147
March 1927
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
He was, near the close of his life, elected as Vice Moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly, next to the highest office ever held by a layman in that denomination. Mr. Wanamaker left as his monuments four church edifices and two great store buildings,—one in Philadelphia and the other in New York, he having in 1896 purchased the A. T. Stewart store. S ome N otable C haracteristics Too much emphasis cannot be given to the fact that in all these multitudinous affairs Mr. Wanamaker never allowed his name to be used in a merely perfunctory way. Indeed, a fav orite saying of his was, “Never put an iron into the fire which you cannot watch while it is heating and make use of after wards.” He believed that, “all agencies for Christian work failed* * * unless individual Christians had a keen and ever-present urge to communicate to others their own religious experience and thus bear testimony to the power of the Gospel. * * * One’s personal witness to Christ must be made at all times and to all men.” Never, as his biographer says, did Mr. Wanamaker “my man” any one. “Pride goeth before a fall” was a favorite text of his, and he once said that “pride was a mantle to cover ignorance or inferiority.” After his death one of his oldest employees was asked, “Did Mr. Wanamaker come out of his shell very often?” “I never saw him in it”, was the answer. The key to his character might be found in the formula for success which he gave to a young man: “Pray ‘Dear God, give me the toughest job you have.’ ” He never attempted any “self-analysis,” but in reply to a request for a sketch of his life, he sent the following telegram: “Thinking, trying, toiling, trusting in God, is all my biography.” I could wish that every business man would take time to read these two volumes which give this wonderful story of this wonderful man; and that every young business man might get from them the inspiration of the possibilities of a full-fledged Christian business life, that he might follow it to the same suc cessful conclusion. Every business house which maintains a library would do well to obtain a sufficient number of copies to enable its employ ees to have the benefit of this amazing narrative. Christ and H is Cross T EWIS BAYLY’S “Practice of Pietie” was one oc the ■*-' two books which John Bunyan’s wife brought to him for her wedding dowry. Near the end there is a colloquy between Christ and the Soul in which Christ opens to the Soul the meaning of His Cross. “Soule; Lord, why wouldest Thou be taken, when Thou mightest have escaped Thine enemies? “Christ: That thy spiritual enemies should not take thee, and cast thee into the prison of utter darkness. “Soule: Lord, wherefore wouldest Thou be bound? “Christ: That I might loose the cordes of thine iniqui ties. “Soule: Lord, wherefore wouldest Thou be lifted up upon a Crosse? “Christ: That I might lift thee up with Me to heaven. “Soule: Lord, wherefore were Thy hands and feet nayled to the Crosse? “Christ: To enlarge thy hands to do the works of righteousness and to set thy feete at libertie, to walke in the wayes of peace. “Soule: Lord, why wouldest Thou have Thine armes nayled abroad? “Christ: That I might embrace thee more lovingly. “Soule: Lold, wherefore was Thy side opened with a speare ? “Christ: That thou mightest have a way to come nearer to My heart.”
Speaking before the Pocket Testament League John Wanamaker once said: “The greatest and most important and far-reaching purchase I ever made was that of a small red-leather- covered Bible, which I bought of my Sunday School teacher, paying $2.75 on the instalment plan. I was then 10 years old. That Book has made possible all that has counted most in my life." followed throughout the country. He had a heart for the welfare of his employees, but he demanded faithful service. He had a heart for the poor and needy, but he had also a well balanced head and did not believe in aiding and abetting the production of lazy, loafing, pretentious Christians. Prophecies of failure confronted him all along his business career. Success is always attended with the criticism of jealous people and he had his share, but with headquarters in Paris and London, taking oftentimes the entire product of some manufac turing plant, he made a reputation for fair and square dealing. He was the pioneer in many mercantile lines, notably in that of modern advertising, using the first full page newspaper advertise ment January 2, 1899, under a contract for a full page daily (except Sunday) at $100,000 a year, followed by contracts with other leading newspapers and periodicals in Philadelphia and New York. His was the first store to be lighted by electricity; to have a. “Children’s Day” ; an annual vacation for all employees of six months’ service and over; a Saturday half-holiday during the summer months; profit-sharing with employees; insurance association and medical department for employees. In fact, as stated in the Dry Goods Economist of November, 1899: “Credit for originating most methods of retailing * * * it is generally admitted should be given to John Wanamaker.” A W riter and E ducator Mr. Wanamaker, in addition to his many other activities, was a voluminous writer,—forty-two books and pamphlets being the product of his own pen, besides 4000 unique “editorials” written daily from 1912 to 1922 in connection with the store ads. Fifty- six other books were published in connection with the stores and thirty-one books and hundreds of articles were written about him in leading magazines and periodicals. He himself was the founder of four well known periodicals, —.the “Farm Journal,” “The Sunday School Times,” the “Phila delphia Store News” and “Everybody’s Magazine.” While he himself never got beyond the seventh grade in the public schools, he was a firm believer in education, and founded—in addition to the “Bethany College” and the “John Wanamaker Commercial Institute”—the Wellesley School for Girls (College Preparatory). He was chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades, located on 240 acres of ground with forty buildings; President of the Pennsylvania Military College and a member of the Phila delphia Board of Education. He was for forty years President of the Philadelphia Sab bath Association of Philadelphia and the Lord’s Day Alliance of New York, and never, himself, advertised in the Sunday papers. The “First Penny Savings Bank of Philadelphia” was or ganized by him July 10, 1888, in the Book Room of Bethany Sun day School, at first only for the children of the school. It accept ed deposits of “one cent and upwards.” November 8 , 1889, it was incorporated for the benefit of the public, and eighteen months after Mr. Wanamaker’s death it had its own building worth over $1,000,000, with 49,000 open accounts, deposits of over $13,000,000 and a surplus of nearly $600,000.00.
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