Right on Fifth Avenue and 34th Street, there is an American religious artifact. The artifact is Macy’s, the department store. The store itself and its surrounding advertisements are full of phrases that embody a certain form of Christian thought reminiscent of Henry Ward Beecher’s “Religion and the Beautiful.” Along 5th Ave. near the store, there are advertisements that read: “Believe in the magic of giving” and in the store there was an ad that read: “A warm spirit of giving.” Also, on the broadside of the store is a giant sign that reads: “Believe.” At first glance, this seems insignificant but upon further analysis it is evident that there is Christian rhetoric evident in the advertisements. Not only are the advertisements full of Christian rhetoric, the store itself is using a certain string of American Christianity to promote the purchasing of gifts and giving them for Christmas.
By using religious words such “spirit” and “believe”, Macy’s is aligning itself with the philosophy of Henry Ward Beecher, specifically in his “Religion and the Beautiful.” In this work, Beecher argues that in a growing American economy that supports a healthy middle class that: “It is the business of every person on the globe upon whom you exert an influence. It is the business not only of yourself, and of God, but of all who are in any wise affected by you, how you live, what your influence is and whether your heart breathes benevolence or breathes selfishness” (Beecher 215). He continues to say: “That it is a part of his [mankind’s] necessity to develop beauty, as it is a part of his [mankind’s] necessity to develop thought or emotion.” Beecher brings his argument into the realm of commercial goods by saying: “there is an essential unity in all forms of the beautiful. It will not do to object to art, to embellishments of dress and furniture, and yet to sat that in speech and in manners and in moral elements the the beautiful is right,” (Beecher 219, 220). In his arguments, one can see the underlying themes of associating beautiful items with closeness to God and God’s will. Not only is it one’s duty to influence others with their wealth, it is their duty to do so with beautiful items which share in the glory of God.
With this in mind, we can look at Macy’s campaign during the holiday season as a direct descendent of Beecher’s philosophy. Macy’s is using religious phrases and elements to make it seem as if buying things from their store is good. Buying items from their store and giving it to someone for Christmas is good because it is sharing wealth and giving someone something beautiful. I think if Beecher saw Macy’s and its slogans he would agree with their logic and would support their campaign.
Macy’s is particularly interesting because it is a department store that is portraying itself as being in tune with the nature of giving and believing associated with Christianity. It is quite literally a place that is marketing itself as somewhere that is selling some form of Christian goodness by being the source of gifts and beautiful objects to give to others on Christmas. Instead of religious ideas coming from a church or a religious texts, religious ideas are being communicated through advertisements and the way Macy’s is trying to portray itself.
This form of American religious consumption is seen and criticised in Jack Kerouac's “The Dharma Bums.” Japhy and Ray both see the work, consume, repeat cycle present in 1950’s American Life. Both of them disdain this sort of lifestyle. I believe that this lifestyle they opposed is still alive today and can be seen in Macy’s advertisements and the way that they are trying to portray their business.
Macy’s is a religious artifact of modern American Christianity,which is categorized by ambiguous overtones of religious ideals in the public and private spheres of life. I think it is a particularly American form of religious expression to tie together spending money and Christianity together.
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