{"product_id":"9781611689815","title":"Louis Bamberger: Department Store Innovator and Philanthropist","description":"\u003cb\u003eWinner of the 2017 Cummings Award\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003eLouis Bamberger (1855–1944) was the epitome of the merchant prince as public benefactor. Born in Baltimore, this son of German immigrants built his business—the great, glamorous L. Bamberger \u0026amp; Co. department store in Newark, N.J.—into the sixth-largest department store in the country. A multimillionaire by middle age, he joined the elite circle of German Jews who owned Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Filene’s. Despite his vast wealth and local prominence, Bamberger was a reclusive figure who shunned the limelight, left no business records, and kept no diaries. He remained a bachelor and kept his private life and the rationale for his business decisions to himself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYet his achievements are manifold. He was a merchandising genius whose innovations, including newspaper and radio ads and brilliant use of window and in-store displays, established the culture of consumption in twentieth-century America. His generous giving, both within the Jewish community and beyond it, created institutions that still stand today: the Newark YM-YWHA, Beth Israel Hospital, and the Newark Museum. Toward the end of his career, he financed and directed the creation of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, which led to a friendship with Albert Einstein.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDespite his significance as business innovator and philanthropist, historians of the great department stores have paid scant attention to Bamberger. This full-length biography will interest historians as well as general readers of Jewish history nationally, New Jerseyans fascinated by local history, and the Newarkers for whom Bamberger’s was a beloved local institution.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Brandeis University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47049533227248,"sku":"9781611689815","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781611689815_p0.jpg?v=1763842652","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781611689815","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}