Marshall Fields has been gone from Chicago since Macy’s, Inc. acquired it in 2005 and ceased operations on September 9, 2006. It was a high-end department store founded in 1852 by Marshall Field. Some still miss the store.
Author Gayle Soucek shared her knowledge of one of Chicago’s famous residents and his store with Sun City residents. Soucek is a historian and freelance editor with over a dozen books and numerous magazine articles.
Shannon Smith said, “We had around 100 residents attend the session.”
Author Gayle Soucek giving a recent presentation in Sun City. (Photo by Christine Such/My Sun Day News)
Soucek began by introducing herself. She lives in the far northwest suburbs of Chicago with her photographer husband. She writes mostly non-fiction. Her interests include history and ornithology.
Soucek asked the audience, “How many had worked at Marshall Fields?” Several hands went up. Residents remembered the window displays, the Walnut room, and the shopping.
Soucek said, “I have done a lot of research for the book I wrote Marshall Field’s: The Store that Helped Build Chicago. Marshall Field was born on a farm near Conway, Massachusetts. He was not interested in farming, and when he was seventeen, he went to work at a dry goods store with his brother. The store owner offered him a partnership when he indicated he was leaving. Marshall declined and went west to a rapidly growing town named Chicago.”
Soucek’s book is a history of the iconic department store and a city’s life over a century and a half. Soucek said, “In 1856, Marshall Field began working at Cooley, Wadsworth & Co. He became a partner. Field left in 1865 and joined Levi Leiter and Potter Palmer to create a new dry-goods store. Palmer sold out in 1867, and the store became Field, Leiter & Co. The new store operated with about $9 million in wholesale and retail sales in 1867.”
Two of its stores burned during the 1870s, and Leiter retired in 1881; the name became Marshall Field & Co. The store employed nearly 3,000 people at its retail store on State and Washington Streets and its massive seven-story wholesale building at Quincy and Adams.
Soucek said, “Marshall Field died in 1906.”
One hundred years later, in 2006, Macy’s renamed Marshall Fields. People protested. The protesters were not mad because Macy’s had purchased the beloved chain. The Field family hadn’t owned the department store since the 1960s. They protested because Macy’s changed the store’s name.
Despite the changes, a group is still active in bringing back Marshall Fields. Their dedication is evident in their community activities, including — but not limited to — rallies, letter-writing, lectures, attending Macy’s/Bloomingdale’s stockholder meetings, and other activities supporting the return of Marshall Fields.
Soucek has written other books on topics familiar to Sun City residents, such as Door County Tales: Shipwrecks, Cherries and Goats on the Roof, and Haunted Door County. Related to the history of Marshall Fields, the book Mr. Selfridge in Chicago writes about his rise through the ranks from the stock boy at Marshall Fields. The book Chicago Calamities takes readers through fire, flood, train wreck, and tornados. It looks at the many disasters Chicago has endured over the years with photos and illustrations.
Soucek’s books can be found on Amazon for those interested in delving deeper into the history of Marshall Fields and other fascinating topics.
