpoint, but also simply as good business sense.
2. Now distribute Student Worksheet 4-A Look at Wanamaker's Advertising and Student Handout 5-Four Wanamaker Ads. Inform students that they will now look at four different advertisements made by John Wanamaker and answer questions on them.
Optional: You can choose from the following procedures:
a. Either divide the class up into four groups and distribute one advertisement to each group. Each group gets 5 minutes to look at each ad before switching to another.
OR
b. Have students work on answering the questions themselves, but allow them a chance to talk with a partner, just in case they need help figuring out some of the ads.
OR
c. You may feel more comfortable placing each ad on an overhead and giving students five minutes to respond to them. Make sure to wander freely around the room to answer student questions.
Optional: Ask students some questions to keep them interested and on task, such as:
1. What do you think of the pictures on the ad?
2. How would you make this ad better?
3. Does this ad make you want to buy what is advertised or even shop at Wanamaker's?
3. After students finish Student Worksheet 4- A Look at Wanamaker's Advertising review the answers with them.
4. Distribute Student Handout 6-Wanamaker's Advertising Extravaganza and help students in selecting groups of two to four students each. Explain to students that they will have the rest of the class to work on completing their advertisements as suggested on the handout. Be sure to walk around the classroom to keep students on task or to help them with the advertisements.
Optional: If you think it necessary, you can provide students with extra time to work on their advertisements in class the next day too. Ideally, students should be done their ads by the next day. You may also want to provide them with a printout of "How to Write a Slogan that Sticks" available at: http://marketing.about.com/od/plantutorialsandsamples/ht/stickyslogans.htm
5. When the students are done (either at the end of Day Two or by the beginning of Day Three) they should present their advertisement to the class, with their grade based on the Rubric 2: Wanamaker's Advertising Extravaganza.
Optional: After each group presents its ad, answer the following, "Would this ad convince you to shop at Wanamaker's? Why?" Have students raise their hands to respond.
Part 1: John Wanamaker and his "New Type of Store"
1. Introduction: Begin class by asking students what they look for when they go shopping? Students may respond with:
· Low Prices
· Quality / Name-brand goods
· Getting what they want quickly and easily
· Items in style or popular to buy
2. After listening to these statements, explain to the students that during the late 19th Century many people wanted the same things. However, shopping for them was much different.
3. Inform students that the class is going to learn about John Wanamaker, a man who led the transition from the marketplace shopping of the 19th Century to the department store shopping we would come to know in the 20th Century.
4. Distribute Student Handout 1-John Wanamaker and his "New Kind of Store" and the corresponding Student Worksheet 1-John Wanamaker Questions. Inform students that they are to read the Student Handout 1-John Wanamaker and his [FIX ME ’–"“”]New Kind of Store" and use the information to answer the questions on the Student Worksheet 1- Wanamaker Questions.
5. When students have completed Student Worksheet 1, disseminate Student Worksheet 2-History in Photos and ask students to complete this worksheet as well. This worksheet asks students to compare two images of different types of stores: a dry goods store and Wanamaker's Grand Depot (department store). Give students sufficient time, perhaps 15 minutes, to finish the worksheet.
6. After students finish both worksheets, return to Student Worksheet 1-Wanamaker Questions and review the answers with the students, taking time to discuss them in greater detail or to answer any questions students may have.
Optional: You may also like to describe in greater detail Question 3 (What were two key components of Wanamaker's success in advertising?)
You can bring up added information on Wanamaker's advertising such as:
· How he was first to advertise on an entire page of the city newspaper
· He wrote his own ads using language that common people understood. He also sometimes used clever poetry in his ads.
· He installed clocks around the city with the stores logo of "W and B" on them.
· He bought ad space on top of every page in the annual city directory (which was like an early phone book).
· He created thirteen large billboards, each over 100 ft long, placing them on rooftops around the city.
Optional: When students get to Question 5 (What could be some of the potential drawbacks of haggling?) you could go into greater detail about what haggling is, as some students may not completely understand it.
· Define the term "haggle." The answer should express the debating back and forth between the buyer and seller over the price of an item until both agree to a price.
· Explain that part of the haggling concept during the 19th Century meant sellers were constantly pushing and pressuring buyers to make a purchase. Also add that most stores back then did not have price tags on goods. This left merchants to come up with whatever price, no matter how outrageous, they wanted for their goods.
· Provide an example of "haggling" in class with a student volunteer. Offer the student an item (Example: a pencil) for a price, say one dollar. Suggest that the student offer a lower price (Ex. fifty cents). Then demand a price higher then the one the student offered, but lower than the original price (seventy-five cents). If the student accepts this, then say "You have a deal" and tell them they would have gotten the product; if they refuse, then keep negotiating a price with them until they eventually agree to buy the item at the suggested price. Once the student accepts the item, inform them that, in fact, the pencil only cost ten cents to make and will not be refunded if you break it.
Optional: You may also want to discuss Question 6 (What do you think were the benefits of the "one price" system and the "money back guarantee" to consumers in Wanamaker's time?) in greater detail.
A "one-price" system required set prices for all goods in the store. It ended the frustration and wasted time of haggling. It also kept clerks from harassing customers to make a sale.
A "money back guarantee" on all goods returned within ten days made consumers confident that their goods were not shoddy, like most merchants sold. This guarantee created consumer trust in Wanamaker and his store.
Part 2: Shop Girls, Life Behind the Counter in an 1880s Department Store
7. Transition now by asking students to raise their hands if they work in a store. For those who have their hands raised, do they find their job difficult? Have them explain their response. Tell students that in 1876, when John Wanamaker opened the Grand Depot, many of those who got jobs in department stores were young women known as "shop girls," and they had a rough job.
8. Explain that women in the Victorian Era were viewed as the "gentle sex" and expected to live and act modestly, resisting the charms of men seeking to take advantage of their "innocent and fragile nature." Department stores might expose women to be taken advantage of by "mashers" or men lurking around the store up to no good. Despite these beliefs on how women were expected to live, lower-class women had to bring in extra money for survival which led them to seek work in department stores.
9. Distribute Student Handout 2-"Counter Trials: The Shop-Girl Speaks" and Student Worksheet 3- "Counter Trials: The Shop-Girl Speaks". Explain to students that they will read and analyze Students Handout 3-Counter Trials: The Shop-Girl Speaks", an actual article written by a girl working in a New York City department store in 1890. Students will then use this article to answer the questions on Student Worksheet 3- "Counter Trials: The Shop-Girl Speaks."
10. Once students have completed the worksheets, distribute Student Handout 3-Working at Wanamaker's. If lacking time, you can review the main points of the handout while the students skim them. Otherwise, have students read this over and discuss how John Wanamaker considered all of his employees as part of a "family" and took precautions to treat them as human beings.
Wanamaker said: "I will not have people called [FIX ME ’–"“”]shop girls", I will not have people called [FIX ME ’–"“”]help." We are men and women living our lives, doing our share, doing it with dignity." (Ershkowitz, 122).
He provided a variety of benefits to workers, such as:
· Job security for all of his employees, ensuring that they would keep their jobs, despite hard times at the store.
· Mutual aid society where workers invested 20 cents a month in exchange for treatment if they fell ill.
· A retirement plan that paid long term employees half their salary when they could no longer work.
· Shorter hours. (He pioneered shorter work hours, cutting work days from twelve hours to ten hours a day.)
· Two weeks summer vacation
· Days off on Sundays and on religious holidays (Wanamaker would close the store.)
· Free education. Wanamaker's greatest benefit to his workers was his offering of free education for them. Classes at night taught business skills which helped workers receive promotions and provided courses for those who did not finish high school.
11. End class by passing out Student Handout 4-A Letter to Wanamaker. This handout has students imagine that they either work at or are shopping at Wanamaker's department store during the 19th Century. Assign this for homework, due tomorrow. Use Rubric 1: A Letter to Wanamaker to grade them.
Day Two
Money Well Spent: Advertising Wanamaker's Department Store
1. Introduction: Begin class by writing on the board a series of quotes attributed to John Wanamaker concerning advertising and asking students what they think he meant by them.
Quote 1: "You want to get the people in to see what you have to sell, and you must advertise to do that."
Quote 2: "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half."
Quote 3: "Any seeming deception in a statement is costly, not only in the expense of the advertising but in the detrimental effect produced upon the customer, who believes she has been misled."
While students are thinking about the question, collect Student Handout 4-A Letter to Wanamaker which was for homework from yesterday.
Response to Quote 1: This quote is pretty straight-forward. Students should respond that Wanamaker is referring to the necessity of advertising to make people walk through his store door, so that once they are inside, they would buy things.
Response to Quote 2: This quote is a bit more tongue-in-cheek. It speaks to the difficulty of defining your target audience, producing effective advertising, and understanding what works and what doesn't.
Response to Quote 3: This quote from Wanamaker shows the importance he places on honesty in advertising. He believes in honesty not only from moral standpoint, but also simply as good business sense.
2. Now distribute Student Worksheet 4-A Look at Wanamaker's Advertising and Student Handout 5-Four Wanamaker Ads. Inform students that they will now look at four different advertisements made by John Wanamaker and answer questions on them.
Optional: You can choose from the following procedures:
a. Either divide the class up into four groups and distribute one advertisement to each group. Each group gets 5 minutes to look at each ad before switching to another.
OR
b. Have students work on answering the questions themselves, but allow them a chance to talk with a partner, just in case they need help figuring out some of the ads.
OR
c. You may feel more comfortable placing each ad on an overhead and giving students five minutes to respond to them. Make sure to wander freely around the room to answer student questions.
Optional: Ask students some questions to keep them interested and on task, such as:
1. What do you think of the pictures on the ad?
2. How would you make this ad better?
3. Does this ad make you want to buy what is advertised or even shop at Wanamaker's?
3. After students finish Student Worksheet 4- A Look at Wanamaker's Advertising review the answers with them.
4. Distribute Student Handout 6-Wanamaker's Advertising Extravaganza and help students in selecting groups of two to four students each. Explain to students that they will have the rest of the class to work on completing their advertisements as suggested on the handout. Be sure to walk around the classroom to keep students on task or to help them with the advertisements.
Optional: If you think it necessary, you can provide students with extra time to work on their advertisements in class the next day too. Ideally, students should be done their ads by the next day. You may also want to provide them with a printout of "How to Write a Slogan that Sticks" available at: http://marketing.about.com/od/plantutorialsandsamples/ht/stickyslogans.htm
5. When the students are done (either at the end of Day Two or by the beginning of Day Three) they should present their advertisement to the class, with their grade based on the Rubric 2: Wanamaker's Advertising Extravaganza.
Optional: After each group presents its ad, answer the following, "Would this ad convince you to shop at Wanamaker's? Why?" Have students raise their hands to respond.
