Department stores will try any promotion to get people inside to do their Christmas shopping. After all, that's how we got the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Wannamaker's, one of the earliest department stores in America, had a foolproof Christmas promotion in 1897. They had a "bargain day for cats," in which they displayed and sold the hot Christmas gift of the year, angora cats, priced from $10 to $40.
According to an article in the Buffalo Evening News, each cat had a pet name tagged onto his or her cage, such as Peggy, Tammany, Romeo, Hamlet, Juliet, Maggy, Jack and Jill, and Fedora. Above the cats’ wire cages hung smaller cages filled with singing birds. A cat doctor was in constant attendance to ensure their well-being.
“What is the price of Tammany?” one news reporter asked the cat clerk. “Tammany’s sold,” the clerk replied. “He brought $20, and we can’t keep supplied with Tammany cats.”
The clerk continued, “Here’s Peggy. She’s marked $10, but if you want her I will let her go for $9.99. Jack and Jill together are worth $30, but as an inducement we will sell them for $29.99.”
The cat clerk had a sense of humor. The news reporter had $29.99, which he gave the clerk to purchase Jack and Jill.
It must have worked, as Wannamaker's repeated the promotion in 1898 and 1899. Read about the craze for Christmas angora cats at The Hatching Cat. -via Strange Company
