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In the 1870s, astute retailers such as John Wanamaker in Philadelphia and Marshall Field in Chicago created luxury department stores. This was the beginning of shopping as a leisure activity. Prior to this time, customers presented their lists to clerks who filled the baskets themselves. These new stores were destinations in themselves--with tea rooms, concerts, fountains, spectacular furnishings and art. The success of this new shopping concept was assured, since it gave women, who had few opportunities to escape the home, a socially-acceptable place to linger in public. This was the ancestor of today's shopping mall, where bank machines, childcare services, food courts, and movie theaters encourage us to stay (and spend) all day.
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