Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
STEN, Arthur G.
STEN, Arthur G. Kristiania (Oslo, Norway, Sept. 22, 1880--Dubuque, IA, Mar. 19, 1954) The business value of displaying goods in store windows did not develop before the mid-19th century. Harry Gordon Selfridge, an employee of Chicago's Marshall Field Department Store, was considered the pioneer of using large window displays. As their ability to attract customers was recognized, more and more store windows were even lighted at night. (1)
"Window shopping" became a new and popular phrase.
Among the disciples of Selfridge was Arthur Sten, described in the 1910 census as a "window maker" for a local dry goods store. (Roshek's)(2) Such a store with large windows at this time might have been STAMPFER'S DEPARTMENT STORE, RIDER-WALLIS DRY GOODS COMPANY, or ROSHEK'S DEPARTMENT STORE. However, it is clear with the latter that his fame was established. By 1912 he was well-enough recognized to be quoted in The Dry Goods Reporter.
Women are guided and influenced by window displays, I believe,
in fully 80 per cent of their purchases.
A.G. Sten, “Why Show Windows Appeal,”
The Dry Goods Reporter, 1912.
You ask me what there is about a store window that makes a
woman irresistibly turn for inspection? I will tell you.
The store window is a woman’s great ‘reminder.’ It recalls
to her some need, past or future.
A.G. Sten
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Source:
1. "Windows, Shopping, and Christmas Past, NYC," Online: https://nycpast.org/2015/12/25/windows-shopping-and-christmas-past-nyc/
2. Dubuque Deaths, Telegraph-Herald, March 21, 1924, p. 12