Wanamaker, John

John (1838-), an American merchant. He was born in Philadelphia. He received an ordinary common school education. At the age of fourteen he began to acquire experience as an errand boy in a store. In 1861 he formed a partnership with a brother-in-law under the name of Wanamaker & Brown, and established a clothing store. Later the firm became known as John Wanamaker & Co. The firm added one line of goods after another until "Wanamaker's" became a feature of Philadelphia and was regarded as the most noted department store in America. Mr. Wanamaker was a believer in advertising. He is reputed to have paid the Philadelphia dailies yearly from $50,000 to $75,000 apiece for advertising, the price being $1,000 for a full page advertisement. Mr. Wanamaker was an active man in church work and a promoter of the Y. M. C. A. In politics he was a Republican, but was opposed to machine rule. He served as a presidential elector in 1888 and was postmaster-general in President Harrison's cabinet. He favored taking over the telegraph system. In 1896 Mr. Wanamaker engaged in the retail trade in New York City, opening up in the store building formerly occupied by A. T. Stewart. Later he built a model department building intimately connected with the subway system.

Wandering Jew. See Sue; Eugene