Friday, October 16th. Today marks an anniversary that should please America’s power shoppers. On this date in 1868, the first full-line department store in the U.S. was organized in Salt Lake City. Called “Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institution,” it opened the next year. The idea of the department store soon spread around the country, hailed for the convenience such retail powerhouses offered consumers and becoming points of civic pride. The era of the classic, high-rise downtown department store has been eclipsed, but modern equivalents — usually one or two stories high and located in suburban malls — are still major players in the retail scene. There are nearly 14,000 department stores in the U.S., a powerful presence among the country’s 50,000 general merchandise establishments. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.
Saturday, October 17th. One of the foundations of modern business and science — the accessibility of accurate calculations — was reinforced this month in 1887 when a patent was granted to Dorr Eugene Felt for the first adding machine known to be absolutely accurate at all times. Felt called his machine the “comptometer,” and some models were still in use a half-century later. The comptometer had the mechanical calculator market to itself until 1902. Adding machines — soon joined by punch cards — remained the core of numbers management for more than 60 years until replaced by calculators and computers. Today in the U.S., sales of such items as adding machines and calculators is the pursuit of some 7,000 office supply stores. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.
Sunday, October 18th. A great many Americans would name pizza high up among their favorite foods, month in and month out. But for the 32nd time, October is designated as National Pizza Month. No one knows the exact origin of pizza, but ancient Mediterranean cultures enjoyed flatbreads with various toppings and seasonings. An Italian immigrant named Gennaro Lombardi opened the first pizzeria in the U.S. in New York City in 1905. American soldiers who served in Italy returned from World War II with a taste for pizza and helped its climb to nationwide popularity. Now, about 3 billion pizzas are sold annually. There are some 70,000 pizzerias across the U.S., among the country’s nearly 526,000 sit-down and limited-service restaurants. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.