Research Catalog

Title

For the love of Murphy's : the behind-the-counter story of a great American retailer / Jason Togyer.

Author

Togyer, Jason.

Publication

University Park, Pa. : Pennsylvania State University Press, [2008], ©2008.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xii, 279 pages : illustrations; 28 cm

Summary

"Five-and-ten stores were immensely popular during the middle fifty years of the twentieth century, selling cheap, dependable goods to people from all walks of life. Now the product of a bygone era, these stores were revolutionary in their time, but few today appreciate how important they were in creating our present-day consumer culture. In this caring but honest look at one of the best-known chains of five-and-tens, Jason Togyer traces the history of the G. C. Murphy Company, headquartered in McKeesport, Pennsylvania." "Though not the largest chain, nor the first, Murphy's is remembered today as a commercial trailblazer, a corporation run with honesty and integrity, and, at its peak, a retailer whose more than 500 stores managed to outsell those of the giant F. W. Woolworth Company by a factor of three to one. Making extensive use of both the company archives and anecdotes from former employees and customers, McKeesport native Togyer recreates with outstanding detail the world in which the G. C. Murphy Company emerged; its survival and growth during the Great Depression; its response to a strained economy during World War II; its fight against rapidly expanding competitors such as K-Mart; its struggle and recovery in the 1970s; and its unsuccessful battle to stave off Wall Street raiders in the 1980s." "Though modern-day shoppers may not know the Murphy name, they know the legacy it left behind. From its adventurous selling tactics to its strict code of corporate ethics, the G. C. Murphy Company should be remembered not as a dusty relic, but as a pioneer in the American business world."--BOOK JACKET.

Subject

• G.C. Murphy > History
• Variety stores > United States > History
• Stores, Retail > United States > History

Note

• "A Keystone book"--P. facing t.p.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [261]-270) and index.

Contents

1. Bethel Park, 1970 -- 2. A Revolution in Retailing -- 3. The Macy's of Appalachia -- 4. Can You Spare a Dime? -- 5. The Murphy Girls -- 6. At War at Home and Abroad -- 7. Meals at Murphy's -- 8. The Fabulous Fifties -- 9. The Pride of the Chain -- 10. McKeesport Yankees in Dixieland -- 11. Determination and Diversion -- 12. Happy Holidays -- 13. Home Runs and a Few Errors -- 14. Triumph and Trial -- 15. Aftermath and Legacy.

ISBN

• 9780271033709 (cloth : alk. paper)
• 0271033703 (cloth : alk. paper)

LCCN

• 2008010470
• 40016114403

OCLC

• ocn213466125
• 213466125
• SCSB-9034427

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries