Call Number:

3440

Repository:

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Extent:

22.0 linear feet (; 45 boxes, 11 volumes, 94 flat files)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Cite as: [Indicate cited items or series here], Frederick M. Yost collection on John Wanamaker's department store publicity (Collection 3440), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Date:

1949-1980 (bulk) and 1863-1984 (inclusive)

Creator:

Yost, Frederick M.

Abstract:

This collection chronicles several decades of displays and promotions at John Wanamaker's department store, much of it under the supervision of Frederick M. Yost. Yost began working at Wanamaker's in 1948. From 1952 to 1965 he was in charge of sales promotions, and in 1965 became the corporate vice president. Yost's background included theater and lighting design. The collection includes papers and scrapbooks documenting public relations, advertising, special events, and store design and display. Also included are internal office memos, photographs of displays and their construction, architectural drawings and blue prints, news clippings, and many materials pertaining to the elaborate Christmas displays and light shows that were a tradition at Wanamaker's.

Frederick Maurice Yost was born in 1914 to Frederick, Sr. and Bess Yost, and he grew up in Meadville, Pennsylvania. He earned a master's degree from Yale University in theater architecture, stage and lighting design in 1935.

In 1937, he taught design and lighting at the College of William and Mary before joining G. Fox & Co. in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1938 as director of visual merchandising and store design. He married one of his former students from William and Mary, Jessie Lee of New Jersey. The couple had one son, Peter, and a daughter, Suzanne.

Yost eventually set up his own design and consulting business in Atlanta, Georgia, before he was hired at Wanamaker’s department store in Philadelphia as director of visual display in 1948. Yost was responsible for newspaper, radio and television advertising, as well as public relations, exhibitions, shows, and visual merchandising for the Wanamaker’s stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Delaware. He came up with the institutional advertising slogan "John Wanamaker has everything." Yost also conceived the Wanamaker Christmas Light Show which was first seen in the 13th and Market Streets store's expansive central court in 1955. It included a 102-by-60-foot plywood and papier-mâché cathedral and Nativity scene. Construction of the project consumed 10,000 man-hours and Yost spent two summers in Europe researching design of the cathedral. The display earned him a man-of-the-year award from the Philadelphia Chapter of Catholic War Veterans.

Yost retired for health reasons in 1967, two years after being named corporate vice president. He remained as a consultant for several more years.

Yost died in 2001 from complications of dementia.

This collection consists of several decades of papers and scrapbooks documenting various store displays and designs, promotions, and special events at John Wanamaker’s department store compiled by Frederick M. Yost. Yost, a vice president and sales-promotion manager, was responsible for newspaper, radio and television advertising, as well as public relations, exhibitions, shows, and visual merchandising for the Wanamaker’s stores. The majority of the collection includes scrapbooks of photographs of store displays and their construction as well as conceptual and architectural drawings, most notably the elaborate Christmas displays and light shows that were made a tradition at Wanamaker’s. Other materials include office memos, stationery, personal “idea” notebooks, blue prints, floor plans, news clippings, and scrapbooks about John Wanamaker. Items of interest may include the large advertising posters for Wanamaker's stores and Christmas display conceptual designs. The collection is housed in 45 boxes, 13 flat file drawers, and includes 11 volumes.