Hollywood on Hamilton-Remebering Hess's

This is a production of PBS THIRTY-NINE the glamour. You walked into this grand palace with the crystal chandeliers the dreams you dreamed about maybe one day you would be a fortress from the French term for a thousand dollars. The memories are strung very tight. That was the thing our strawberry or department store like no other has flashed as a shining star along Allentown. Hamilton Street with expensive imported clothing. International flower shows and the world famous TARDIO restaurant people wait three hours to get in. A marketing genius president Maxxis Jr. invited Hollywood celebrities to his store. His endless supply of savvy promotions made Hesse's a household name got a million dollars worth of produce ad of 12 lousy. Max flew his staff all over the world to bring the latest fashions to Allentown. He even sent some lucky Lehigh Valley women to Europe I by more than a typical trip of two lifetimes. Hesse's brought joyous

memories to generations of Lehigh Valley shoppers. Over the next hour we'll explore the rise of this shopping empire. Hear from folks who worked closely with Max's Jr. and revisit nearly 100 years of treasured Hesse's magic. Hollywood on Hambledon remembering Hesse's is brought to you by members of Lehigh Valley PBS. Growing up in the area I thought that houses were there forever. When you walked into houses it was like naturally. Well you are young Niggy me up with just not just celebrities sparkly crystal chandeliers glamorous models Hess brothers department store brought the glitz and glamour of Hollywood to Allentown.

I felt that this is what a fancy store in New York City or larger than a city was like. This was a Neiman-Marcus of the East. This was the Herods of the United States. You look for that something special that came from around the world on fire. Well that's why you went to houses to get something extra special. Whenever you travel out of the area no matter where you were up and down the East Coast he said you were from Allentown. People would inevitably say houses. Has six floors of everything from the latest European fashions to scrumptious strawberry pie. Years after its demise the unforgettable experience of shopping in Hesse's still evokes fond memories. I'm trying to keep the name alive. A waitress that has his patio for 21 years Rose Brucker makes a hobby of speaking about her cherished career at the downtown store. You do what the customer want it. Our first priority don't always you never argue with the customer. I started five years

ago with a presentation at the downtown art museum and from there people have asked me to speak to their organization. Roses people yearn to hear stories of Hesse's a symbol of a simpler but still exciting time in downtown Allentown to fill that desire for Hesse's. Let's start at the beginning. The newspapers covered the opening of his brother's emporium as one of the grandest events of the season. It began in 1897. Brothers Charles emag says were looking to expand their successful dry goods store in Perth Amboy New Jersey Max visiting Allentown for a convention. Came across an empty storefront at the Grand Central Hotel. On February 19th. Our celebration opened the sixty two hundred fifty square foot Emporium on 9th and Hamilton streets. The Allentown band was hired to play at the opening Mayor Fred Lewis

cut the ribbon to open the store and the place was decorated with palms and everything. There were a lot of naysayers. At first there was a general belief in Allentown in that period that you did not go above eighth street or seventh Street to do retail. That above that was more wholesale supply operations where the Hilton Hotel is now. But these German immigrants prove the skeptics wrong. The small store employing only 27 people at first became very popular. By the turn of the century the brothers bought the entire Grand Central Hotel. I believe it was the fall of 19:00 to houses open their expanded department store once again. They just said Allentown on its ear with the scope of merchandise the brand of the building and the business just took off from there. They were always interested the hassles in being very up to date in terms of what was going on on the outside. The max senior's brother Charles for

example would travel to Europe. And look at the Paris fashions and then report back. To his brother in long lengthy letters describing what was going on in Paris and what the ladies were wearing in Paris. And so all the town ladies would know exactly what was going on. Hesse's was one of the first stores in the area to bring in fine chinaware silver glassware the favourite that they sold in the 1920s brought a series of blows to the growing business in 1922 at age 58 Max died suddenly of pneumonia. Seven years later. His brother Charles died. The depression set in and the store's reputation took a hit. The store had kind of gotten a reputation of being a little dowdy and a little old fashioned but Max's son Max Jr. changed that on his 21st birthday in 1932. JR quits Muhlenberg College and joined the store's management later taking over as president.

He wanted to truly make this a world class department store and expense was was not in his way. He decided the first thing he was going to do was to renovate the his brothers building which he did on a grand scale. He covered the whole thing up with a sleek concrete facade that unified what had been many structures into one great department store. When he redesigned the store for example he did it in a very slick art modern style which was the cutting edge style of the day. I remember saying the paper towels that you could watch the progress as the escalators were put in. And that was thrilling because. Escalators that was that was something no one ever heard of escalators moving stairways to get out of the merchandise that changed it and updated it. He was very apparently right from the start he was very keyed into what was going on in New York a date which will live in infamy the Second World War brought

lean times for Americans. But as we emerged victorious the economy prospered and so did Hesp brothers a generation that had gone through World War II and the depression suddenly had a chance to live lavish in post-war prosperity and there was Max Hess willing to give them the gaudy show. So now with the rains a little more than two million dollars a year department store next has Junior would create an unrivaled shopping mecca. He brought style and savvy marketing to a store that would become known across the country and around the world. What he wanted was for somebody to walk into the store and feel as if they were in Saks Fifth Avenue in New York and yet be able to buy a $20 dress or a $10 man's shirt. Or when Greenberg was hired by Max has JR in 1954 as a buyer he climbed the corporate ladder to President during his 35 year career there. Greenberg says Max knew how to build a business.

His whole life was the store. He did things that nobody else would do. And people try to emulate things that he did that they just couldn't because he had the flair not only in merchandising but in promotion. Max has declared a motto for the store be the first be the best and above all be entertaining. I will certainly be your find the best of everything that has. Us. Who sent buyers all over the world to bring back the most unusual things that people would never expect to see in Allentown. Pennsylvania. We were the first ones to bring the fashions back from Russia. We had TV shows that we did with designer originals from Italy and from France. If something new was happening. The big explosion of English fashion Carnaby Street we were on Carnaby Street. I think the day after Carnaby Street came into existence. We had our buyers there.

We didn't do it to make money on that. We made money on the $10 min shirt but the imports then to make this store an exciting place to shop. Feel much of the 20th century Hamilton Street was the place to be in Allentown cars cruise shoppers stroll the sidewalks along the thriving retail strip of bright impressive brothers marquee once touted as the largest retail sign outside New York customers through the door. When I grew up in Allentown. It was a great place to grow up and I was a great time to grow up. It was the time of life that a parent would wish for their child to grow up in. But at the center of that was Hesse's Thursday nights with the big shopping night in Allentown. And if he went down there Thursday night you can hardly move. Harlene has brothers. When you went to Allentown and you went to Hesse's. You walk to this big building on the corner. He walked into the doors and there were perfume sprayers spraying you. They had atomizer that gave off the latest fragrances from

Paris. Then you'd go through the revolving doors with the shoo shoo shoo shoo. And you walked into this grand palace. It was like walking into a large New York department store with the crystal chandeliers. And phases that towered above your head. And flowers just as big. The place was just overwhelming. Erwin Greenberg remembers Max his calling into work early when the first chandelier arrived. It was about six o'clock in the morning. The store was waiting at the side door and he had. All the lights out on the first floor except this huge chandelier lit up. Oh my God what were you know. I had no idea what it was he said. Do you like it. I said oh it's magnificent. He said I'm glad you like it. Sixty more on the way. Greenberg says Hesse's was the first store in the world to have talking elevators. They self-service talking elevators and you pushed him to an elevator would

take you to two and say second floor women's fashions. And every time we had a move the department. We moved a department from one floor to the next we had to bring them back in to redo all of the soundtracks in the elevator. Many female shoppers found the French Room impressive. One of the only places in the Lehigh Valley women could purchase high quality imported fashions. It was like being in a Hollywood dressing area. You were walking among these gowns. They were beautiful they had sequins. They had boobs. I had several pieces that I say. From the front to can't get in them money or I did save them because they are so beautiful. This is our hostess gown that. I found in the French room. And it has satin pants. And I did wear

this. Rather often. This is a mohair coat ladies coat. This is Canadian lynx. And. Any women who wear it. It's just so gorgeous. And. The place to shop and the place to dine. When we moved here to a townhouse like in 67 and the first thing I heard from my new neighbors wise if you go downtown Don't miss my houses. The world famous patio restaurant became near and dear to the hearts of many shoppers and it Sabat has is it you wouldn't be interested in buying anything you wanted to have lunch there you want to have dinner there. Pettier restaurant food was absolutely superb. I think we said. Maybe 170 200 people in the patio restaurant. The time people would wait three hours to get in. Waitresses wore

dresses covered with the Hesse's tricolor logo. With a menu. Big enough to list. Now I get this one hundred and forty different dishes of astonishing variety Orphise will pop. The menus were large and so were the portions. You didn't go for the big meal you went for a little snack. You hope to do manage that and then were able to get some dessert. The one of my. Birthdays I went there for a lobster tail dinner and I can still recall the enormous lobster tail and there must have been five pounds of potatoes that were cut into French fries. It was just unbelievable. And they would bring the children's meal on a little stove and they would open up the stove and serve. The chicken fingers the turkey the ham. We had names for them. Gobble gobble. Boy going to him. We served all the ice creams in the refrigerator. All the Sundays happy to make it yourself

Sundays. Everything was in the refrigerator. Probably most impressive was standing there by the counter as you would go in and had the pie cabinet. You might not have been hungry but if you were standing in line and you looked at the plane pops in the pies he became hungry and the dessert. Strawberry pie the pizza pie you name it were absolutely legendary. Since everything it is was bigger and better. The renowned strawberry pies were no exception. I mean they're humongous. I mean a strawberry pie that was. You know eight inches high. And we flew strawberries in from all over the world strawberry pies weighed 10 pounds. The shelves were baking in our bakery in the patio which is behind the kitchen with cream was made also in the padding kitchen. And it had stabilizer in it. In order for it to set the restaurant served 10 to 20 strawberry

pies a day. Even Liberace couldn't resist them. After visiting the store and he had a standing order each Christmas for between 50 and 100 strawberry pies. And he provided special freezer packs and shipped them all over the United States to his friends at Christmas. Not to be outdone by the desserts the patio bar mixed notoriously large drinks. So if you add two other cocktails you were you were doing pretty well for the rest of the day. We serve two ounces per drink and you had one drink. You would buy anything. Patio beer was made by her lagers. That was a brewery in Allentown at that time. And it was. Brought. To the patio with the patio logo. But despite the long lines and hordes of hungry shoppers. Who knew our customers they knew us we could set our watches to the day and time that our

customers would. Love delicious food and gracious customer service only tip the surface so that patios appeal while customers ate as models worked the floor wearing the latest fashions. These tall thin beautiful glamorous women walk fine and. Pressing tones is spin around in front of you. They say to you this can be purchased for $1000. So. He just from the far down the escalator back into the patio and just walks around the table. So to speak. I have to say who signed it where it could be found and how much it costs. People. Will love their reactions to the fashions in those days. Some of them are a little risque. But despite the immense popularity the restaurant that opened in 1951 never once made a profit. It ran at an annual loss of

$20000. We didn't run the patio restaurant to make money. It was done. Truly is a loss leader. And again to enhance the image of the store to keep the customer in the story all day long. The image from Access. It was everything. He created a mystique about his store through its stunning decor antiques that he collected from around the world furnished each floor. And you'd never see anything out of place. Pessaries had absolutely the best housekeeping of any place I've ever seen. If a piece of fabric were broken in the morning it was replaced by the afternoon. He never saw anything. That. Was broken in half and we had a fashion director who would walk down the aisle every day especially every Monday if you were changing your medications in the apartment you didn't have the newest merchandise on there that fashion director you

got in trouble. Shoppers also came to rely on unparallelled customer service. The customer is always right and if they were wrong you still didn't know you were right. We learned to respect them and they respected us in return. That was a top priority with us since you always respected your customer. If you walked into any of the departments there was always somebody there who would be very gracious and friendly polite and helpful. We would accept merchandiser was bought five years before Norne take it back. Give the customer a credit and they'll come back time and time again so we had. Absolutely the most liberal adjustment policy of any store in America. While top notch customer service attracted the return shopper. The high profile celebrity visits attracted everyone. The Hollywood in that era of course we're still very much of a golden fantasy land almost everybody wanted to see

that TV stars movie stars. And Max has she been on the stand. For a period of time we did a movie called Saturday excitement where we would have a celebrity come in every Saturday unannounced. It could be Gina Lollobrigida or Sophia Loren. People like Dorothy Malone. Do you have some relatives who live here in our Delaware Valley don't you. Yeah. All my relatives. My mother's rather live up north track and I'm hoping to get back later in the summer with my whole family to visit ban and all of come. Up. For. Barbara Eden or the star of the show. I Dream of Jeannie. Barbara Walters was one year my mother impressed of Rock Hudson was she was the tallest man in the store at the time everybody else was looking up so I'm so lucky. Watson who is a gem. I mean he was he couldn't do enough and he walked to the patio and I think he stopped at every table in the patio and said hello to

every customer one day I was in the coat department. All of the sudden I heard an announcement come over the loudspeaker that. That and Robin in the store all of a sudden this lady threw the code down that she had on and ran faster than a speeding bullet. TV's Superman George Reeves also made an appearance at Hesus. He was probably the most interesting celebrity to come to Allentown because not only did he appear at Hesse's but he even went out on deliveries. He delivered merchandise from Hess's to people at their doors which was just I mean nowadays with just unheard of. Chuck Connors you played the rifleman on on TV my friend and I had a chance to meet him on Saturday afternoon and got a look at his his holster and his gun and you know these kinds of things were impressive for kids of that era.

That one is a super super star. But there is other people who had a certain because they were touched by. He didn't want a star necessarily that was too big shine the idea of Hess's. After a day at the store HEFCE wined and dined his Hollywood friends celebrities would often visit the homes of high ranking executives at Fritzinger. Father Paul Greaser's served as executive vice president under max Hess and then he would select the certain executives at a store to have the parties and he would bring in the chefs the waitresses from the patio to set up everything for you and you just sat back and had a party in your house. Well we have here O'Brien hall and that was something because I was in my young early 20s and that was thrilling to have a movie star. Yes.

Also hosted celebrity parties in his lavish home in 2006 and Living Streets in Allentown West-End Berwin and Eileen Hochberg now own the refurbished 12000 square foot estate seemingly taken from a Beverly Hills neighborhood. He really demanded the best. He was very interested in quality and in special unique materials. The hardware is beautiful but bathroom plumbing holes are beautiful the floors are exceptional in every way and it's just it was very cutting edge of its time. Outside a gorgeous in-ground pool that once contained Max's pet alligators. Next to it a magnificent pool house. A sauna. Living in dining rooms two full baths and an ice cream parlor round out the posh quarters. But the basement houses this home's most extravagant detail a complete nightclub.

Mr. Hess liked to entertain on a grand scale and he frequently threw parties and had fundraisers. And this was a pivotal part of his home. The bar the. Italian mosaic tiles and a pattern of the sun the moon and the stars that wraps around the bar and its metallic tiles from there just beautifully set and the top surface of the bar is clear lucite and it's imbedded with tools and stones and sequins and all kinds of beautiful elements and it's lit from underneath. Ladies and gentleman Danny and many celebrities including Sonny and Cher partied in this nightclub while passing through Allentown at his request. This was not necessarily done to as an ego gratification it was done to promote Allentown. Promoting Allentown was what Max has bought out as his primary goal for his extravagant promotions were the name of the game. We would bring Santa Claus in and drop him from the helicopter and parachute him down or bring an Easter Bunny in Iraq is selling gold in a department

store. SS was the first to do that. The first Bob Mackie gowns in a store they had the first topless swimsuit which caused a stir. Few of his promotional stunts garnered as much attention as when the store bought the first supply of topless bathing suits from designer Rudy girn right. And they said in Allentown Pennsylvania you're going to sell a topless bathing suit. Yeah sure. We're first with fashion and we want it. I remember a friend of mine has told me that his mother was all excited just to go down to see them. Not that she would ever buy one. God forbid but she wanted to go see what topless bathing suit was because everyone was talking about the store. Never sold one Maxxis said. What are we going to do now. So I said well why don't we tell everybody we sold 11 to 12 that we bought. So that's a great idea. We reordered another 24. Many newspapers throughout the country and the trade papers had headlines Hess's in Allentown Pennsylvania sells out of Ruediger rights. Topless bathing

suit. We've got a million dollars worth of publicity and of 12 lousy bathing suits over the years the store's aggressive PR department hired Mr. suicide to jump from his roof onto a mat and crowds gathered to watch tight tightrope walker Felipe petite spand Hamilton Street. After walking between New York's twin towers in 1974 from high profile marketing stunts to high pressure management style working for Max Hess wasn't easy but he expected to be at the beck and call it was. We were we work seven days a week in the store at 7:00 in the morning and wouldn't leave to 8 9 10 o'clock at night. He was demanding. In some time you know he he might have been eccentric the daughter of executive vice president Paul greaser remembers the late night phone calls from Hess. Call my dad at any hour of the day and the hour of the night the phone would ring. I answer the phone many a time during the night time for

calls. That he wanted my dad to do different things or take care of things as the things were pop into his mind. He'd call you right away but this demanding merchant and boss was tempered by a generous spirit. Max's Junior was a very compassionate person was a very caring person and thought the world of his employees unless you weren't leading up to his expectations match has had a way of showing his appreciation to the people that he thought. Was doing a good job or were doing a job. And I have spoken to more than one of them who does happen to. He would walk over to a man and. I'm not quite sure what he said but basically he would take his hand and dip it into the pocket of their jacket. And then just simply walk away and they would find a thousand dollars in that park. He was very generous to the Jewish community and his family always had fun because he was Jewish. He was generous with the local charities with the various

hospitals. There were people that were intimidated by him. There were people that admired him at his annual International Flower Show opens tomorrow. Prize winning flower show runs all this week at Astor's department store in Allentown. Another has tradition. The annual flower shows the weeklong event first held in 1961 was filmed and aired on Philadelphia television as a half hour program to attract out of town shoppers. There are more than 70 varieties breathtakingly arranged and realistic natural background. Only those who travel around the world may see so many. But never so many in one color. Draws the first in bronze and century lilies greet the

crowds as they go from the main floor to houses five other shopping. Just imagine the thrill for children to see bananas actually grow. He would walk in there and you could smell the flowers and Merriam's hanging from years. It was just beautiful every place he had flowers green white and yellow lavender red has designers of lavishly used thousands of orchids throughout the show. We had no idea what it would look like. I mean it was just a flower show. I had never been to a flower shop before. And we walked through the night street doors and saw this it was just so magnificent. How they incorporate the flowers with all the art. You couldn't see much notice because all you saw is pine trees. And you would see fountains and you see tropical settings for a whole week.

You know the bus loads of people come from all parts of the state that were the stock for at that time so close a store on a Saturday evening and we were there till Monday morning and it was just a tractor trailer after tractor trailer of unusual flowers on the first two houses if you can picture. It like a cosmetic island and an above that would be an exotic flower display. Flowers of people in this area have never ever seen before. And I can remember one night a stock boy was bitten by one of those exotic spiders and taken to the hospital but then survived four and symbolic to our surprise Hesse's flower show like Mrs. Mary Scranton wife of Pennsylvania's governor copying floral Garland opening the 1964 show and receiving from Max's president as his. New Cattleya orchid named in her honor. Who knows what famous people you made it has his

annual flower show they love. There's TV's Ed McMahon Johnny Carson's sidekick. By the way he opened last year's show at hatches in Allentown. Max hired a new york horticulturists to design the displays brought him in the store and he looked around and said it's very difficult. So Max has said to him Well we want this to be as exciting as a new or flower shop but this is the apartments where he said you know that you're going to have to bring the air conditioning way down at night so that we don't lose the flowers. For the showman and Max says no challenge was too difficult no idea to outlandish that even meant selling merchandise at ridiculously low prices. Mass chaos can only describe the monthly Monday morning Clean-Up sales Hesse's use warfare Cleena was run once a month and store and literally it was a cleaner. We

trace the merchandise that it. Had to be sold within an hour. Sunday morning call and look at the back page of the first section and that's where we get everything listed the sale items for my floor. And so you will be able to make a plan of where you were going to go first. They open the doors and it will take a while. Heard a stampede of people and the number one place that they go was the steps that I was standing in front of. And you could hear the cattle running the escalators we had to turn off because they run down the escalator steps and we don't way anybody get killed. And there were things like you take an $80 dress at the time and work in a dollar and you'd put it in the paper. $380 dresses a dollar. To $500 washer and dryer $25 $2 for a pair of shoes. $3 or a dress. $15 for clothes.

While the lines would flow up and down 9th Street around the corner to demonstrate their photographs that show people actually swelling out into the streets they would have fights literally fights or men's pants being torn. I saw women fight over literally hit each other for the merchandise. You just stayed away. It was a teenage boy was holding up a sweater. He was looking at it trying to decide if it would fit somebody and some lady came up to him she said Honey do you think that's going to fix you and on and off she said how could I hold it up to your back. She held it up to his back and ran off with it. Well I ended up being punched by a woman in the stomach. I fell to the floor. And by the time I could get I couldn't get up. I was underneath the case and the case would push against them all the way. And still all the low price sales accomplished more than getting merchandise off the shelves. We weren't rich we had no hardly any money but my mother if we needed a laugh my mother would go to jail and she biolab in my book marked down to five dollars. I needed a skirt. Had down to five dollars you won't be allowed to live a lifestyle that you normally couldn't

live because of the sales. In the mid-1950s has shortened his store's name from his brothers to houses at that same time the department store sales peaked at a record forty eight million dollars. Forty eight million dollars in a town 100000 people. Was the at that point the biggest per capita in any department store in the world. There was a time I think when Hesse's got about 39 cents out of every retail dollar spent in the Lehigh Valley. Those figures did not go unnoticed by the world's top designers. And neither did the elaborate promotions designed to grab their attention. We did plenty of advertising and we were so dominant in the area that our customers responded to us very beautifully. And this was really to get manufacturers to call our people when new things came out so that we could give our customers the first in fashion just as Max's Uncle Charles traveled to Paris in the beginning of the century has continued overseas

excursions to find the best and latest in designer clothing more extravagant the better and something that everybody would say oh my god who would wear it. You know that's why we had people talk about it. Has even opened offices in London Paris and Rome to keep tabs on the changing European trends you are looking at. Eight thousand dollars worth of roses. Not the garden variety but exquisite lush neat roses hand crafted in Paris for this original design by Nina Ricci. This debutante gown is but one of the exciting imported fashions which you're about to see in the most Deery revealing expensive and imaginative collections of fashion originals. As has a department store of Allentown Pennsylvania presents. Hassels import fashion show. Good evening. Bill Weber welcoming you to import fashion shows.

From. Valentino in Rome to the House of Dior in Paris. These designer fashions sometimes shock the viewers as in this 1966 show this cage format that sweeps to the floor. Does it Jerry it's about money. That's right Bill. This was the hit of ravers first mash collection the fashion treasures purchased abroad made a huge blush at home when Hess was the first to reveal them on a television fashion show at the time. This is going to have their fashion show. It was the talk of me on TV tonight. Better sit down and watch her. And we did. And asked about a cocktail dress worn by Linda a giant jewel pin an exciting new look with bold side cut out. Diane Greenberg worked as a model for five years in the late 60s and 70s.

But it was fun it was exciting. You have to remember basically we were small town girls. So. To do something like this was it was an eye over. It was it was it was my role models marveled at their sudden fame the intriguing fashions fascinated the viewers. It was things that starlets wear things that stars with where you could just see people like Sophia Loren and Loretta Young walking around in these gorgeous fashions for the fashions of the head. Are there's shock Exide delight. This shows turned fashion director Jerry Golden into a well respected fashion expert. Jerry started. As the winner by the second school Max Maxxis that saw the image of Jerry had really built him. Up. As the world renowned fashion authority sent him to Europe twice a year sent him over the world. Gerry was a very quiet. And.

Somewhat introspective. Once he got in front of the microphone it was a pain to the commentary for he was absolutely marvelous to have Larry Ferrario doing the organ or piano had a lot of shows. After airing on television. Hesse's then showed off the clothing during live fashion shows for community groups throughout the area. We peak we did maybe 150 fashion shows every year. We had a fashion caravan a bus designed with Hesse's logo all over it that had dressing rooms in it for the most part. We did fashion shows as some sort of a fundraiser for their group. And then in turn it's it creates excitement for the store and of course people want it or it passes.

Walthew few could afford these designer fashions. The show's strength in his image as a department store of distinction. He wanted to be in the forefront he wanted to make sure that the name was. On the tip of everybody's tongue when they wanted to think of quality being at the forefront of fashion. And it was bringing this. Large fashion houses of Europe not only to America to middle America. A woman. Loves to buy. A $50 dress in a store that sells $5000 dresses for a touch of the exotic. We go to Persia. Part of Oriental harem a girl become fashionable. Has prompted many women to dream of owning designer fashions. The store also made dreams come true for a few lucky women in 1961. Twenty seven year old mother of three Sue Evers won a trip of a lifetime sponsored by Hesse's and the Chronicle newspaper has officials at a television crew surprise Sue at her

Allentown home with the all expense paid trip to Europe. My doorbell rang and there was Maggie Levine and Sophie Walker and channel 6 and all the TV cameras and I had one. It was unbelievable. Sue soon took off for a two week trip visiting the fashion capitals of Europe while she lived a trip of a lifetime folks back home followed every move she made in daily newspaper articles. And we spent a week in Paris. And one full on the fashion openings. You saw the site for Paris the Eiffel Tower Of course. And then we took the Imperial over to Rome and went down in the catacombs. They were awesome. Catacombs are awesome. And the Coliseum. Where I stood in the coliseum with a great big sign that said you find the best of everything and houses Allentown P.A..

We saw Suse's Strassberg and Jack Palance had an interview with him and any Braben who was. Very popular at the time. Four years later has opened the contest to teens 18 year old Stephanie Sikorski of Bethlehem beat out hundreds of other teens to win a trip to England and a chance to model for a popular girls fashion magazine. Certainly was a teen trip of a lifetime because everything was first class when we flew to England. We flew first class the hotel we stayed in was the London Hilton which was absolutely exquisite. So we were out on the street talking to the bobbies and you know stopping traffic so we could be on median strips so the traffic behind us was pretty impressive. These trips gave Hesse's department store enormous publicity. It's accomplished marketing team knew how to promote it. And they wanted to make sure that they had pictures of me being so excited that I was had tears of happiness and that didn't come. It didn't photograph that way.

And so in order to make sure that there were tears that they could see they put little drops of glycerin on my face so that you could see the tears that I was so excited and happy. It was more than a trip of a lifetime. It was a. Trip of two lifetimes. It really was. Back in Allentown the spotlight shine brightly on the window exhibits. Shoppers admired the meticulous and for ever changing displays. Who Remembered rhapsodizing which was marked down which was in the new year would take only merchandise from merchandise for fashion. And we changed to Windows. Every 10 days. The new theme were themes for different things like fashion from the from a French sidewalk and then you'd have all your French fashions and so many windows or or from an Italian and you would have your Italian fashions in there. The windows were decorated beautifully. It was really stunning to see you

see what. You see. During the holiday season. The store transformed into a Christmas wonderland. At Christmas time. The store was just armor's being the place to be all decorated the Christmas music would be blaring through the store. They used to put out the most beautiful decorations on the marquees over the entrances. There was Pipp the mouse which was always a break. When we were kids to see the mouse in the window four years youngsters flocked to the store window waiting for another animated holiday puppet show from Pip the mouse. Now you couldn't you couldn't leave the store without going up the toilet. You know I was a must. He had these mechanical animals I think he bought from Europe and they were pretty big. But the one that sits in my mind the most were like little pug dogs and they were fighting over a string of hot dogs and I want you to do.

The world famous patio the spectacular flower shows the eye catching foreign fads all creating an air of mystery about Hesse's that few imagined would ever end. Max has his instinctive marketing genius broadening credible notoriety to a city which may have otherwise never been known. He down an island. I mean with it kept other retailers alive because we brought in tremendous amount of traffic Hesse's put us on the map where we ended up calling the widow Apple because of people like Max Hirsch and. He created the intrigue of a new or really high power. Now that's quite hard to do. And he did it very well. But perhaps Max has himself indirectly contributed to his Empire's eventual fall in 1965. He's sold land in a ball field along the 7st pike. The present site of the Lehigh Valley Mall. He

considered building a store there but didn't want to borrow money to do it. Max Hess was concerned in the 1960s late 1960s when they began to become urban unrest in the cities across America that he was concerned about Hesse's the deterioration of the cities and a population shift into the suburbs troubled Max Hess. He was at a cocktail party with Phil Bergman one night and he turned to Phil Burman who had no idea that £310 had how do you like to buy houses. In March 1968 after 35 years at the helm Max JR sold his family business for 17 million dollars. In cash. Berwin remembers Max's words as he left the store for the last time and I happened to be on the second floor and he put his arm around me and it was very typical and he said well or when he said Don't screw it up.

That's how he left just five months later Max died suddenly at age 57. Phil Berman former owner of a trucking business. Now read the Allentown institution Birman maintain many of the same marketing principles as his predecessor but it wasn't long before he did what Max Hess had refused expand. I don't think this could have survived as long as it did by just being a single store operation in downtown downtown because it became as I said retailing was becoming more of a convenience factor than anything else and the culture that larger American culture that was shaped by the idea of the downtown department store as the place you went shop began to change Birman open for branches in the Lehigh Valley by 1974. By the end of the decade Hess's had opened 14 stores across the state. Irwin Greenberg became president we had stores and walked Vernon Square in Harrisburg and outside Philadelphia so there was no longer

reason to bring people to downtown Allentown and the volume the downtown store deteriorated at that point. But we made it up tenfold fold from the 25th from the other store. The rapid expansion hurt the original Hamilton Street store. The other businesses on the once vibrant shopping district suffer as well. But Hesse's as a whole flourished and in October 1979 mall developer crowned American bought Hesse's from Birman for 32 million Hesse's began popping up in malls all along the East Coast. The original has his management stayed in charge of the operation. Business was booming. The late 70s to the late 80s were fabulous. We can do no wrong. I mean if I were to tell you or tell people in the retailing world today department store world what kind of increases we have nobody would believe despite the financial gains. Part of the magic that made Hesse's special faded. Every time we opened another store. That we lost a little bit.

The the makings of what the downtown store was all about. You're going to dilute some of the excitement even if you expand slowly because there is no way that you can have the same excitement in the Lehigh Valley in surrounding stores when you have the Hesse's downtown store. I mean there were stores in Virginia there were stores they were acquiring in the Deep South that were stores they were acquiring in the Midwest. This was not something that Max Hess would have ever envisioned in his wildest dreams might have happened. So that was I think what basically broke the back of. The houses that exist in 1990 after 35 years with Hesse's chairman and CEO Erwin Greenberg retired due to disagreements with crowned American management at that time. Hesse's had 76 stores stretching from Rome New York. To Rome Georgia. I think when Arwin left a lot of us felt a big vacuum he had inspired us and

we had a clear direction under his leadership and I knew once he left that it wouldn't be long before I would be gone. We got a new leader. He was from another smaller department store. He was from. More of a financial world than in this business you have to understand you have to know the finances. But merchandise rules you don't have the right merchandise. Now he's going to come and buy anything from a store in the early 90s Hesse's began to suffer financially. Some blame it on the change in Hesse's leadership or overexpansion. Some also credit the rise of new superstores for houses troubles by 1992 crowned American began selling and closing its branches in the south. In 1994 20 of the remaining Hesse's department stores including the downtown Allentown store were sold to the Banten in York. For $60 million. I think we all kind of saw the writing on the wall particularly for the

main story at that time. I mean they didn't have to tell anyone who was affiliated with Hesse's previously that that was pretty much the beginning of the end. After only several months the Banten announced it would lose $2 million a year if it kept the downtown Allentown store open. At 5:30 p.m. on January 15th 1996. The doors of a once glamorous shopping paradise closed for good. One year shy of its centennial. I was the last person to. Walk up the door being part of store manager to lock the doors on my street. And my car was parked in the parking deck. And I walked down the street and I'd cry cry my eyes out. We never. Imagined. That Hesse's could be sold. Every now. Not a landmark. As big as has. Work. And gone.

We lost a witness to history. It was a very sad day. It was more than a closing of the store. It signified an end of an age that gave shoppers a sense of style a chance to dream. And a lifetime full of enchanting memories. It was a real love story and it was tied to people's visions of childhood their whole lives. And to just throw it out because somebody is a proper balance sheet. And without tempers. That really helped to do something was an error of the past. Never to be seen. And I was practically born and bred in that store. From an old girl I knew what. I knew all the tunnels all the little places that probably no one else knew. And. Was very very difficult. In the late 90s the city purchased the Hess's building in order to control what happened at the site.

Officials felt the location was critical to revitalizing the downtown. The store made up of several buildings unified by one facade was in poor condition floors on even and no heating system had relied on warmth from the lights to heat the building. After meeting with a number of builders and developers and people that could have used the building the decision was made that we probably could do best if we had a clear site that was available to develop a new structure. In January 2000 amid outcries from the public a wrecking ball began demolishing the vacant store. I went up every weekend. When the building. Has the building. Of student rooms in Hamilton and I watched memories just. In time. Good memories. And memories happy memories. Cried every weekend. Took pictures took videos.

And I was there watching people with tears in their eyes just crying. And seeing this beautiful building torn down. Us. There. What a waste to waste. Building was such a. Model. That. It. Was being. Trashed. Many believed a building so important to towns rise should have been saved. My feeling was that the people with DID NOT. Who were making those decisions had no understanding of what the store could have been just terrific lack of imagination on their part. And so it died. And sell it. But so many memories of his glory days continue to live. Sharing your Christmas list with Santa the excitement of meeting a movie star in Allentown. The surprise of opening a Hesters box not knowing what treasure you may find those people that experience Tess's whether they were at one time an employee or simply a shopper.

I think everyone that experienced cashiers at whatever time in their life will have fond memories of that store as a place to go and green I mean it was like a getaway. Tell somebody that has is if they don't know it. I'm hoping there's a special little star in eyes that you see that that we know there was something grand in our lives at one time. A grand time in Allentown. Rich history. When Hesse's added a touch of Hollywood to Hamilton a and b b b b b b b b b b b

b b b b b b b b b b b b went around in Hollywood on Hambledon. Remembering Hesse's is brought to you by members of Lehigh Valley PBS. To receive a VHS or DVD of Hollywood on Hamilton remembering Hesse's or the

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