Shopping, Seduction & Mr. Selfridge (41 page)

Charles Clore’s company, Sears Holdings Ltd, acquired Selfridges in 1965. It is precisely because of take-overs and mergers that archives are often lost, deliberately destroyed or simply thrown away. Not so under Charles Clore and his deputy chairman Leonard Sainer, who put in place a budget, an archive room and a devoted archivist, Victor Yates, who presided over the memorabilia with efficient enthusiasm. Without this initiative this book could not have been written. To those past guardians of the archives, amongst them Mr Victor Yates who was at Selfridges, Barry Cox, Margaret Rose, Chloe Veale, Sue Filmer and David Thomas (the latter all at HAT), go my grateful thanks.

In 1956, A. H. Williams, who had worked for Harry Gordon Selfridge for twenty-eight years, wrote an affectionate book called
No Name at the Door
. Sears also commissioned the broadcaster and author Gordon Honeycombe to write
Selfridges
, celebrating seventy-five years of the store in 1984. Both books have been invaluable and informative sources.

No documents, however detailed, can substitute for seeing things for oneself. For that reason I would like to thank Sindee Hastings at Highcliffe Castle in Hampshire, which following shocking decline is now owned by Christchurch Borough Council and is currently undergoing extensive, sympathetic restoration. Sindee and I donned hard hats to tour the cellars and old kitchens in 2005, enabling me to understand castle life at the time the Selfridge family lived there. For those interested in Highcliffe’s fascinating history, I urge you to visit
www.highcliffecastle.co.uk
which gives excellent notes and a list of books published about the castle. I owe thanks to Sindee for introducing me to the local historian Ian Stevenson. He has worked tirelessly to provide me with facts about the castle and Christchurch during the early 1920s. He has also sent copies of press cuttings and verified many details. Thanks also to the Reverend Garry Taylor of the charming St Mark’s Church at Highcliffe, Beverley Morris of the Hampshire Records Office and S. C. Munsey at the Hampshire Local Studies Collection.

Although Selfridge’s tenure is recognized by a blue plaque, Lansdowne House today bears little resemblance to how it was when he lived there. Spliced and sliced by various developers over the decades, it is now a private members club, with much of the building completely changed. There is however a hint of the glorious grandeur of Harry’s era, with a drawing room on the ground floor where guests take afternoon tea hardly changed from the days when Lois Selfridge and her son would have done the same thing. The Yarborough Mansion in Arlington Street has
also long since vanished. But you begin to understand something of the lifestyle of Selfridge and his neighbours the Duke and Duchess of Rutland by walking past the Ritz Hotel and the hotel’s recently acquired (and magnificently restored) adjacent property Wimborne House, and on down the street towards the Caprice restaurant, where I enjoyed several lively lunches with contributors to this book. Selfridge was a devotee of both the Caprice and the Ivy, and Mario Gallati’s memoirs proved an invaluable source.

In Chicago, I was helped immeasurably by Trish Morse, Lorna Donley and Teresa Yoder at the Harold Washington Library Center and Rob Medina of the Chicago History Museum.

Elsewhere in America I was assisted by: Laura Linard of the Baker Library at Harvard; Mandy Shear, Faculty and Research at Harvard Business School; Geraldine Strey of the Wisconsin Historical Society; John Dorner of the Illinois Lodge of Research Library; Mark Tabbert of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial; Rachel Hertz at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas, Austin; Stephen Showers and Marybeth Roy of Otis; Darcie M. Posz of the Daughters of the American Revolution; Mattie Taormina and Polly Armstrong at Stanford University Library; and Lauren Robinson-Brown at Princeton University. The author Pauline Metcalfe, who was writing her own biography of Syrie Maugham at the time that I was writing about Syrie’s one-time lover H. G. Selfridge, sent cheering emails offering information, as did her editor Mitch Owens. Patricia Erigero, a specialist on the history of race-horses, advised on the Selfridge stable of steeplechasers, and Arnie Reisman and Ann Carol Grossman gave support, advice on books to read and suggestions on people to talk to. I am particularly grateful to Professor Nancy F. Koehn of Harvard Business School who not only made time to be interviewed but also couriered copies of her HBS paper on Marshall Field to help me meet a deadline.

Gary Chapman, author of
The Delectable Dollies
, has been both enthusiastic and helpful in giving freely of information, as have the authors Anne Sebba in respect of her book on Jennie Jerome and James Gardiner who wrote devotedly about Gaby Deslys.

In my quest for links between Harry Gordon Selfridge and his friend Arnold Bennett, I would like to thank Helen Burton at Keele University and most particularly John Shapcott of the Arnold Bennett Society who was kindness itself in supplying all manner of detail. Janice Francoise at Southwark Library provided information about Kingswood House; and Sarah Gould at Merton Libraries and Heritage Services went to endless trouble to check details about the Wiasemskys’ tenure at Wimbledon Park House. The noted genealogist Timothy Boettger provided his expertise on Russian titles, and Ian Jenkins, Curator of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the British Museum, educated me on both the Hope Sculpture Collections
and the splendid collections once kept at Lansdowne House. Denise Summerton at the University of Nottingham provided information on the Hope Sale. Dr Gerda Reith of Glasgow University took time to explain the intricacies of the gambler’s mentality. From Australia, Mary Garden provided information about Mr Garden’s epic flight to Australia in the plane he bought at Selfridge’s. At Condé Nast in London I would like to thank Nicolas Coleridge, Harriet Wilson and her team, and Brett Croft, who runs the Condé Nast Library, for undertaking so much copying and putting up with my erratic schedule. I must also thank Annie Pinder of the House of Lords Record Office, Jane Rosen of the Imperial War Museum, the Bill Douglas Centre for the History of the Cinema and Popular Culture at the University of Exeter and the staff at the London Library. Since the hardback edition was published, several readers have taken the time to write with their own memories and additional information – including noting in some instances discrepancies and errors on my part – and in particular I would like to thank Clive Vaisey, Daphne Hall, William Cavendish, Malcolm Neal and Lucy Baruch.

A special thank you to Suzy Menkes, Rodney Fitch, Peter Wallis, Vittorio Radice and Scott Malkin, all of whom took time to answer questions about retailing today in the context of the department store and H. G. Selfridge.

I am most grateful to HRH The Prince of Wales for permission to quote from his 1990 speech ‘Accent on Architecture’, given at the American Institute of Architects gala dinner, and to Amanda Foster, Press Officer to the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.

Harry Gordon Selfridge’s great-grands on Simon Wheaton Smith was generous with his time, memories of his mother and grandparents, and his precious family archives. I would also like to thank Gordon Selfridge Jr’s daughter, Jennifer MacLeod.

Friends and contacts who have sent information, given advice and encouragement, and even on occasion done my shopping during the many months I was glued to my computer include: Alison Cathie, Oliver Musker, Simon Rendall, Giles Chapman, David Burgess-Wise, Alisdair Sutherland, Samantha Conti, Robert Harding of Maggs Bros, Melissa Wyndham, Charlotte Milln, Tim Leon-Dufour, Margaret Muldoon, John Rendall and Susan Farmer.

To my husband, who has put up with a lot over the past three years, special thanks for his discerning eye in selecting photographs. He read chapters from the very beginning, as did my son Max. Both laughed in the right places and gave wise advice. Ollie (who himself once worked at Selfridges) preferred to wait for the finished book but has cheered me at every turn. My sister Nikki, her daughter Julie and her grandson Jake, who was born while I was writing this book, have all played their part in keeping the home fires burning.

This book wouldn’t have happened without the encouragement of Eugenie
Furniss and Lucinda Prain (who were, at the time when the book was originally written, both with William Morris). Lucinda is now at Casarotto Ramsay, where she managed the deal with ITV to bring the book to television. My literary agent, Eugenie Furniss, has also since struck out on her own, and is now running FurnissLawton, from where she is encouraging the development of this book into territories far and wide. I owe them both huge thanks for their support and enthusiasm. Thanks also to Claudia Webb at WME, who is keenly following the progress of the title to what we all hope will be its wider audience. At my publishers, Profile Books, Andrew Franklin deserves a special mention for resolving the book’s title and keeping a watchful eye over the entire project. At Profile, my editor was Gail Pirkis, whose wisdom, patience and graceful original editing kept me on track. Thanks also to Penny Daniel and Nicola Taplin at Profile, who managed the book through to its final stages, and to the most knowledgeable, eagle-eyed indexer any biographer could ask for: Douglas Matthews. My grateful thanks also to Anna-Marie Fitzgerald for spearheading the publicity with such enthusiasm and finally to my current editor, Rebecca Gray, for helping to update this special edition and prepare it for re-publication.

Since the book was first published, readers have sent me notes about small errors that slipped in. Often I received letters offering additional, fascinating information and support. To all of you, I am grateful. No author, however hard we try, can hope to get all the technical detail correct in a story as sweeping as the development of British retail history.

Thanks to your helpful advice, we have made several corrections to names, places and dates. Any errors remaining are the author’s own.

Finally I must turn to Selfridges, where the Creative Director, Alannah Weston, must have been astonished to get a letter from out of the blue, telling her that I was writing a book about the founder and that I hoped they would ‘help me out with some information’. She took it well. Nothing has been too much trouble for the staff at the store who have been kindness itself and have allowed me to explore every nook and cranny of the place, even identifying where Harry Selfridge’s ‘private lift’ – for his exclusive use – was positioned. They have answered innumerable questions, their lawyers have given copyright approval for archive materials and photographs to be used and the press office has checked details for me. To Mr and Mrs Galen Weston, Alannah Weston, Paul Kelly, Anne Pitcher, Michael Keep, Bruno Barba, Sue Minns and Caroline Parker go my heartfelt thanks. I hope you enjoy reading this new edition of the book as much as you will undoubtedly enjoy watching the television drama series adapted from it.

London, 2012

*

The author and publishers wish to thank the following for permission to reproduce images: Plates 1, 3, 19, family archives of Simon Wheaton-Smith; 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, the Selfridges Archive; 25, Otis Elevators; 13,
Chicago Daily News
Negatives Collection, Chicago History Museum; 15, private collection of James Gardiner; 18, private collection of Ian Stevenson; 26, Getty Images.

A

A vol d’oiseau
(Paris show),
214

Academy, The
(magazine),
142

Adam, Robert,
145

Adams, W. R.,
212

Adler, Dankmar,
64

aeronautics and aviation,
104
,
129
,
147
,
155
,
229
–30

Aga Khan,
188

Aircraft Transport and Travel (airline company),
156

Aladin, Alexis,
182

Albemarle, Gertrude Lucia, Countess of,
133

Alexandra, Queen of Edward VII (
earlier
Princess of Wales),
55
,
102

Allan, Maude,
103
,
131

Allen, Lizzie,
43

Allis-Chalmers (company),
67

Allison, James Murray,
125

Ambrose, Bert (band leader),
181

American Civil War (1861–66),
11
–12

André, François,
175
,
205
–6

Anglo-Continental Magazine
,
94

Anthony, Thomas,
172

Anti-Socialist Union,
190

Anti-Sweated Labour Exhibition (1906),
100

Antoine, Prince of Spain,
51

Antoinette, Princess of Monaco,
184

Arden, Elizabeth,
199

Arding & Hobbs (London store),
164

Arlen, Michael,
188
,
191
,
195

Arlington House, London,
222

Arlington Street, London,
83

Armour, Philip D.,
12
,
57

Arts and Crafts movement,
40

Ashbridge (St Marylebone district surveyor),
75

Ashfield, Albert Stanley, Baron,
108
,
118
,
143
,
240
,
246

Asquith, Herbert Henry (
later
1st Earl),
128
,
137
,
143
,
181
,
188
,
196
,
257

Asquith, Margot (
later
Countess),
102
–3,
181
,
188

Astaire, Adele,
132

Astaire, Fred,
132
,
195

Astor, John Jacob (
later
1st Baron Astor of Hever),
173

Astor, Mrs (New York hostess),
47
–8

Astor, Nancy, Viscountess,
160

Astor, William Waldorf,
135