Upon another occasion another partner (Mr. Wheeler) worried himself
almost into a nervous breakdown for fear that there would not be enough
pennies for the cashier's cage during the forthcoming holiday season.
Mr. Macy's odd-price plan was something of a drain upon the copper coin
market of New York. And at this particular time, the local shortage
being acute, Mr. Wheeler took a night train and hurried to Washington,
to see the Secretary of the Treasury. Late the next evening he returned
to New York and went to the house of Miss Abbie Golden, his head
cashier, at midnight, just to tell her that he had succeeded in getting
an order upon the director of the Philadelphia Mint for $10,000 in
brand-new copper pennies. After which he went home, to a well-earned
rest.
Although Mr. Wheeler's connection with the store was for a much shorter
period, he left upon it, at the end of its second era, much of the
impress of his own personality. Like both Webster and Valentine, he also
was indirectly related to R. H. Macy, having married Mr. Macy's niece,
Miss Valentine. In appearance and in manner he was the direct antithesis
of his partner, Webster. In the language of today he was a "mixer."
Affable, direct, approachable, men liked him and came to him freely.
The employees of the store poured their woes into his ears; and never in
vain. He stood ready to help them, in every possible way. And they,
knowing this, came frequently to him.
Mr. Wheeler left the store and organization in 1887, selling his
interest in the enterprise to Messrs. Isidor and Nathan Straus--of whom
much more in a very few moments. He became tremendously interested in
the development of Colorado and, upon going out there in 1888, built up
a chain of stores, banks and mines. He still lives in the land of his
adoption.
One of Mr. Wheeler's keenest interests in the store was in its toy
department. In this he followed closely Macy's own trend of thought and
desire. For Macy's had already become, beyond a doubt, _the_ toy-store
of New York City. Starting eleven years after the foundation of the
original store, this one department had so grown and expanded as
annually to demand and receive the entire selling-space of the main
floor. Each year, about the fifteenth of December, all other stocks
would be cleared from shelves and counters, the willow-feathers, the
fans and the fine laces would disappear from the little glass cases
beside the main Fourteenth Street doors and in their places would come
the toys--a goodly company in all, but strange--dolls, engines, blocks,
mechanical devices, books.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account