| Louis Bamberger: Department Store Innovator and Philanthropist Contributor(s): Forgosh, Linda B. (Author) |
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ISBN: 1611689813 ISBN-13: 9781611689815 Publisher: Brandeis University Press OUR PRICE: $26.96 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: September 2016 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Business - Social Science | Jewish Studies - History | United States - 20th Century |
| Dewey: B |
| LCCN: 2016004971 |
| Series: Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture, and Lif |
| Physical Information: 1.1" H x 6.5" W x 9.4" (1.30 lbs) 296 pages |
| Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - Jewish - Chronological Period - 20th Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Louis Bamberger (1855-1944) was the epitome of the merchant prince as public benefactor. Born in Baltimore, this son of German immigrants built his business--the great, glamorous L. Bamberger & Co. department store in Newark, N.J.--into the sixth-largest department store in the country. A multimillionaire by middle age, he joined the elite circle of German Jews who owned Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and Filene's. Despite his vast wealth and local prominence, Bamberger was a reclusive figure who shunned the limelight, left no business records, and kept no diaries. He remained a bachelor and kept his private life and the rationale for his business decisions to himself. Yet his achievements are manifold. He was a merchandising genius whose innovations, including newspaper and radio ads and brilliant use of window and in-store displays, established the culture of consumption in twentieth-century America. His generous giving, both within the Jewish community and beyond it, created institutions that still stand today: the Newark YM-YWHA, Beth Israel Hospital, and the Newark Museum. Toward the end of his career, he financed and directed the creation of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, which led to a friendship with Albert Einstein. Despite his significance as business innovator and philanthropist, historians of the great department stores have paid scant attention to Bamberger. This full-length biography will interest historians as well as general readers of Jewish history nationally, New Jerseyans fascinated by local history, and the Newarkers for whom Bamberger's was a beloved local institution. |