The Lord & Taylor store may serve as a fair example of the first group; Altman’s of the second. What is not apparent along Fifth Avenue is treatment of the facade on the lines of what in Europe is recognized as the department store type, exemplified in the Wertheim Building in Berlin. The show windows run up to the cornice, with lofty pilaster effects separating them and accentuating the vertical lines of the facade.
There is something to be said, architecturally, for this upward extension of the window lines, even in the United States where it contravenes national precedent. It is striking to the eye, extremely graceful in line and eminently practical in supplying natural light to the store interior at every floor level. But American retailing remains unalterably utilitarian and, while it is learning to appreciate artistic effect in its store fronts, it holds fast to the axiom that the level of selling display is the level of the human eye — i. e., that the store’s display windows should not be extended to a point much above the level of the natural vision. This safe anchorage for window salesmanship accounts for the extremely large number of valances that are draped from American store windows constructed with heights of from 10 to 12 feet. As a rule, it is only in the case of drapings of yard goods that stores such as McCreery’s utilize the full, magnificent vertical proportions of their windows. For
ENTRANCE TO PRESBURG STORE, AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND
G. A. M. LOGMANN, ARCHITECT
GLASS IS USED TO DECORATIVE ADVANTAGE MODERN SETTING IN SHOW WINDOW OF
LORD & TAYLOR, NEW YORK
Photo by Winston
DISPLAY BACKGROUND IN SHOW WINDOW OF SAKS & COM
PANY, NEW YORK — DESIGNED BY FREDERICK KIESLER
Photo by Worsinger
There is something to be said, architecturally, for this upward extension of the window lines, even in the United States where it contravenes national precedent. It is striking to the eye, extremely graceful in line and eminently practical in supplying natural light to the store interior at every floor level. But American retailing remains unalterably utilitarian and, while it is learning to appreciate artistic effect in its store fronts, it holds fast to the axiom that the level of selling display is the level of the human eye — i. e., that the store’s display windows should not be extended to a point much above the level of the natural vision. This safe anchorage for window salesmanship accounts for the extremely large number of valances that are draped from American store windows constructed with heights of from 10 to 12 feet. As a rule, it is only in the case of drapings of yard goods that stores such as McCreery’s utilize the full, magnificent vertical proportions of their windows. For
ENTRANCE TO PRESBURG STORE, AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND
G. A. M. LOGMANN, ARCHITECT
GLASS IS USED TO DECORATIVE ADVANTAGE MODERN SETTING IN SHOW WINDOW OF
LORD & TAYLOR, NEW YORK
Photo by Winston
DISPLAY BACKGROUND IN SHOW WINDOW OF SAKS & COM
PANY, NEW YORK — DESIGNED BY FREDERICK KIESLER
Photo by Worsinger