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Marshall Field's Waiting Room
Posted by:
fleurblue
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Date: August 01, 2009 03:29AM
Field's had an elegant, wood paneled room in the State Street store called the "Waiting Room." There was a giant clock at one end. Rows of seats and benches lined the room where people sat.
My sister and I would go to Field's and wonder what everyone was waiting for in a department store that would merit a separate room. There were rest rooms off the Waiting Room but other than that...maybe submissive husbands.
We started speculating that there was some existential thing going on. Something like Samuel Beckett's play "Waiting for Godot". These people came to Field's for the express purpose of waiting. No shopping, no dining, just waiting.
Imagine such a room at Wal-Mart or Sears.
My sister and I would go to Field's and wonder what everyone was waiting for in a department store that would merit a separate room. There were rest rooms off the Waiting Room but other than that...maybe submissive husbands.
We started speculating that there was some existential thing going on. Something like Samuel Beckett's play "Waiting for Godot". These people came to Field's for the express purpose of waiting. No shopping, no dining, just waiting.
Imagine such a room at Wal-Mart or Sears.
Re: Marshall Field's Waiting Room
Posted by:
chicagorootsgal
(---.hsd1.ca.comcast.net)
Date: August 07, 2015 11:56PM
Hi Fleurbleu,
I vividly recall the rows of seats and benches. This is where my grandmother and i would go to rest, or to meet someone. There was something existential going on, but to this day, 50 or so years later, I still can't name it. There was also a juice bar, with triangular paper cups in holders. Our favorite drink was a raspberry coconut mix, with swirls of magenta white and pink. I tried to duplicate the drink, but it never tastes as delicious as in my memory. I also remember being so young, that I can recall being taught by my grandmother to put little squares of toilet paper on the toilet seat so as not to sit on a wet seat. That was the first place I ever saw a dirty toilet seat. On a more pleasant note, after a happy shopping trip, we would carry the big green boxes with the Marshall Field logo, with a string horizontal and vertical, and a real wooden handle with wire attached. This was a place you dressed up to go to shop. The room had this timeless feel, as if you were between time dimensions, or some such thing. There must have been people there who went just for the room. I will never forget how special that room was, and sharing shopping withe Gramma there!
I vividly recall the rows of seats and benches. This is where my grandmother and i would go to rest, or to meet someone. There was something existential going on, but to this day, 50 or so years later, I still can't name it. There was also a juice bar, with triangular paper cups in holders. Our favorite drink was a raspberry coconut mix, with swirls of magenta white and pink. I tried to duplicate the drink, but it never tastes as delicious as in my memory. I also remember being so young, that I can recall being taught by my grandmother to put little squares of toilet paper on the toilet seat so as not to sit on a wet seat. That was the first place I ever saw a dirty toilet seat. On a more pleasant note, after a happy shopping trip, we would carry the big green boxes with the Marshall Field logo, with a string horizontal and vertical, and a real wooden handle with wire attached. This was a place you dressed up to go to shop. The room had this timeless feel, as if you were between time dimensions, or some such thing. There must have been people there who went just for the room. I will never forget how special that room was, and sharing shopping withe Gramma there!
