America's 5 & 10 Cent Stores: The Kress Legacy [Paperback]

The National Building Museum (Author), Bernice L. Thomas (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471181951 | ISBN-13: 978-0471181958 | Publication Date: March 1997 | Edition: 1

A celebration of a distinctly American form of commercial architecture

The only comprehensive history of America's 5-&-10-cent stores

It was where you went to browse the latest issues of Life and Photoplay, where the folks bought reading glasses, and where your mom took you for a hot dog and a malted. It was the local 5-&-10-cent store, and it was an integral part of everyday life.

In this lavishly illustrated homage to the 5-&-10-cent store, architectural historian Bernice Thomas looks at the architectural achievements of the Kress Company. Devoted to bringing outstanding design to Main Street America, Kress supported an architectural division of more than 100 architects and draftsmen. The over 200 stores these people designed and built between 1900 and 1950 set a new standard in commercial architecture.

Thomas takes us on an illustrated tour of sites across the United States —from New Orleans to Honolulu, Albuquerque to New York. She introduces us to the architects and how they deftly balanced sound merchandising principles with aesthetics.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Main Street is more than a place; it is a mythic symbol that represents a way of life that exists today as much a nostalgic memory as a reality. This celebratory portrait of the Kress five-and-dime store chain will certainly help evoke such memories. Thomas is an architectural historian who received a grant from the Kress Foundation to research and photograph former Kress stores. In the process, she unearthed archives relating to the chain's many stores in the basement of the Nashville headquarters of Genesco, Inc., the conglomerate that had taken over Kress. Thomas traveled to 27 states, visiting 260 buildings that had been Kress stores. Included here are approximately 200 photographs that not only show a variety of architectural styles but also document Kress' high design standards. Thomas has indexed the photographs by location, architect, and building name; and she shows what uses are now being made of these buildings. These features make this book more than a fascinating piece of Americana; it is a valuable resource for historians and urban planners. David Rouse

From the Publisher

The first major history of 5-&-10 cent stores, this architectural history takes the reader on a tour of local stores nationwide, from their beginnings in 1920s right up through the present day. The book looks at the changing streetscape of downtown America. The Kress company's landmark stores are the centerpiece of this pictorial tour of 5-&-10 cent stores, and over 200 Kress Stores in 27 states are featured. 178 black and white photo and 20 color plates--many from the National Building Museum's collection enhance the text.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471181951
• ISBN-13: 978-0471181958
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,013,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating, scholarly, generous and surprising book., September 16, 1998

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This review is from: America's 5 & 10 Cent Stores: The Kress Legacy (Paperback)

Ms. Thomas' book is architecturally precise, but more than that, it is a generous and fascinating story of the Kress variety chain. What is surprising is that Kress had its own architectural division--and a spirit of community involvement. This is what "Main Street" once meant. Wonderful pictures--highly recommended, and Thomas is to be commended for her research and her excellent book.