Bye, bye, Birdy | Scene Through the Lens

Like most Philadelphians I have many fond memories of Wanamaker’s department store. The Christmas light show and displays, Dickens Village, the Grand Court Organ and even that iconic meetup spot, the Eagle.

(You might even say I ended up at The Inquirer because of the store. Visiting in-laws in Bethlehem, we drove down for the day and I walked up Broad Street to see photographers I knew at the newspaper while my wife and her mother went shopping - at Wanamaker’s. That visit lead to an offer later to apply for an opening here.)

Like a lot of people in Philadelphia who didn’t grow up here, my impressions of the city came from the movies.

I watched Brian De Palma’s 1981 ″Blow Out,” the mystery thriller where John Travolta’s character drives his Jeep down Market Street, cuts though the Mummers parade, and takes a shortcut through City Hall, before crashing into a Wanamaker’s display window.

I saw 1987′s “Mannequin” after I arrived here. In that romantic comedy, starving artist Andrew McCarthy gets a job dressing display window mannequins, filmed at Wanamaker’s, with Kim Cattrall as one of the dummies who comes to life.

(And yes, I did also see that other, older Philadelphia movie, but Adrian and her boxer friend never shopped at Wanamaker’s.)

So I was glad to spend a few hours there with my colleague, columnist Stephanie Farr, making pictures in the final days before Macy’s closed for good. (Wanamaker’s was sold in 1995. Before Macy’s it was a Hecht’s, Strawbridge’s, and Lord & Taylor.)

» READ MORE: 4 hours with the Wanamaker Eagle statue

The photo above of the Eagle in an empty space with people seeming to ignore it works fine to illustrate the store’s closing, but that’s not the image I was after when I spent almost 45 minutes looking down from the second floor.

The picture I envisioned - and invested all that time in - was one with LOTS of people passing. Exposed at 1/8 second so they’d all be blurred - except for a single motionless figure stopped to take a selfie. Every time a person paused and stood in front of the statue there were never any others walking past. I knew when to quit.

Speaking of waiting for some preconceived vision, here’s an update on my yellow car / OY-YO quest. It still hasn’t happened. My photo spot is blocked by sidewalk and curb construction fencing.

Meanwhile, my street photographer compadre Alejandro A. Alvarez scooped me again. I often think when at a certain red retailer it would be cool to one day find a red car parked in front - and maybe even a fellow shopper dressed all in red.

He nailed it.

Me? I’m either not as lucky... or just too impatient.

Since 1998 a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s “Scene Through the Lens” photo column in the print editions of The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color: