Department Store Annual Dolls' Tea Parties by Laurie McGill D The Broadway Department Store in California held its first Annual Dolls' Tea Party in 1906. This early cup is labeled with the store's name and the event title. Laurie McGill Collection owntown department stores were once the heartbeat of America's bustling main streets. These multiÁRRUHGHVWDEOLVKPHQWVJDYHULVHWRLQWHULRUGHVLJQ and fashion, offered career opportunities for women, enabled the growth of consumerism, and introduced technological wonders such as escalators and pneumatic tubes. The bigger stores were more than just businesses. "Meet me under the clock," became a catch phrase across the nation as most of these department stores boasted large clocks on the corner of their buildings where people could gather before going inside to enjoy concerts, fashion shows and art exhibits. They could learn golf and bridge, pay their electric ELOOVDQGSODQIDPLO\YDFDWLRQVZKLOHWKHLUFKLOGUHQSOD\HGLQ the security of the store's nursery under the watchful eye of a nurse in uniform.