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by Cary Knox

Don't Touch My Frango or It's Been a Wonderful Life

I feel the need to express myself about the "death" of Marshall Field & Company, but what can I say that hasn't already been said? By now, we all know the fate of our beloved department store. Sometimes it helps to talk about it-like somehow it isn't real until I verbalize it. There was even a Web site dedicated to saving Field's from its impending doom at www.keepitfields.org. An elegant lunch "under" the Walnut Room Christmas tree has become a holiday ritual for scores of Field's customers and visitors alike. The holiday window displays have always brought joy to many, eliciting squeals of excitement from children and memories of Christmas past for older generations.

In 1856, Marshall Field moved to Chicago at the age of 21. From his humble beginning as a retail clerk, Field became the pioneer of one of the most famous and recognized retail establishments in the world. A book first published in 1952 titled, "Give the Lady What She Wants: The Story of Marshall Field & Company," touts his unique approach of catering to the needs and wishes of his upscale female clientele at that time. Field's became more than just a department store. The branding of the store was that of genteel civility, encouraging their customers to linger and socialize. No high-pressure sales, courteous sales associates, liberal return and credit policies, plush lounges for men and women, and even home delivery in specially marked Marshall Field's cabs-all of this endeared Field's to its customers, many of who developed a life-long, multi-generational loyalty to the store.

The architecture of the State Street store is equally famous and is made up of several buildings. Daniel Burnham designed the two most familiar buildings, along State Street between Randolph and Washington. The north building was completed in 1902, and the south building was erected five years later. The Great Clocks (at State & Washington and State & Randolph) weigh over seven tons each. These massive yet graceful timepieces have kept Chicago time for more than a century. Norman Rockwell immortalized them in a painting used on a Saturday Evening Post cover (November 3, 1945) titled "Clock Repairman." The Great Granite Pillars (part of the State Street Entrance portico), installed in 1902, are second in size only to those at the Temple of Karnack in Egypt. Marshall Field's wealthiest and most elite customers would be greeted at this main entrance by doormen